Original "waffle" AR-15 magazines

I have noticed that original waffle 20rd magazines have all but disappeared over the
past fifteen to twenty years. there were some reproductions around sometime ago.

photo shows two pocket pouch (there are different variations of material) as first issued to Air Force personal and later used by Special Forces. There was also a four pocket which was worn upsidedown on the pistol belt from photo of Air force guards. The four pocket pouch is more difficult to locate than the two pocket pouchAttachment 130880

You never see them around here either. I came across one in the wild many years ago in Camp Pendleton, up behind what was then the "New Hospital" in 1984. We were exercising in an area that had been seeded with poison ivy to test before using it in RVN but the reason for disuse was lost to them in time...so we were assigned to that area. That was a bad one...but I found a waffle mag discarded in the ditch with a triangle shaped hole punched in one side. I guess I should have just kept it as it was. It didn't function so I didn't. Haven't seen one since.

The steel waffle magazines were phased out of literature around 1964 and it is doubtful any were shipped with civilian SP-1 rifles
from Colt. The waffle magazine was used with the Colt 601 in Viet Nam. The US military removed them from service and orders
were issued to destroy them in the field - most were gone by 1968.

One waffle magazine sold last year at the big Tulsa Gun Show for $300.00

Was there something wrong with them? Why were they phased out?

They were made of steel and rusted in the tropics plus there were problems in full automatic fire & the Edgewater buffer. Some
troops were told to load only 18 cartridges. I have used these waffle magazines in semi auto shooting years ago and never had
any problems, but now, they are too valuable to use for shooting

I just tried some stong magnets on the two waffle magazines in my photo in the first post, the magnets will not attach themselfs to the magazines ? The magazines must be manufactured of some other type of material or atype of steel that is not magnetic ?

It was on the ar15 forum that they stated the waffle magazines rusted in Viet Nam ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RCS

the waffle magazines rusted in Viet Nam ?

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Maybe the springs rusted?

I last saw waffle mags "in the wild" was occasionally at gun shows in the late 80s and early 90s. They ran about $75 a piece then.

I believe the steel magazines caused undue wear in the aluminum mag wells of the early AR.

Here are some additional photos of the waffle type 20rd magazines, I have fired them in semi auto without any problems. These are very sturdy magazines Attachment 131111Attachment 131112Attachment 131113