Original U.S. Pre Vietnam Experimental EX 54-17 Magazine Pouch

Original U.S. Pre Vietnam War Era Experimental EX 54-17 Magazine Pouch For the T44 Prototype Rifle (M14). No rips or tears, great condition. This is the EX 54-17 magazine pouch, as used with the EX-54 Load Carrying System, the predecessor to the M1956 web gear. Tested by the Quartermaster Research and Development Center as a replacement for the M1945 webbing, the EX-54 load carrying system evolved into the M1956 field gear that was used throughout the Vietnam War. The Quartermaster Research and Development Center was looking for a versatile suspension/load bearing system that could work for all purposes. Each piece of gear that was included with the then new EX 54 gear was marked accordingly as, EX 54 and followed by the suffix 17 which we believe to be a certain control number for a specific item. The most important item to come out of this short lived system was the clips used for attaching the items. The EX 54 gear rendered the wire hook attachment system obsolete and wanted to come up with an easier method of attaching and detaching gear. The solution was the clips that you can see on the back of the magazine pouch. These clips are widely known in the military community as “alligator clips” but they are more formerly known as slide fasteners/clips.