Magazine Question

fencer

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I was recently sold some high cap mags from a local gun store. I asked him if he had any preban hi-cap mags for a Sig 226. He said that he could get them and a week later I picked up three, brand new, 12 round mags. Is this an issue?

I asked a friend at AFS and he said that there is no way to tell when a Sig or a Glock mag was produced and that even Sig couldn't tell when it was made. All that having been said I sure would not want any problems.

Does anyone know what the law says? My friend is a LEO and he says that if you can buy it in Mass it is legal. I just want to be sure.
 
I was recently sold some high cap mags from a local gun store. I asked him if he had any preban hi-cap mags for a Sig 226. He said that he could get them and a week later I picked up three, brand new, 12 round mags. Is this an issue?

I asked a friend at AFS and he said that there is no way to tell when a Sig or a Glock mag was produced and that even Sig couldn't tell when it was made. All that having been said I sure would not want any problems.

Does anyone know what the law says? My friend is a LEO and he says that if you can buy it in Mass it is legal. I just want to be sure.

you broke two cardinal rules of gun ownership (three if you count the one on this forum):

1. you took advice on gun ownership from an LEO.

2. You took advice from soneone who works in a firearms store/range.

(3. you didnt search first)

If they are BRAND NEW 12 rounders, they are not legal to possess in MA. Sure you can maybe argue that no one cal tell if they are preban or not, but that is up to you and you lose rights complaining about a felony on your CORI if you ever get made.
 
The the mags are post-ban an in the possession of a non-FFL/LEO/Mil individual it is a felony in the state of Massachusetts.

While it is true that telling pre-ban from post-ban for certain mags is nearly impossible, if you know for a fact that they were brand new and manufactured after the ban date you do not want to have them in your possession in MA. Well, maybe you do, I can't speak for you ;)

Personally, however, I wouldn't take the risk.

PS - Your LEO friend means well, I'm sure, but that's some of the worst logic I've ever heard.
 
were they new new, or just NIB but 15 years old?


well...either way, id be careful about:
a) having those
b) admitting to a) on a public internet forum
 
were they new new, or just NIB but 15 years old?


well...either way, id be careful about:
a) having those
b) admitting to a) on a public internet forum

How do I know how old they are? The guy called me, told me that they were in and when I showed up he pulled them from under the counter and rang them up.

I'll throw the empty mags in the woodstove and melt them to lumps of metal right now if it is the right thing to do.
 
Wanna buy some crack?[laugh]

Oh good, I finally found someone with some in stock!

How do I know how old they are? The guy called me, told me that they were in and when I showed up he pulled them from under the counter and rang them up.

I'll throw the empty mags in the woodstove and melt them to lumps of metal right now if it is the right thing to do.

I'd bring 'em back, and talk to the dealer about it. He may very well inform you that they are, indeed, still in the package from 1923. Who knows.
 
A) This state is retarded for making us deal with this BS constantly.
B) Were they sealed in brand new factory packaging or do they just look really new?
 
How do I know how old they are? The guy called me, told me that they were in and when I showed up he pulled them from under the counter and rang them up.

You can't necessarily tell. The question is, do you trust the FFL who sold them to you more than you worry that they're post-ban and somebody will be able to identify them as such? Choice is yours, but you've slanted the odds somewhat by admitting to possession of them here on NES. If they did turn out to be post-ban mags, you can bet your life that somebody prosecuting you would dig up this thread as evidence that you should have known they were illegal.
 
[rofl][rofl][rofl]

Hint: This forum has a Mass. Laws section for a reason - posts like yours.

I am aware of that and did read about the mags. However I was unable to find anything that told me how to identify when a mag was produced anywhere on any thread.

Again, I did not see the packaging. The guy just pulled them from under the counter in a brown paper bag.
 
I am aware of that and did read about the mags. However I was unable to find anything that told me how to identify when a mag was produced anywhere on any thread.

Again, I did not see the packaging. The guy just pulled them from under the counter in a brown paper bag.

Gotcha. Well, that exhausts my ability to dispense advice. All I can say is best of luck, hope you get everything sorted out satisfactorily.
 
Again, I did not see the packaging. The guy just pulled them from under the counter in a brown paper bag.

Um!! Can you smell that? I don’t know about others as well as I don’t know much about MA gun laws, but never in my life had anyone from a gun shop giving me anything in a brown bag before I saw the items. Just saying,

Ish.
 
If the mags are marked '.357 Sig', they're not pre-ban. Apart from that, I'm not at all sure you can tell with 226 Sig mags.
 
Fencer... I'm not sure why you're freaking out here. Nothing in your description of the mags tells me they're post-ban or brand new... except for your statement of "He said that he could get them and a week later I picked up three, brand new, 12 round mags."

But all you've said is that they were in a brown bag. This does not mean "new" to me. Depending on what stores you go to... they'll have mags in bags, cardboard boxes, sitting on shelves... some look unused, some look very used.

What, apart from them being in a brown bag, makes you think they're new?

If they were loose in a bag... I really wouldn't worry about it. Like someone else said... If you trust your FFL... then you should be fine. But if you don't... just return them.
 
Generally, and there are exceptions, for Sig mags:

Mec-Gar markings are usually post-ban.
Marked "LEO Only" or "Export Only" is post-ban.
Datecodes usually means post-ban.
.357 SIG markings usually mean post-ban.
Witness holes on the side (as opposed to the back) suggests, but doesn't automatically mean, post-ban.
 
The mags are stamped Mec-Gar and say .357/.40. Everything I have read makes me suspicious. All three of them are currently being turned into lumps of metal in the wood stove. I really trusted the dealer too. Now I will never do business there again. That was an expensive learning experience. Thanks to all who gave advice, even Scrivener.
 
The mags are stamped Mec-Gar and say .357/.40. Everything I have read makes me suspicious. All three of them are currently being turned into lumps of metal in the wood stove. I really trusted the dealer too. Now I will never do business there again. That was an expensive learning experience. Thanks to all who gave advice, even Scrivener.

Dude, return them.
 
I'll throw the empty mags in the woodstove and melt them to lumps of metal right now if it is the right thing to do.

You'd be hard pressed to find "the right thing" written anywhere in MA firearm law. Just focus on doing the thing that keeps you out of jail.
 
The right thing to do is to sell them to me for $2.00 each. That's the only way to avoid serious prison time!
 
The mags are stamped Mec-Gar and say .357/.40. Everything I have read makes me suspicious. All three of them are currently being turned into lumps of metal in the wood stove. I really trusted the dealer too. Now I will never do business there again. That was an expensive learning experience. Thanks to all who gave advice, even Scrivener.


There are no pre-ban .40 OR .357 p226 mags. The p226 was not available in those calibers until they switched to the milled slides in 1996 - two years too late.


Melting them in the stove was a bit extreme IMHO, but better safe than sorry I guess. I would have brought them back to the dealer but that's just me....
 
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Dude, return them.

But what if he gets pulled over on the way to the shop and the cop finds the mags ?


All three of them are currently being turned into lumps of metal in the wood stove.


The guys at the country club are going to get a kick out of this !
 
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you haven't been to many shops in NE, have you? many of them have baskets full of mags and other junk to sort through, stuff they kept an eye out for you that's still in a "paper bag" under the counter because some customer dropped it off, etc. [wink]



Hehehe got you. BTW the next guns show here in the town I live it is next weekend. Any Santa wishes in a paper bag? I will have to ask just for a little tip in a brown paper bag [grin]

Ish.
 
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