I got this magazine to play with from the shop where I work and I suspect he has more of them stashed somewhere that he will let go at a good price. As I recently acquired an AR carbine, I am in the market for some mags. I was just going to buy some of the CProducts mags as so many here say they work well and aren’t too expensive. I hate to spend too much on mags because you end up throwing most of them out sooner or later anyway; they are a somewhat saccrificial part as far as I am concerned. Anyhow, they are steel, finished black, with the old style black plastic follower. The floorplate is stamped “Imperial Defense Services” and below that centered is a series of dashes with “England” in the center of them. The only other marking on the body is a capital “B” on the front at the bottom and it’s upside down. It is assembled just like a USGI mag except from steel and the floorplate appears the same. It fits the magwell nicely, locking positively and dropping free when released. The bolt hold open is activated by the follower. I just got it two days ago and haven’t gotten it to the range yet. I would suppose a Magpul follower would be a wise improvement, but other than that, it looks GTG. Anybody here know of these mags, and if so, are the ok? Or junk? Any opinions appreciated.
Edited to add: Yes, I already checked the mag sticky up top. Only one poster mentioned a Brit mag and didn’t really say much about it. I quit reading when it changed into a Milspec argument. So if it’s mentioned near the end of the thread, I missed it.
I assume those are the British SA80 magazines. I bought two a while back in a search for steel magazines.
The first time I used them they would not fire more than two or three rounds without jamming. At one point I pulled the mag out and several rounds fell out of the rifle - the follower had jammed and several rounds got loose and just fell out.
I replaced the follower with Magpul followers and now they are 100% reliable so far. They are, however most DEFINITELY 28 rounds magazines, at least in my AR’s.
I have 5 that I bought when I first built my rifle several years ago. I have never had a problem with them, loaded to 28 or 30 rounds. They seat fine with the bolt closed, etc. I recently replaced the followers with MagPul followers. First time at the range I had one of the MagPul equipped mags fail to feed due to the follower binding. I swapped the follower back to the original and the problem was solved. I guess the addage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it applies”. I did get to try out my new MagPul P-Mags on the same outing and love them! I will get more P-Mags in the future, and for the price I can’t think of and reason to buy any other type!
I can’t seat one of these mags with 30 rounds loaded on a closed bolt to save my life. Doesn’t bother me though - with the Magpul follower they work fine and seem plenty durable. I like them, now.
I use mine for training mags. I painted the bottoms blue, removed the follower and spring, and use them for dry firing and practice magazine changes with them.
Mine (the blued ones) rusted and the parked ones wouldn’t work with Magpul G2 followers.
Well, thanks for the replies. I guess I need to go out and try it. At least it sounds like it could prove to be a good mag. It is blued, not parkerized. I may Duracoat my rifle soon, and if so, just do the mag as well to help keep the rusting down.
I have 6 of the blued ‘England’ steels from during the ban that are in the rotation. All have Magpul followers and ranger plates along with light surface rust, and they work well for me.
I bought a batch (two batches, actually) from USMC03 before the ban ended. (Thanks, Jeff!) The spring has a larger diameter than USGI and subjectively “feels” springier. With a MagPul follower and Ranger Plate, these work great. Light surface rust is not an issue. Maybe Duracoat is in the future…
Poor man’s HK mag!
I use either Gen I and Gen II on the parked mags, whichever fits.
Yup, I’m about as concerned with the orange spots as I am the finish wear on my aluminum mags. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find ‘England’ mags now, but I don’t get embarrassed about using what I have.
well nobody said it so i will, i have noticed that the p-mags are still not being accepted across the board. i also want to point out i havent tested mine enough to know if the next comment is true, p-mags seam to dispell the common belief that magazines are disposable.
Well, I am planning a range trip later today (Sun), and will find out if the England mag works. I have ordered Magpul followers to replace the one in it. As far as disposable goes, I consider mags to be sort of semi-disposable. This is to mean that I want a good mag that is reliable, but I haven’t seen a mag that is difficult to damage to the point of uselessness, so it is not hard for me to dispose of it at that point. As a machinist I can compare them to a dial indicator. It needs to be accurate, but the $150 is just as screwed as the $30 one when it hits the floor from waist height, so why spend the $150? I can tweak feed lips just as well as the next guy, but you can only go so far. At this point, the floorplate, spring, and follower come out and the body goes in the trash.
