Revised January 1, 1999

In response to repeated requests from rec.guns readers, I'm posting a

list of the various magazines available on the civilian market for Colt

AR-15s, various AR-15 .223 clones, and Colt Sporters. It lists the different

varieties, identifying markings, type of finish, and approximate values.

Note: This updated FAQ includes new information on 7.62 x 39 magazines provided by Paul McMenamin, as well as floorplate marking/date information provided by the Colt Firearms Historical Office.

Here they are (I may miss a few...)

(All of the following are made of aluminum alloy and gray anodized, unless otherwise noted.)

20 Round Capacity Magazines:

Original Armalite "waffle-sided." Similar in design to the AR-10 magazine.

Grey. Super scarce. Pre-1963 production. $90+ each

Early Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1963-1968. Earliest had bright alloy

followers, later manufacture had dull followers. Scarce. Marked "Colt Pt. Mfg.

Co. Inc." w/prancing pony and "CAL. .223" on floorplate. Usually $25+ each.

Gun Show tip: As you walk around gun shows, look for used 20s and sort

through looking for shiny alloy followers. These are the early contract

magazines, and are worth a premium price. However, most dealers don't realize

the significance, and will sell you these magazines at the same price that

they sell the typical later vintage used 20s.

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1969 to 1971. Dull alloy

followers. Marked Colt Firearm Division" w/pony and "5.56 MM" on floorplate.

(These usually sell for $15 to $25 at gun shows.) I usually have these in stock.

Note: The general rule is that pre-1969 20 round Colt-made magazines are

marked ""CAL. .223" and that 1969 and later production 20s are marked "CAL.

5.56MM"

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1966 to 1971. Dull alloy

followers. Most marked Cony w/pony. A few are marked Simmonds or

Adventureline on floorplate. Usually $12 to $20 ea. (Actually these are more

scarce than Colt made 20s, but few collectors realize it, and oddly they

pay more for Colts!) I usually have these in stock.

Colt commercial 20 round. Circa 1980 to 1989. Black plastic followers.

Marked Colt w/pony on floorplate. Usually $20+ each.

Colt law enforcement sales 20 round. Circa 1995 to present. (Not sold on the

Civilian market. Bodies are date stamped to indicate that they are of "post ban"

manufacture.) Black plastic followers. Marked "Colts Mfg. Co." and "CAL. 5.56MM" w/pony on floorplate. These cost law enforcement agencies around $12 each.

5 Round Capacity Magazines:

Colt commercial 5 round. (20 round body, but blocked to 5 round capacity.) Black plastic followers. Marked Colt w/pony and

"CAL. 5.56MM" on floorplate. Early style (no floorplate rivet.) Circa 1989

to around 1991. Usually $25+ each.

Colt commercial 5 round. . (20 round body, but blocked to 5 round capacity.) Black plastic followers. Marked Colt w/pony and

"CAL. 5.56MM" on floorplate. Later style (riveted floorplate but rivet can be

drilled out.) Circa 1991 to 1994. Usually $20+ each.

Colt commercial 5 round. Marked Colt. (the latest bastardized style--permanently blocked) Circa late 1994 to present Usually around $10 to $15 each. Sometimes these can be found in garbage cans at rifle ranges along with other refuse.

30 Round Capacity Magazines:

Colt early G.I. contract 30 round. Green plastic followers. Marked Colt

w/pony and "CAL. .223" on floorplate. Circa 1968 to 1969. Usually $30+ each,

depending on condition.

Note: The general rule is that pre-1970 30 round Colt-made magazines are

marked "CAL. .223" and that 1970 and later production 30s are marked "CAL.

5.56MM"

Gun Show tip: As you walk around gun shows, look for Colt 30 round magazines

with green followers. (They are worth at least twice as much as other 30s,

even if made by Colt.)

Colt late G.I. contract 30 round. Black plastic followers. Marked Colt

w/pony and "CAL. 5.56mm" on floorplate. Circa 1970 to present. Usually $20+

each, depending on condition. Colt hasn't had a military contract in many

years. Most of these are sold to police departments. A few pre-ban ones

make it out to the civilian market through police supply houses.

G.I. contract 30 round. Black of green plastic followers. These are the most

common M16 magazines on the surplus market. (Countless millions made.) Circa

1975 to 1994. Marked with contractor's name and usually location (city) on

floorplate. Anodized finish. Contractors included: Adventureline, Parsons

Precision Products, Labelle Industries, Sanchez (DSI), Center Industries,

Okay Industries, Cooper Industries, and a few others. Starting around 1992,

some of the contractors began using soft green plastic followers. (Not to be

confused with the shiny hard green plastic followers used on the earliest

Colt-made 30 rounders.) Miltary contract 30s are fairly easy to find at gun

shows. Usually $9 to $25, depending on condition.

Colt law enforcement sales 30 round. Circa 1995 to present. (Not sold on the

civilian market. Bodies are date stamped to indicate that they are of "post

ban" manufacture.) Black plastic followers. Marked "Colts Mfg. Co." and

"CAL. 5.56" w/pony on floorplate. These cost law enforcement agencies around

$11 each.

Some interesting background: There were actually just two sets of U.S. military

contract 30 round magazine tooling, both built by Colt. They wandered around from

contractor to contractor. These contracts were usually "minority or small

business set- asides." Typically what would happen is a small business would

get set up with the tooling, and start to crank out a contract. Then, the

contract was so lucrative that the business no longer qualified as a "small

business", the contract was cancelled, and the tooling got yanked and sent on

to the next contractor.

