.........don't guess anyone has started making a polymer 15 rd magazine for these handy little rifles yet. Sure would be nice if they did.

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LEX ET ORDO

But you can still get metal ones from Fulton Armory. The last time that I checked they had original GI mags as well as new ones.

I had a polymer one years ago.
Broke at the top and never worked right.
Threw it out and got more metal mags.

Go with the GI mags if possible. IN my experience they are the most reliable.

That goes for AR-15 mags, too. Go with good, aluminum ones. I have seen countless "plastic fantastic" mags break, sometimes when dropped, sometimes not.


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So very Politically Incorrect

Get the metal government government contract 20 round magazines. Better made, works better, and the last time I looked, still relatively inexpensive.

Just due to the way the magazine catch on the magazine body is designed, I wouldn't trust the longevity of a plastic .30 Carbine magazine. But I know of no plastic magazines. I still see GIs at gun shows, but in the $20 range now. At one time you could get them for a dollar. I have something like 15 of the 15 round type and three 30-rounders. I also have three which have been modified to five rounds. Those look to have professionally-made bottoms held in place by pins, probably made of Aluminum. Does anyone know where those conversion bottoms are available? I would like to make up a couple of 10 round magazines.

I was touted onto Korean made 15 rounders some years ago, and find them fine. Cheaper Than Dirt maybe?
Sometimes they are more reliable than my original wartime ones, but
I got them for authenticity more than use anyway, KSGs to go with my 1943 Saginaw.

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It's what I do, not what I am.

I own carbines, mags etc. I have never saw a quote "20 rd gov. contract mag". Do you have pics and documentation on those? ALL standard mags for the carbine are 15/30 rds..

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S&W Accumulator

CMP has the Korean mags off & on.

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S&W Accumulator

The military issue 15 round mags are likely to be the most reliable in the M1 Carbine. Most of the 30 round mags you now see are knockoffs and are often unreliable. The 20 round mags are in the same class as the knockoff 30 round mags. I would not use a polymer magazine in the M1 Carbine.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

CDNN out of Texas has M1 Carbine mags.

I think he's referring to the USGI M16A1 mags.

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BTDT, Got The T-Shirt

I've had good luck with the KCI mags in both 15 and 30 rd versions.

There were no government issue 20 round M1 Carbine magazines, but there were some aftermarket 20 round magazines available several years ago. They look like 30 round M1 Carbine mags, but shorter. They strike me as being 30 round mags that were shortened to 20 rounds, perhaps trying to make them more reliable. The few reviews I read indicated that they were still unreliable.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

My understanding is that the 20 rd mags were for M2 carbines and are quite scarce. After market ones have a rep for jamming.

Just looked at the Fulton Armory site. 15-round USGI magazines, 'like new', are listed for $49.95. I haven't seen a GI 30-round one in a while, and I've never seen a 20-round M1 carbine mag. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't exist.

^^^ This is correct, the only government issue magazines were the original 15 round magazines and the later 30 round magazines.

Although I find USGI 15 round magazines to be very reliable (and I've had no problems with the recent Korean made 15 round magazines), the 30 round magazines can be quite problematic and that's mainly with the commercial copies. Most people don't know how to tell the difference between original USGI 30 round magazines and the commercial copies therefore they all have a pretty bad reputation. Jokingly, the easiest way to identify a USGI 30 round magazine is that they sell at gunshows for about $75+.

I ran across the commercial 20 round magazines a few years ago and purchased one to try out. I gotta tell you, I was impressed with it enough that I purchased half a dozen more. They are a little shorter than the 30 round magazines and mine have been every bit as reliable as the USGI 15 round magazines. I have not seen any 20 round magazines available in a while, but I wouldn't hesitate purchasing them rather than the much maligned 30 round magazines.

Pictured below for size comparison is the commercial made 20 round magazine in the center.

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- Change it back -

USGI 15 rounders are widely available, you can even find them new in the wrap. $20-$30 should get a excellent GI mag. GI 30 round mags can be a little pricey. The FN produced 30 rounders marked “AYP” are Belgian and are every bit as good as USGI. CDNN used to sell them for $20.00. Don’t know if they still do. As others have said, the Korean mags work well.

One thing I like about the Korean mags is they have a bolt hold open slot milled into the magazine follower.

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S&W Accumulator

I used to put the follower from the 30rd mags into my 15rd mags so the bolt would hold open after the last shot.
Easy to switch over.
The 30rd mags were aftermarket that I took the followers from. But they worked fine in the 15rd GI mags and held the bolt open on last shot.

