Apologies in advance for this noob-like question - HOW TO IDENTIFY GENUINE MAGPUL KIT

Decoy

I have absolutely no problem paying a premium price for a genuine product as I believe the genuine article will typically be better made and buying the real thing ensures the company in question will continue its R&D into new products. What I cannot tolerate, though, is paying top dollar for what is advertised as genuine kit but is actually a cheap clone. If I have to I will buy a cheap clone if that is all that is available or all that I can afford at the time but it had better come with a cheap clone price tag!

Can anyone tell me (& our fellow airsofters) how to identify genuine Magpul kit, specifically the MS2 sling & PMAGs? I know that Magpul PTS is separate to the real steel Magpul Dynamics organisation but I wouldn't have the first notion how to identify either if I saw it. What exactly are 'Green Label' products, are they licensed clones or are they genuine Magpul-made products? Can anyone provide info (by PM if preferred) on what retailers* sell genuine Magpul PTS kit?

*I'm working on the basis that Irish retailers sell genuine Magpul kit or will be up front with the customer as to origin.


On a related question, what is the difference between MIAD & MOE grips?

Many thanks in advance for your patience & assistance.

Arkslippy

I have some Magpul gear and they have pts in engraved into the metal or plastic they are made of.

But clones are a hazard on the net regardless of anything else which is a shame.

Witcher

Green label stuff is licenced for manufacture by Magpul, Star make the Green Label Pmags or did.

PTS gear has the Magpul sign and/or name.

Miad's have changable front and backstraps on the grip and a finger groove. MOE's have a solid grip with no finger groove.

Genuine Magpul stuff is sold in most of the reputable airsoft shops and websites- Redwolf/Ehobby etc etc.

Puding

Fire support in the uk is a good source they only sell real stuff

defenderdude

MAGPUL's website has some documents on spotting Genuine Vs Fake Magpul.

Here's the UBR one
I think it's more provided for obvious safety reasons...

http://store.magpul.com/prod_detail_list/f/36
http://cdn.magpul.com/downloads/counterfit_ubr.pdf

gerrowadat

For PMAGs, you can tell genuine ones, because they have an allen screw holding the base plate on, so if you go to put a ranger plate on you need to remove that. Green label don't have this, just the push-in button thingy. Green label also have worse quality plastic, you can see how the rough surfaces were moulded into the cheap plastic. Hard to tell without having a real one to hand though.

You can usually tell the genuine sling because it comes with a big instruction package in a plastic ziploc bag, and it has a magpul logo on its little velcro patch.

evilrobotshane

gerrowadat wrote: »

You can usually tell the genuine sling because it comes with a big instruction package in a plastic ziploc bag, and it has a magpul logo on its little velcro patch.

My sling's got all that (no velcro though, the logo is rubber and sewn on) but it cost a fiver from Pro-T. It's good quality too. I don't know if it's genuine or not, but I don't really care of course.

Decoy

gerrowadat wrote: »

For PMAGs, you can tell genuine ones, because they have an allen screw holding the base plate on, so if you go to put a ranger plate on you need to remove that. Green label don't have this, just the push-in button thingy.

Thanks for this, I just got a couple of PMAGs from DB and the first thing I noticed was the allen bolt on the base plate, other PMAGs I have seen didn't have that. This seems like an iron-clad way of spotting genuine PMAGs

gerrowadat wrote: »

You can usually tell the genuine sling because it comes with a big instruction package in a plastic ziploc bag, and it has a magpul logo on its little velcro patch.

I bought one from ebaybanned and it came in the plastic ziploc with the printed card that looks genuine enough but I'm not convinced it is the real deal. The Magpul logo on the velcro patch was printed on the rubber, the genuine PTS version seems to have the logo manufactured into the rubber (see attached pic from eHobby). I'm guessing the ebaybanned MS2 is Green Label or a decent clone because it is will made and has taken some abuse, I bought one of the $8 clones from Pro&T and it was utter cr#p compared to the ebaybanned version. A mate has just bought two MS2s, one from an Irish retailer and another from the UK, he says they are completely different in colour & there are other differences too. I will check them out & come back with what I find.

Chuck the Buck

Ebaybanned only do genuine Magpul stuff I believe. All the other major online retailers do the genuine stuff too as Magpul unleash the Chris Costa Ninja lawyers to pwn aweone who sells fake stuff.

Inari

If you're looking for genuine magpul, QAS and Hobby Airsoft deal in it - so it's probably safest to go with 'em.

Decoy

Now I'm even more confused on PMAGs.

There's the original standard PMAG with the allen bolt on the base plate. We all seem to agree this is genuine Magpul PTS.
There's the Green Label PMAG which is a fully licensed product but is not made by Magpul. (We will ignore the cheapo clones available on various sites for the purposes of this discussion)

So what exactly are PMAG M Version, genuine PTS or licensed clone? From the blurb I have seen they are genuine Magpul PTS, with a redesigned rib configuration and notches top & bottom to take the dust cover. However, there is no allen bolt on the base plate that identified the original/standard PMAG, only the same oblong push-button as the Green Label. Also, having examined what I believe are genuine original PMAGs and genuine M Version PMAGs the internals of the two mags are completely different which would seem an odd thing to do as the blurb only mentions redesigning the externals.

Is there any chance one of the Magpul-dealer retailers can bring some clarity to this?

Markom5a

anybody know how to identify real and fake mbus's?

Witcher

Markom5a wrote: »

anybody know how to identify real and fake mbus's?

They will have "PTS" marked on them as here:

Markom5a

Blay wrote: »

They will have "PTS" marked on them as here

thanks man nearly paid half decent money for clones......