"New Old Stock" AR-15 Magazines

[ijw]

I bought some pre-ban AR-15 GI contract magazines that were advertised as "brand new." I received them today and unfortunately they don't look very brand new to me. The bodies and internals have no damage and are clean, but the finish on all of them shows some scratches and light spots. This is the case even on the ones that are still sealed in plastic bags. Is this typical for old stock magazines or should I be looking for a refund?

 

[Fooped]

I bought some pre-ban AR-15 GI contract magazines that were advertised as "brand new." I received them today and unfortunately they don't look very brand new to me. The bodies and internals have no damage and are clean, but the finish on all of them shows some scratches and light spots. This is the case even on the ones that are still sealed in plastic bags. Is this typical for old stock magazines or should I be looking for a refund?

Perfectly normal. Those GI-issued mags have made the rounds and then some, as long as the springs are strong, no damage to the mag body and the follower is smooth you should be good for a long time.

Plus, those mags look better with a few "medals" on them.

 

[ijw]

Well they were advertised as "brand new," which to me means they would not have been issued. I could see finish wear happening with very rough handling in long-term storage, but I'm just not sure how these things were handled.

 

[LoginName]

Were they new in wrapper?

The old moly finish picks up scratches real easy... it would be more unusual to find any that didn't have any trace that didn't have any hairline scratches or "used" appearance.

 

[BillK]

I have two that are sitting in storage from the sand box, on them are dates scratched into the sides.. I asked about the dates from who I got them from and he said.. "man, those are some dates that we engaged enemy fire"

 

[Hanwei]

I bought some pre-ban AR-15 GI contract magazines that were advertised as "brand new." I received them today and unfortunately they don't look very brand new to me. The bodies and internals have no damage and are clean, but the finish on all of them shows some scratches and light spots. This is the case even on the ones that are still sealed in plastic bags. Is this typical for old stock magazines or should I be looking for a refund?

From having done a TON of research before buying my own pre-ban GI mags I found out that it is completely normal for the mags to have some, to a lot, of "handling marks". Even the ones new in wrapper. (they had to be handled before being put into the wrapper!). These handling marks are light scratches on the finish. If you take two of them... and just put one on top of the other... and move them around lightly... that alone will cause "handling marks".

Of the 14 pre-ban GI mags that I have, 4 were new in the wrapper and all 4 had handling marks. Nothing to worry about at all.

Just load them up... and enjoy them!

 

[ijw]

Thanks for the responses. I'm sure they'll work flawlessly I was just put off a bit by the finish. From what I'm reading here and elsewhere online this seems normal from long-term storage. Happy shooting!