M1A magazine help needed

N

nashgill

New member
Hi,
I am having trouble with some M1A magazines. I have a relatively new Springfield M1A with some old magazines. When fired, the next bulled in the magazine nosedives and the tip gets stuck on the front of the magazine. Therefor not loading the next round. The bolt sticks open. I have no idea of the origin of these magazines as they are my uncles. Any ideas? Can these be fixed?

Thanks.
Nash...
 
To tell if they are USGI...

Look at the back of the magazine. About 1" from the bottom, you should see a few letters if the magazine is USGI. Look VERY CLOSELY as they can be faint. If you see a few letters, then the mags are USGI.

Examples:
BRW, OM, W, KMT, but there are other USGI manufacturers.
 
Thanks for the help. I have 3. 1 has OM stamped on the back, the other has an underlined M and the 3rd does not appear to have been stamped. The OM stamped one looks a little different from the other 2. the lip at the front edge where the bullet is hanging has a different cut to it. Now that I think about it I am not sure if I have paid attention to see if all 3 do this. I should probably start collecting USGI magazines. Can anyone point me to a cheap source? What is the going rate?

Thanks.
nash...
 
I don't think you are going to find any cheap M1A mags that are USGI. One reason people go for the FAL instead of the M1A is because of mag prices.

Check Cole's Distributing (www.cole-distributing.com) but expect to pay in the $40 range for 20 round USGI mags.

.........Keith
 
Nashgill,
sounds like your are USGI, sometimes you just get a bunk mag. I had one, brand new (NIW) that I took out because I forgot to bring 'old reliable' to the range, and it had the same problems you are talking about. It stuck every 5 rounds. I took it apart, oiled it, steel wooled the interior... still stuck.

'Old reliable' on the otherhand is a DEEPLY pitted, rusty, banged up piece of steel with no remaining finish on it and a bungled follower. Works everytime!!!
 
Nashgill,

Both USGI and Chinese mfg. M14 mags work very well, that is unless of course you just managed to get a bum mag.

Aftermarket steel mags are usually junk.

To tell them apart.... GI & Chinese mags have a spot welded steel plate on the back edge of the mag near the top. This is what catches the thumb latch on the rifle, and holds it in correct vertical position. Aftermarkets usually have a couple of stamped-punched tabs sticking out to serve this function.

Appearance.... GI & Chinese mags are usually parkerized, matte black or gray-green. Aftermarkets are almost always shiny blued steel.

Just my .02
Swampy
 
I got a great buy on Springfield Armory M1a magazines from Elite Firearms & Supplies, 270-534-0500, Paducah, KY. You can see if they have any left. They work fine.

pwiz
 
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