Purchasing/borrowing a vietnam magazine
 

Gentleman,
I am in the market for a Vietnam era 20 round magazine. It would be ideal to just borrow one so I can get some dimensions from the magazine, but if purchasing one is the only way, I will do that as well.

Reason being is, I recently had a 5th group Vet/friend who served in VN give me many items... amongst the many outstanding items, he gave me a fatigue, web belt with all the ammo pouches, and also a boonie hat. I wanted to fill the ammo pouches properly so I could display the pieces and do his service justice. I was looking to borrow a Vietnam era 20 round magazine, and trace the magazine and cut out some blanks from wood which would then be painted and used to fill the ammo pouches. If anyone can supply a link to purchase a magazine, or better yet if anyone has a 20 round magazine I could borrow for a short period of time, I would greatly appreciate it. I of course will cover shipping costs and will have the magazine back to you shortly.

I promised him I would give him pictures of the display of all his items, but I dont want to half ass it. I'd rather take a little more time and do it right to show him his service wont be forgotten.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

Dimensions for 20 Round magazine
 

This is about as authentic VN era you are going to find:

Colt AR-15
CAL .223
COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO., INC. *
HARTFORD, CONN, U.S.A.

The circled Rearing Horse.

*(Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, Incorporated)

The stamped sheet metal device in the Side View is a stripper
clip speed loader.

And if your buddy was a true friend, he would also give you some Chieu Hoi Bags to put the magazines in.

Chris if you need 20rd mags for an AR platform, they are all pretty much the same. The receiver for the AR has had very few changes in the last 40 yrs.

You do not need VN era mags unless your collecting.

Look on AR15.com in the mags, parts & accessories section.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=7&f=123

Or post to the WTB section. Explain what your intent is. You should be able to find used mags for close to 10 USD each.

If you ask for beaters, maybe cheaper.. You may luck out and fine used hulls without followers, springs, and base plates.. Would look better than blocks of wood..

Good Luck..

CSB: thank you for the photo's. Won't even lie, I hadn't even known about the Chieu Hoi bags until you mentioned them. I had to google them to find out exactly what they were. I learned something new, thank you.


JJ: that seems like an excellent idea, I never really thought of trying to find the extra magazines like that. Hopefully I can find some beater mags and come away with a few. I really never knew the magazines stayed relitively the same. Again, I learned something else new.

The reason I originally asked the question, was because, online I could only find 20 round magazines for 25 dollars a piece. I'm hoping now I can come away with a bunch of beaters for a smaller amount. I also agree it will look a lot better, and it gives me more time to finish my small thank you for him.

Thank you for all the responses, I'll post a picture here when I finish the display. Hopefully a few of you gents will enjoy it.

If you know someone who reloads, you could have him make you a few dummy rounds that could be loaded into your old 20 rd mags for a much better display . Just make sure you mark them in some easily identified manner if you have any real 5.56 ammo around the house. You don't want any confusion between live and dummy rounds.

I am sure one of the guys around here knows someone who reloads. That's a really good idea as well. I would only need a few reloaded because the rest of the rounds could be empty and just filled with weight.

I would have never come up with any of these ideas myself. Thank you.

Make sure you see the mags (or pics of them) before you buy them.

The old ones are straight and the new ones are curved.

They may be more expensive than you think. Competition shooters use the 20 rounders because they need a lesser number of rounds between reloads and they let you shoot prone or bench without the mag grounding out.

TR

Again thank you, will definitely ask for pictures first. I signed up to AR15 forums, now I just need to be officially confirmed. Hopefully I can get the ball rolling on this little project in the coming days.

If nothing else works...

floro-intl.com/m16.html

20 Round Magazine - Dimensions (Body) 123 x 22 x 64mm (approx)

Thank you sir, much appreciated. I've come up short so far, but hopefully if I give it a little time, I can come up with something. Next is to find a guy who reloads ammo.

cszakolczai i have a several old 20rd M16 mags that I can give you, most of them are beaters, however they should meet your requrements
PM me with the details on where to ship

Thank you! Pm on the way.

cszakolczai,

If you need some more PM me. I've got a bunch of them. I can also reload a few dummy rounds but it will not be until after 4th of Jul. All my 20s and reloading equipment is at home and I'll be there for two weeks leave then. (then back to the box).

CD