My local sporting goods store has some dull, rey, anodized 30 round mags selling for $25 each.  He says they were made in England.  There is no logo or info on the floorplates, just a stick on the side of the mag that says ENGLAND.  I've seen them in the store for a while.  They appear to be new or used in very good condition. I'm new to the mag scene and am wondering if I should pick em up or avoid them.  Thanks.

Buy all of them that you can get your hands on...absolutely the best I have used.

OK, I was un-informed and thought all mags were ok and was going to buy mags from Cheaper Than Dirt.  I tried to load the mag FAQ and it didn't work. My bud though, did buy about 10 mags from CTD. I don't know if I should tell him what I know now about mags. he he.

Boss:

I have 20 of the same mags of which you refer (gray, no markings, "England" sticker); all function flawlessly.

Note that I did disassemble every one and using diagonal wore cutters nipped about 2 millimeters (tad more than 1/8") from the center leg of the dark blue follower.  The reason was that a full mag was sometimes difficult to latch in my ARs with a round chambered and the bolt closed -- not enough room in the mag with 30 rounds loaded.  After trimming the center leg, no problem.

Some have reported latching problems and having to file the top of the mag catch hole to get a positive latch.  I did not have to do this.  Empty, all 20 latch easily in both the Colt ST and the Bushy Carbine.

Noah

I just got back from the store.  It appears those mags have the new green followers, only they are black, not green, but the same design none the less.  He has about 35 mags right now, all new.  I'll be buying some for sure.

Those are the same that I bought.  The dark blue english follower is the same pattern as the US green follower, but the middle leg of the dark blue english follower is a tad longer than that of the US.  Tha's why I clipped them, but YMMV.

Noah

[s]I purchased two but have had bad luck with them.  Mine have black follows, not dark blue.  I'm going to replace the followers and springs and give them another try.[/s]

I take it all back [B)]

Mine do have dark blue followers, very dark blue.  I also took them to the range this afternoon and shot Q3131A thru them with ZERO issues.  I was using PMC when I had problems with them the first time.

I saw a load of these mags in the Armoury in Scotsdale Az in March. Being from England I was curious - never seen them over here in the UK, but then we can buy US Colt mags and surplus RG mags (SA80 mags) at less than $10 (the Colts come boxed in sevens dated 1970 at a little over £45/box depending on the Euro exchange - that's about $60) so it seems someone is after a bigger profit selling in the US and not the UK. They did look good quality though and with the green follower.

A local store in my area had a bunch of them also.  The gunsmith told me they were made by HK if you can believe that.  He said they are awesome but he'd put in the "green" to make them function flawless.  I didn't pick any up and they have since sold out of them....  Midwayusa.com has a bunch of them I heard....

Does anyone ever use the search function before posting except me... This has been discussed hundreds of times.

BTW great mags, worth the price. You might need to replace the followers though.

I didn't think they were made by HK.  I guess I'll be ordering a few from Midway.