[Ryanrutherford]

Trying to get the background information on theses mags / I have 35 of them they are stamped BRW S-I

 

[XXIV Corps]

Ryanrutherford,

Borg Warner(BRW SI) Mags can be marked Upside Down or even Sideways, without it being a Fake, If it is marked BRW S1 instead of BRW SI, It's a Fake (CMI Body) and will still work, marked to make one think It's a 60s GI Mag.

DI5

 

[Guest]

Ryanrutherford,

Borg Warner(BRW SI) Mags can be marked Upside Down or even Sideways, without it being a Fake, If it is marked BRW S1 instead of BRW SI, It's a Fake (CMI Body) and will still work, marked to make one think It's a 60s GI Mag.

This^^^^

There was a lot of fakery going on around the time of the 1994 AWB, they'd even wrap them in silver paper to make them look vintage, saw a lot of this when I worked the gun show circuit in those days. It should look like "BRW S-l", they can be a little off kilter or poorly struck as I have a few like that. If you see "S-1" it's fake as above...

 

[Harleystoo]

Borg Warner were the most common mag made during the Nam war. They are very good. The latch plate rivet design is also a good way to determine it's originality. Send me your email and I'll forward a spreadsheet (quick reference) on mags.

 

[sac troop]

If you suspect the magazine maybe a counterfeit marking on a CMI magazine body, look at the latch plate for the small horizontal line towards the bottom. They all are in the same location. They can be very hard to see on some magazines. Sometimes dampening the surface will bring the line out.
A latch plate with this pattern of spot welds and dimples along with that line is from a CMI manufactured magazine.

 

[NORKALNIMROD]

Though not OG, CMI is good stuff. JMHO

 

[Guest]

Though not OG, CMI is good stuff. JMHO

I bought 5 new CMI's in November, took 2 of them to the range and neither one did a very good job of holding the bolt back on last round, or, the bolt would slam shut on removal. It seems like an issue that's been done to death on this forum with no straight up answer from the folks selling them, some here have complained of having the same issue as me, or mags not fitting properly, or having to take a Dremel and tweak them to work.

Thing is I have several BRW, a couple KMT & OM, even some Chinese made mags and they all work fine. I suspect the issue is with the latch tab on the back of the CMI followers, or the follower itself not coming high enough to push the bolt latch. In frustration I sent them all back and was out $20 shipping...

 

[dighawaii]

Adding to what was already mentioned.

If they are Borg-Warner mags, the follower will have BW stampings in two places. Use Different's Magazine Guide as a reference. Different has excellent pictures and information that may be helpful to you.

I have an old stash of magazines that appear just like yours IF the only wrapper markings are the red printed packaging information. And, coincidentally, only this week, I opened one of the wrapped magazines to verify its contents. My magazine wrappers were dated ~1978. Others that I saw on-line were dated ~1962 or so.

My magazines were purchased from Cole's Distributing back in 2002. And, because of all the hoopla about fakes and whatnot, I opened up the wrapped magazine. From what I found, and advice of others, it appeared my BW magazine was genuine.

The magazine itself may have what appears to be tiny crystals from storage but the magazine itself will be pristine.

The tab and front welds should match up as shown in Different's guide.

I hope this helps.

Tom