I had a few GI 30rd mags but never thought they were too awful handy for much.

Still have some 15rd magazines around, some still in the wrap IIRC. Some GI pouches.
But the Winchester M1 carbine went down the road a while ago.

The three 30-rounders I have are original GI, but I seldom use them as they are so clumsy. I generally use my 5-round magazines the most for casual shooting.

A very good point that a lot of folks seem to miss.

The original WW2 production 15-round mags did not have a bolt hold-open feature. The later Korea-era 30-round mags did have the bolt hold-open feature, actually just a different magazine follower to lock the bolt open on an empty magazine.

Over the past 25 years or so I have seen magazines from Korea, Malaysia, and other countries that adopted the M1 Carbine after WW2. Quality of these has been quite good; I think they were produced on original US equipment provided by Seymour or others. They have all had the bolt hold-open feature.

My mistake=I was thinking of the 30 rounders!

Ya'll have saw this one before. Underwood Elliot Fisher. High wood. Marked on the receiver Bavarian Forestry Police. They took very good care of them and this one is in good shape. Carbines loaned to Germany after the war for police work were marked on the left side of the receiver with the German group that used them.
BTW I shoot a lot of cast bullet in my Carbines and Garands. Sometimes they smoke like a muzzle loader. Never clogged a gas port and probably never will. If it ever happens it's an easy fix.

Attached Images

100_1021.jpg (197.8 KB, 37 views)

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S&W Accumulator

I have original WW2 carbine mags that I unwrapped from the wax paper. I also have some of the newer Korean mags. In 15 round, all of them work. I have extra springs from Wolff, but haven't needed to change any yet. I stay away from the 30 round mags, finding them to be problematic.

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Only a cold warrior

FYI -

I've had very good and reliable cycling with KCI Korean 30 carbine mags. So much so that I bought several of them.

KCI M1 .30 Carbine 15rd Magazine

Bayou52

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Bayou52
NRA Life Member

Funny, I read somewhere recently that USGI .30 Carbine mags were unreliable, cheap, and originally built to be used once and thrown away. Not my experience at all but that's what the guy said.

I have a bunch I bought when they were $2 or $3 apiece. But I pretty much use the same two or three I have on the carbines. Over the years I have never had a problem. The prices quoted in this thread amaze me.

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You're shy a few manners.

I have a rebuilt 43 IBM. I keep it in the safe with a loaded mag in the well and 2 on the buttstock. They are loaded with Winchester HP ammo. That is my wife's go to self defense rifle. If 45 rounds doesn't cure what ails you, you bit off too much or are already dead!

I bought a case with 100 used GI 15 round mags in the 90's for $100, and sold about 80 of the for $6 each, and the WWII vets said I was ripping them off, but they bought them anyway! I have a few 30 rounder GI's.

Once I built a toy Sterling submachinegun for my 4 year old (now 41) and used a M-1 30 round mag. I drilled holes in muffler pipe, put a sheet metal mag well on the side, and a counter bored 5/8x 8" bolt was the barrel. A very ****** spray paint job looked like a Sterling from across the room. The banana mag was a hit with the gunstore folk.

Ivan

Are the KCI mags same as Korean military?

I pretty much agree, USGI 15 rounders tend to be good. Aftermarket not so much. I've never owned a GI 30 rounder, my one aftermarket really stunk. But now with NYs Safe Act its all a moot point. I'm restricted to 10.

Interesting point, although there were no GI 20 rounders, I think there was perhaps an experimental one in the development phases. I know of a picture of a carbine with a straight magazine CLEARLY longer than the issue 15 rounder. I think its in Small Arms of the World, among other places, at least my 1977 edition.

is offering KCI 30 round M1 30 carbine mags in the current catalog for $19.99. I ordered two but they haven't been shipped yet. Probably over-sold. We'll see if they're any good.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

I can remember buying the USGI 15 round mags that were still in the green wax paper for $5 each at the old Great Western Gun Show in Pomona CA. There were bins full of them and I sneaked a peek at a few until I found a couple of R-O marked ones for my Rock Ola M1 Carbine.
Makes me sound like an old timer. Wait.....

I believe when the carbine was being developed it had a 20 round magazine.

That is correct. The hand made prototype Winchester carbine used for evaluation did have a 20 round magazine.

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Live long and prosper

That could be the picture I was talking about. Was it a straight magazine?

About 30 years ago I had the opportunity to run several 30 rd sticks through an M2.......Talk about fun!

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S&W Accumulator