[mikebaker1129]

Bill,
I was wondering what markings to look for on M14 follwers? Were all marked ? I know that Borg warner marked theirs any others ? I have some marked : CTX . I was wondering if this was a USGI makers mark? Thanks Mike

 

[Bill Ricca]

Mike: I was not aware of follower markings until very recently. Unfortunately I have too many irons in the research fires right now to start another project. I recommend some other board members chime in here and help out. Or possibly Mike can redirect this question to the general board. I don't think I can add anything on that subject.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Thank you Bill !
Mike

 

[fubar]

i pulled aparpt a few mags today.

not all followers are marked.
if theyare marked it is at the center top of the vertical legs.
i have some marked BW and some marked O.M.

it is interesting that the BW marking is right side up and the O.M. is upside down.

 

[Bill Ricca]

fubar: The unmarked followers come out of which magazines? Another thing to see is OM had many contracts from 1963 thru 1970 (just what I know of). Is there a relationship between marked followers and/or types of markings on body? Or are OM all marked the same way. This is just OM, gives you an idea of what is in store because Borg Warner had multiple contracts over the same time period too.

Unfortunately it would required thousands of magazines, or somebody making up a check list to be filled in my hundreds of respondents. Then we could get an idea of what was done over the years.

Any volunteers to design a check list?

 

[dighawaii]

Dang, you guys are right!!!

I took a bunch of spare followers out and looked at them... I have BW and OM marked on most of them and I also have followers with nothing on them... oh, man, I never knew that there was these little initials.

The OM is indeed upside down or opposite to the BW.

Aloha,

Tom O.

 

[Hawk]

I'd make the checklist but it might be better if someone could design an active spreadsheet of some sort that could have data entered and then self tallied. I will donate a page on my website for the cause if someone could design it.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Hey guys ,I have some marked CTX . Any idea who made these ? Most of the others I have are unmarked .

 

[Bill Ricca]

Question for Mike is which magazine did the CTX come out of?

 

[Hawk]

Bill, I took two Borg Warner Mags apart and they both had followers marked BW. (as suspected they would) When I get a chance I'll check my other mags, But if I remember correctly they are all Borg Warner.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Bill ,
They were some loose spares that I picked up at a gunshow . These were the only ones marked . The others were unmarked .

 

[fubar]

bill the OM came out of a KMT mag. the BW came out of BW and OM mags. some of these were $23 USGI i picked up off battlerifles.com that had light surface rust. i disassembled and painted the bodies OD, the reassembled. some of the BW and blank were loose also. i'll go through my mags and post what i have as i do so. it'll be a few days before i get to the first ammo can full. i've go about 50. some i'm sure are original as i opened the package. others??

this project would be best done by opening NIW mags and checking. since it is so easy to mix up followers and bodies. i may have done this when painting as i didn't worry about getting them back the same. function is most important to me.

thankfully, there are no markings on floorplate or springs. i did check that while i had a few apart.

Bill: a little OT but though i would ask. are there markings on carbine mag followers? if so we could start a thread on that.

 

[Bill Ricca]

JB Powers and I have an upcoming article on GI 30 round magazines. It covers the three different types of followers found in the 30 rounders only.

Never saw a marking on a carbine follower, but there are at least two different types of followers used (my memory here) on the 15 round mags.

 

[SixTGunr]

Two H&Rs have O.M.
Eight BRW have BR.

 

[warbird]

Hey Mike,
I'm glad I got all those BW and OM followers before you got to them. :lol:
I saw the CTX but didn't know if they were USGI or not.All those followers looked the same including the finish.The guy who was selling them gave me a heck of a deal (on 15) before he raised the price from $2.95ea. to $3.95ea.

Another guy I know who is a collector told me that the CTX were USGI but didn't tell me who made them.Just that they may be a subcontractor with their own name on it instead of BW or OM and were for replacement parts.Also that followers with no markings were the last ones made before being discontinued.

I myself would like to know more about these.

Fly high,shoot low and you'll hit'em every time.warbird

 

[C.R.]

I just purchased four NIW, SA mags from Coles distributing. The wrapper was stamped 1959 Springfld armory. When I opened the wrap the mags were actually stamped UHC in a semi-circle. The mags looked brand new with no rust or wear. I called Coles back and asked why they were not stamped SA and she said that UHC was a subcontractor for SA during that period, and a lot of the SA mags were done by UHC. The point here is that I looked at the followers and none of them were marked. I also have a C.M.I. mag that is not marked. In case anyone was making a list.

 

[Bill Ricca]

Yes CR is correct. SA had contracted for magazines during the period of rifle production. SA produced magazines were probably produced only during the developmental stage of the rifle, or possibly the very first few months of production.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Interesting....... So not all USGI mag followers are marked ?

 

[C.R.]

Interesting....... So not all USGI mag followers are marked ?

At first glance it would appear not all were marked. I thought it would help to know that the NIW UHC's were not marked as now it would appear that marked/unmarked followers are not a reliable indicator of USGI original magazines.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Thanks for the heads up ! You Sir are a gentleman !