Milpec, not exactly - but the Korean ones work about as well. 30 rounder M1 mags have never been a great design. 15's are far more reliable. The Korean 15's are good to go.
If you find some older military mags take them apart and clean them out really well and replace the spring. The old springs don't hold up over the years and the carbine needs all the components working well to function.
ETA: the price on those seems high. Places like AIM and J&G get those in for as low as 10 to 12 bucks sometimes.
Yep need to get some spare parts for worn mags. I'll buy some of those korean ones. Thanks! I agree the body of the 15s are designed a lot better than the 30s.
I may be wrong but if I recall the Korean ones initially came wrapped in oil paper but then later came in a brown paper pouch. It has been a few years since I have bought any.
Here's a CMP link on M1 30's, which is an excellent reference on M1 Carbine 30 Round Magazines (Identifying The USGI From The Others, September Update 2007). There are been several counterfeit and reproductions since this document, but when it comes to original USGI 30's, this reference document holds true. Anything not listed here is likely a commercial reproduction. Also, be aware of counterfeits of the originals...there is a ton of them out there. If you have original USGI 30's it's very easy to distinguish them from the rest.
A few great books on the M1 for starters if interested, which also detail the mags are a must for the serious collector: Larry Ruth's War Baby! and Graig Riesch's U.S. M1 Carbines, Wartime Production.
I personally have my doubts that the first link is Korean in origin at all but I can be wrong. It's depicting a Type IV Split-Back with a rectangular bolster and IMO probably not a Korean reproduction either, as the seller indicates. The Korean repos that I’ve observed are hard-back with an angular bolster and the follower is anti-tilt and bolt hold open. Quite possibly they are producing a split-back that I’m not aware of but if so, it's not the typical one that they have been producing. But then again I don't keep up on all the various repos.
None of the links posted are USGI M1 mags. The closest was the Foreign Military “AYP” Type IV Split-Back mags that were in really bad shape. Original USGI 30's in excellent condition are becoming fairly scarce to find at a decent price...hence the counterfeits. I don’t own any repos but from what I heard the inexpensive Korean repos are about the best bet, if that's what you're looking for. Cheaper Than Dirt has them reasonably priced at $15.97 Mag M1 M2 Carbine .30 Carbine 30 Round Early Style Hard Back Like WWII Early Original M2 Made In Korea New
Thanks for the cmp link! Im gonna read up on it. If they're not repros, not Korean, mil spec quality might be a good match for my chinese m1 carbine. I'm not partial to make as long as they're reliable, priced right, and they don't fall apart.
Link one is most certainly a reproduction but I just have my doubts its origin in Korean unless they reproduced that variant also, which is possible and I just never observed one. But it is definitely a reproduction magazine.
We gave many carbines to more than a few countries, and some of them produced mags. While its always good to have the real deal USGI, legit foreign Military contract is good to go.
Other than legitimate GI Foreign Military marked “AYP” mags, how do you determine if it is a foreign military contract without handling them…just curious? The vast majority of ours that were provided to foreign government’s were unmarked but fairly easy to ID if they came back our way. IMO when it comes to non-USGI mags, most sellers either know what they are selling and don’t disclose it and usually don’t provide too many pics either, or honestly have no idea and make some assumptions.
Thanks my thoughts exactly.
Basically I'm gonna go with the ones with the oil paper or ones with dry wax paper. Maybe even the one in the sealed bags.
The oil paper and wax paper look legit to me as foreign mil spec. Wish I knew for sure though. I'll decide in a week or two..
I put together a few reference pics from my collection of the USGI 30-rd mags to highlight some of the more prevalent differences between USGI and a legitimate GI Foreign Military mag. I only included the USGI Seymour Products Company variant but the other USGI 30’s are very similar. I also threw in a few of most common commercial variants produced in the 1970’s for reference only. There have been numerous counterfeits of originals and various reproductions. People are now copying the already copied. Excellent condition USGI 30’s are becoming very scarce, and the Type III’s are even harder to come by, and there will always be a market for the dishonest trying to make a buck by deceiving people. Pics and all the details are nice but the real test is handling it in person. USGI mags are very solid and well built in every aspect, with a very nice finish and the finish on the AYP mag is also exceptional.
Thanks for the pics bunker! It's very helpful! The cmp 8 page article was a good read but would have been better with pics.
I read the oil wrap ones in the first link are probably Taiwan mil spec not Korean and have a small o stamp near the drain hole. I read they're good ones to get. Gotta get a hardback sey they look like a quality mag! Nice mags I'm gonna have to collect a few myself.
I just wish I had a carbine to neede magazines, an old pawn/gunshop in Hot Springs AR has a ton of 15's for $10, 30's for $20. Used GI but in pretty good condition from those I've seen.
Yeah the carbine is a lot of fun. I like shooting it.
Haven't shot it much but the rifle is very reliable with usgi 30s.
Hornady defense ammo is supposed to be good for HD.
Been wanting to restore this chinese one, seems like forever... Saw a chinese lower for sale this year, didn't have enough funds at first then saw it relisted and lost the auction. lol.
Maybe I'll just look for usgi or reproduction parts to rebuild it. I guess it will be more of a shooter with all new parts or at least the barrel.
I only have a receiver there were only two for sale when I bought mine.
I got a lot of info from a nice guy on calguns a while back that had a complete one. A few guys helped with the specs from a book.
He gave me a lot of detail pics of the parts but some have serial numbers so I won't post those.
The interesting thing is he said the bolt was chrome and I think the barrel also.
It's basically a early version carbine.. I don't know what book it's from but it's a good guide for restoring it.
That is really cool, and not surprising considering the Chinese are known to be pretty good at reverse engineering. It still makes me wonder if the NDM 86 is truly a Chinese made weapon, or really made in Russia, then fitted and finished in China.
The prices for ndm and legends are pretty nuts now. lol Anything $4k with a ak piston seems like a lot. I'd go with a barrett over ndm but couldn't afford either.
A Barrett would be cool, but no range where I live will allow .338 Lapua, or a .50 caliber.
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