All of the G.I. contract 30s work fine, except for some black follower lots

of Cooper Industries and some black follower lots of Sanchez (DSI)

production. These were recalled for destruction by the military, due to poor

tolerances. NEVER buy Coopers or Sanchez, unless they have the later style

green followers, since they may be from a bad lot!

G.I. contract 30 round. Black plastic followers. Teflon finish. This is

the latest military specification, which started only in June, 1994).

Functionally, these are the best of the breed, because they have a slick,

durable Teflon coat inside and out. Very few of these magazines made it

onto the civilian market before the ban started on Sept. 13, 1994. All

were made by Labelle Industries. They made batches for the civilian market

in both grey and black Teflon. Most of these were marked: Cal. 5.56mm, a

part number, and Made in U.S.A. (Note that Bushmaster/Quality Parts had

Labelle make up a batch for them with BFI floorplates. Labelle did the

same for Defense Procurement Management Service (DPMS). Military

production pre-Sept 13, 1994 are not date stamped. Post Sept. 13, 1994

production are date stamped an a no-no for U.S. civilians to possess. Most

dealers get $30+ each for pre-ban Teflon coated 30s nowadays. I sold out

long ago, but I've heard that Quality Parts/Bushmaster (BFI) still has

some.

Israeli Orlite magazines. Black plastic with a weave of metal

reinforcement in the top inch. These work well with most AR-15s. These

usually come with plastic dust caps. Most dealers get about $15 each for

these.

Thermold (Canadian) magazines. Black plastic with no reinforcing. These

work just as well as Orlites, but are a little more flimsy. They also use

a lower melting-point plastic than the Orlite. (The Canadian soldiers

jokingly refer to them as "Thermelts", because the feed lips melt if you

get a M16 really hot (usually from firing blanks with a blank firing

device.) These usually sell for $12 to $18 each at gun shows.

After-market (civilian) manufacture. Most of these are total junk! Don't

even bother with any of these. The steel ones are particularly troublesome.

The only "semi-after-market" magazines worth buying were made by Labelle

shortly before the 9/94 ban and are marked "Defense Procurement Management

Service (DPMS)" or "BFI/Bushmaster." Labelle Industries made these to

military specs. but simply put on different floorplates for sales to the

civilian market. Most of these are gray or black Teflon coated.

Another exception to the "no after-market" rule: Sterling of England produced

AR-180/AR-15 20, 30, and 40 round magazines. Some were made in alloy, and

some were steel. They have magazine catch notches on both sides—a small one for

the AR-180, and a large one for the AR-15. They work well in both guns.)

They are the only 40 round magazines of any type that I've ever encountered that work well. Sterling also produced considerable quantities of 20 and 30 round

magazines, some of which are only notched for AR-180s, but most are also

notched to also fit AR-15s. Most of the Sterling magazines are alloy, but

some are steel. They are scarce but can occasionally be found at gun shows,

usually for $20 to $50 each, depending on metal type and capacity.

Gun Show tip: As you walk around gun shows, look for used AR-180s for sale.

Ask the sellers if they have any extra magazines available for sale. Fairly

often they will have some Sterling magazines that are also notched for

AR-15s. The only problem will be in convincing the seller to break those

magazines out of their intended "package deal."

On 7.62 x39 AR-15 magazines:

7.62 x 39 magazines for AR-15s tend to be problematic. More and more AR owners are buying spare 7.62 x 39 uppers for their rifles to take advantage of the low cost of military surplus (Chinese and Eastern Bloc) ammunition, or as a means to get a more effective stopper for deer than .223 Remington.

The problem is finding mags that will feed when loaded with more than 5 or 6 rounds.

Neither Colt (for the AR-15) or Ruger (for the Mini-30) ever made any high capacity magazines for their 7.62x39s, because neither intended those guns for military or law enforcement sales. (And both being statist/Politically Correct firms in recent years, neither produced high capacity magazines for the civilian market before the 9/94 ban.)

The Colt 7.62 x 39 rifles and clones can *accept* standard 20 or 30 round G.I. magazines, but they won't function reliably when loaded with more than 5 or 6 rounds. With its straight magazine well, the AR-15 is not well-suited to the cartridge. As I'm sure most of you reading this know, an angle builds up to the point where the 7.62 cartridges will jam horribly if you load more than about 8 rounds--regardless of which magazine you use. The cartridge simply works better in fully-curved magazines. And with the AR-15’s straight magazine well, that problem can never be properly overcome in AR-15s and clones.

Colt-made 7.62 x 39mm magazines differ from standard .223 magazines only in that they have different followers. The 7.62 x 39mm followers are black plastic and have

"7.62mm" in white letters printed on the follower. They appear to be made

differently from regular .223 followers. I believe these to be standard

alloy M-16 magazine bodies that are assembled with 7.62 followers.

One tip garnered from the net: With the Colt-made 7.62 x 39 magazines, insert the magazines gently with the bolt closed to keep rounds from flying out the top.

Another problem is that the fat 7.62x39 cartridge tends to bulge out or even split aluminum alloy AR-15 magazines. There is a solution for that particular problem: The best magazines that I can recommend for a 7.62 AR-15 are either STEEL original Sterling-made AR-180 magazines (also notched for AR-15 magazine catch), or STEEL original Belgian FNC magazines. Then, if possible, replace the followers with Colt "7.62 mm" marked followers. Even with these, don’t load more than 6 cartridges.

The MWG company makes 5 or 10-round magazines that are optimized for the 7.62x39. These are priced at $14.39 each, so they are affordable, and reportedly well made. The jury is still out, however, on their reliability. . The 10 round model carries part # M10-7.62x39. For an illustration, see: http://www.shadow.net/~mwg/magazine.html