USAF M16 in VN With Odd Magazine

[Charlie Flick]

Gents:

 

I ran across this image recently and was struck by the odd rifle magazine. It presumably is a 30 rounder but it is obviously straight rather than curved in the shape of the usual 30 rounders we see. Is this airman holding a one-off magazine he cooked up, an early version of the 30 rounder or something else? The scene is at the Phan Rang AB in South Viet Nam, probably in the late 1960s.

 

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

 

[taucco]

two welded ones? half height you can see the magazine catch notch, probably it has been elongated by cutting the feeding lips and welding the top half of another one....i think i've seen other ones.

 

like this, two welded mags and three springs for a .magazine that held 30 rounds.

 

[McDermut99]

There's what looks like some type of diagonal line along the upper part of the magazine. Maybe a weld line or from when he used a wire wheel to clean the weld? I'm leaning towards a shop-made magazine.

 

Edit: I see the catch notch now. Definitely two mags welded together. Good eye taucco!

[Charlie Flick]

Aha! I think you guys are right. This looks like it is probably a modified 20 round magazine made into a 30 rounder.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Regards,

Charlie