Cleaning Magazines

**Porramedic** · 06-09-2009, 18:21

What sort of cleaning do semi-auto mags require? They are bound to get dropped in sand on the range.

Do you strip them after each shoot? What do you clean them with? Do you blow them grn1 out with compressed air? Finally do you lube them at all, bearing in mind the effects of oil on ammunition?

**shooter** · 06-09-2009, 19:13

I strip them, clean all surfaces and spring with cloth and gun oil and them wipe all oil away. I don't do it that often. I'm also interested to hear what the other guys do.

**ikor** · 06-09-2009, 20:34

Pretty much what Shooter says, although I will use compressed air to blow sand out first if sand is in the magazine. The magazine is basically one third of a self loader (frame assembly, slide assembly and magazine assembly) and should, if possible, be cleaned almost as often as the firearm itself. Glock mags have lead to lots of shooters not cleaning when they really should IMO due to it being about a half-PITA to disassemble and reassemble them, but they should also be cleaned.

Magazines should also be inspected for cracks and / or spread feed lips and the springs for any sign of rust. In a SD handgun, any...I mean ANY...speck of rust on a spring requires that spring be replaced because if it is not, the spring will eventually break at that 'pit'...usually when you can least afford it to. Run mags dry inside so they do not attract dirt / sand / grime. A wipe down of the spring with an oily cloth is sufficient for a carry pistol. Obviously, if you live near salt water, or in a hot, humid environment, check more often, etc.

Magazines do not last forever. Periodically they must be replaced. Not cheap, but necessary for a serious use handgun...and yes, I am sure someones BIL has some that still work fine after 37 years, but the odds are they have not seen hard use, and while I don't know about you, my life is worth more than the cost of a few new pistol magazines.

**BigT** · 06-09-2009, 20:40

Good points. Don't fall in love with your mags consider them somewhat disposable.

**Sean Murphy** · 09-09-2009, 14:42

I strip and brush out all dust with brush. I use the gas tube brush from an R4 cleaning kit. Brush off all parts and reasemble.

No oil ever. This will contaminate ammo and cause more dust to stick in mags.

Sean

**THOMAST** · 26-10-2009, 12:49

Anybody ever used JIG-A-LOO?
Its a Silicone spray that dries to the tough in about 4 seconds.
Do a Google.

**JoeTalin** · 26-10-2009, 17:34

My magazines are easy to disassemble/reassemble, so I clean them pretty often - pretty much every second time that I clean the weapon.
Use compressed air, like Ikor, then use a copper brush and some oil to scrub if it the dirt is really caked (sometimes happens after a muddy range day).

DS · 28-10-2009, 15:19

Yip no oil as sand and sh*@ will stick instead of falling out.

Rescomp sells a very nice "mag brush" = long round brush with stiff bristles that makes cleaning double stack pistol and especially long rifle mags a pleasure and its quick.

I doubt that it will fit 1911 single stack mags but for that one gets special brushes to fit the single stack profile (Brownells?)

If worried about rust coat the mag with Eezox. If you do not have Eezox you missed out on the batch FrankH imported = too bad as it is a VERY effective rust prevention method. Do a search on this forum - I am sure I posted tests (or a link) done with Eezox and other products.

**gunsports** · 05-11-2009, 16:50

Mag brush: use the brushes sold to clean baby bottles. (If you have a baby, keep brushes separate ;D) Goes into all the small spaces; nice and soft and will not scratch delicate surfaces. Keep oil out of mags. they're designed to function oil free.

**Analyst** · 05-11-2009, 18:57

And, if you want to be super tactical, dont have all your mags disassembled at once. And don't have your weapon disassembled at the same time as your (rotating) mags.