Best way to clean mags?

[Dfariswheel]

For magazines that can't be easily disassembled, just soak for an hour in cheap paint thinner or more expensive mineral spirits.
Pump the follower a time or two during the soak.

Remove and shake off the excess, then either blow out with compressed air, or use a hair dryer to warm it up to dry. (Note: Hair dryer, NOT torch, heat gun, or oven).

Once dry the magazine spring and inside the magazine can rust so I give it a spray with a dry lubricant to both prevent rust and to lubricate.
Currently I'm using WD-40 Dry Lube with Teflon, bought at Minard's.

 

[totaldla]

Lube inside the magazine tube can lead to inertia feed.
I put some "slick" product inside three or four mags, and the gun could then not get through one without a double feed or live round stovepipe.

Seriously?

 

[RickB]

You'd believe me if I said I couldn't get through two mags without a double feed or live round stovepipe?

 

[JohnKSa]

That's a new one on me too.

So when you removed all the oil from the inside of the mags, they ran perfectly?

I see how a problem with the magazine could cause a double-feed, but I'm still trying to think through how it could cause a stove-pipe.

 

[RickB]

You don't see how a round that prematurely escapes control of magazine can end up somewhere other than in the chamber?

 

[TunnelRat]

How wet with lubricant are we talking here?

 

[Dfariswheel]

The key is How MUCH lubricant in the mag?
I've seen them with oil leaking out the bottom.

Some mags I lube with CLP Breakfree or Super Lube.
For those I put a few drops on a clean toothbrush and "scrub" the inside of the mag body.
That leaves an extremely thin layer of lube to prevent rust, but so little that it can't cause any problems.

 

[JohnKSa]

You don't see how a round that prematurely escapes control of magazine can end up somewhere other than in the chamber?

I missed the part about the stovepipes being live rounds.

Ok, yeah, if you're seeing stovepipes with loaded rounds that have escaped the magazine during the feeding process then that's definitely magazine related. However, I don't think we can blame lubrication as the only factor. The feed lips should prevent that from happening on a quality magazine that isn't out of spec.

Here are things that could cause live round stovepipes.

• Out-of-spec feedlips
• Mags made of metal that isn't stiff enough at the feedlips.
• Mags with springs that are way too strong.
• Mags with one or more of the other problems at the borderline level that are also lubricated too much.
• Some combination of the issues.

In other words, lubrication shouldn't cause the problem unless there's another contributor.

I would not use any mags that exhibited the issues you describe for self-defense duty and use them only at the range.

 

[Rhodester]

Take them apart, wipe all the components and spray them and the inside of the magazine with DuPont silicone and let all dry before reassembly. You will be amazed.

 

[Jim Watson]

What, you don't just swish them around in a puddle on the range floor?

Shooting IDPA Nationals in the fringes of a hurricane, I have done just that; picked a dropped magazine out of the mud and looked for the cleanest puddle to wash it in.
I don't do that any more (shoot in the rain.)

Out-of-spec feedlips

I have had nose up malfunctions and found the magazine lips splayed or just a bit wide.
A new occurrence, but I have been shooting USPSA as well as IDPA and I figure that dropping a magazine with ammo still in it is going to hammer the lips.

 

[41 Magnum]

Just a little air pressure !

I have not been shooting too much for quite a while now ! But, I used to take them out to the shop from time to time and hit them with a blast from the nozzle on the air compressor hose. I think the only time I've taken any apart was to put a different or an extended floor plate on one of them. I use all jacketed bullets in the semi's, so there is no wax or dirt to build up really.
Just a little shot of 150# air cleans out the dust !

 

[PSP]

I clean mags about once a year. Using a pistol length cleaning rod, I wipe down the inside with a Eezox damped patch, then let it sit to dry. Eezox is a dry lube. After a while I pull a clean rag through each mag. I use a Eezox. Moistened patch on the spring, winding the patch down the whole length of the spring. Wipe off the other parts then reassemble. A fast, easy way to keep mags at their cleanest.

 

[Skippy]

I clean mags about once a year. Using a pistol length cleaning rod, I wipe down the inside with a Eezox damped patch, then let it sit to dry. Eezox is a dry lube. After a while I pull a clean rag through each mag. I use a Eezox. Moistened patch on the spring, winding the patch down the whole length of the spring. Wipe off the other parts then reassemble. A fast, easy way to keep mags at their cleanest.

Excellent idea. I hadn't thought about Eezox. I've got a quart can but use it so sparingly I'll *never* run out.

In case you're unaware, the stuff is toxic, so wear gloves.

_______________
*I'd give right arm to be ambidextrous*