Magazine Maintenance: More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys

 Magazine maintenance isn’t really a hot topic among gun owners. People love talking about what they do and don’t do with their firearms, but their magazines are often forgotten. This is due, in part, to the idea that they don’t really need much care.

While that’s relatively true in comparison to guns, completely forgetting about the piece of equipment that’s solely responsible for feeding your firearm is a mistake that will eventually catch up with you.

 Cleaning your semi-auto pistol magazines is simple and not necessary very often unless the magazines get excessively dirty based on how you use them. This can happen from thousands of fired rounds or one tumble in dirt or mud. Most malfunctions caused by “dirty mags” will be due to foreign debris like dirt, small rocks, mud, and sand.

To give your magazine a cleaning, you’re going to have to disassemble it. Most magazines have five basic parts.

There is the base plate, the floor plate, the magazine shell (also known as the body), the follower, and the spring. With some guns, the follower and the spring are connected and can’t be taken apart, so don’t try to force the spring out of the follower.

When you bought your gun, you also got a manufacturer’s handbook with it. In that handbook, you’ll find detailed instructions on disassembling the gun and the magazine.

Follow the instructions, and you’ll be fine.

 

Magazines and guns are susceptible to the same kind of damage.  You need to get rid of dust and moisture. However, you won’t find any gunpowder residue in the magazine, so that makes it noticeably easier and quicker than cleaning your gun.

To get rid of all the dust, just scrub all magazine parts with an old toothbrush or a brush made for magazine cleaning.  You should also run a clean rag through the magazine body just to make sure it’s clean on the inside.

For most magazines, this is more than enough to keep them clean for a long time.

However, if you’re doing outdoor drills in a high-humidity area or if you drop your mag in a puddle, you’ll need to protect it from moisture as well. Experts recommend using an alcohol wipe to clean any would-be rust out of your magazine.

 

Once you’re done, all that’s left to do is reassemble the magazine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Put the mag back into your gun and make sure everything’s clicking just right. If it is, you’re good to go!

 

Since it takes no more than 10 to 15 minutes to disassemble, clean, and reassemble a magazine, it’d be great if you cleaned the magazine every time you shot your gun. 

But really, if you pay attention and clean them when residue builds up or when you notice they are dirty, you will be fine.

 

https://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/magazine-maintenance-dos-donts/

Thanks to The Shooters Log and John Bibby for the Do’s and Don’ts

Magazine Maintenance Don’ts

So, what are the do’s and don’ts when it comes to magazine maintenance? Let’s start with the “don’t” list:

• Don’t attempt to deep clean the magazines without disassembling. You won’t remove much dirt or grit and the cleaning tools might get stuck or damage the magazine.
• Don’t just drop it in an ultrasonic cleaner—metal mags may come outstripped of paint; plastic mags and followers may not withstand the chemical bath (depending on chemicals).
• Do not use Simply Green on aluminum mags or mags with non-steel metal components—corrosion, damage of the metal and destruction of the mag may occur.
• Do not lube polymer mags—it only attracts dust and grime, as they are self-lubricating.

Magazine Maintenance Do’s

Now for the “do” list:

• Wear eye protection—a spring or follower to the eye is no joke.
• Confirm chemical compatibility with magazine components—standard gun cleaning products are normally safe.
• Have plenty of clean paper towels or disposable fabric cloth—for cleaning and lubing duties.
• Carefully disassemble the magazine, watch a video if you don’t know how.
• Carefully clean and inspect all components. Look for dirt, carbon, rust, weak spots, wear issues and spring tension.
• Replace all overly worn components–Magpul and others make repair/upgrade kits.
• Be sure to remove cleaner. Apply a light coat of oil to metal mags and apply non-evaporating/dry lube to spring components.
• Reassemble magazines. Generally, the reverse order of disassembly.
• Function check by handloading and manually cycling a full load of ammo–it should find binding or feeding issues

Smile, your job is done, and the magazine should last a lot longer based on a few minutes of work!

Magazine maintenance is not as important or talked about as gun cleaning and maintenance, but if can make a big different when you need your magazine to function perfectly.

Is it more fun than a barrel of monkeys?  Depends on your definition of fun...

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