How often do your clean your magazine?

Three nights ago I had the range to myself so I have my wife set up my targets. I don't look when she set's them up and I don't know how many good or bad guys she places or where she places them. I can drive up or just turn around. She's good because she can get them 5 feet from me and I would not know.

Now time to get to my point. I was using my 45 XD Service when a round did not cycle. So I slam the slide back to recycle and nothing. I slam it back again. It took me three times before I realized something was wrong with the dam Mag. I stopped there because I'm dead anyways. Scared the Hell out of me. First I had a failure then I did not respond properly. Even my wife was shaking her head asking me if she should take the gun from me since I don't know how to use it. The magazine was stuck and no matter how many times I tried to get it unstuck, I had to wait until I got home.

I just finished cleaning my last magazine and I hate to tell you all but I'm surprise half of them worked. I had 58 Mags to clean. Where I shoot there is a lot of sand and fine dirt. I don't let them fall so I don't think about cleaning them. One problem I have which is a good one is the amount of differant pistols I train with. If I only had a few it would be easy. So I plan on cleaning my carry gun mags each time I clean the gun. I know it's over kill right now but to screw up like I did just scares the Hell out of me. I've only been in on shoot out in my life and it ended with the shooter killing himself. I don't want to have that feeling again if I ever have to rely on my pistol.

Nothing wrong with cleaning your mags often. They are the weakest part of the pistol's feeding cycle, so it makes sense to clean them a lot. We clean our magazines all the time over here.

That said, I clean my Glock magazines about once a year. Then again, I only clean my Glocks about twice a year. :mrgreen:

It depends on who the centerfold was.

I clean mine in kerosene after every trip out. I just drop them in a small covered pan at the end of my work bench and blow them out with compressed air. Works for me and I have never had trouble with a mag spring.

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Originally Posted by Baldy

I clean mine in kerosene after every trip out. I just drop them in a small covered pan at the end of my work bench and blow them out with compressed air. Works for me and I have never had trouble with a mag spring.

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Do you take them apart first, or just drop 'em in and blow 'em out?

I couldn't answer the poll. I've never cleaned a magazine, but I've been thinking about it. Just haven't put thought into motion, yet.

WM

I've only cleaned my mags twice. First, when I got them home, along with the gun and after one extended session of shooting. I put a bunch of CCI blazer brass (tha stuff seems pretty dirty) though my PPK/S and when I was cleaning the gun I noticed a lot of unburned powder in the action and decided to check the mag. There was a lot in there too. After about 300 through my P22, I checked trhe mags and decided they needed a good cleaning as well.

I clean them (carry) more in the summer months. Sweat,(condensation) dust etc. finds it's way into,well,you name it and it's there.

I have been shooting since 1993. I don't think I have ever cleaned a mag yet - and never had an issue because of it. I had Glocks for years - never a problem. No problems with 1911s or any of my other guns yet either.

My Buckmark 22 mag may be the only one I will HAVE to clean soon. Otherwise, I typically do not worry about it. But, I don't shoot overly dirty ammo either.

I shoot in IPSC competition where we drop Magazines in the dirt on a routine basis. If I don't clean them they will jam on a routine basis. My preference is to dissasemble, wipe everything down, wash if necessary then spray interior with silicone lube. This is not required each time they are used but must be done with reasonable frequency to assure reliable function.

:smt1099

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Originally Posted by Mike Barham

That said, I clean my Glock magazines about once a year. Then again, I only clean my Glocks about twice a year. :mrgreen:

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That's kind of overkill on cleaning the Glock, Mike. I think once a year is o.k. :mrgreen:

I don't worry about the Glock mags. I usually clean the others when they give me trouble. Maybe I will clean them more often now that you mention it.

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Originally Posted by JimmySays

That's kind of overkill on cleaning the Glock, Mike. I think once a year is o.k. :mrgreen:

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What can I say? I'm just meticulous that way. I'd reduce my regimen to once a year, but the wife already gets pissed about the black stains on my t-shirts. :mrgreen:

Hmmm.....I must be the only one who cleans them after each shooting session. I just take any rag I was using Breakfree on my pistol with and do a quick rub-down to get rid of any power residue.

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Originally Posted by Wandering Man

Do you take them apart first, or just drop 'em in and blow 'em out?

I couldn't answer the poll. I've never cleaned a magazine, but I've been thinking about it. Just haven't put thought into motion, yet.

WM

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I never take them apart unless I was going to replace a spring. I have replaced a couple of mag springs with Wolff's springs just to see if it made any difference. It hasn't. The wifes .45 has over 3,000rds through it and it's still going strong. When I buy extra mags I get Mec-Gars and I never have had a failure with them. Good luck.:smt023

You're supposed to clean mags?!?

Next thing you know you'll tell me I'm supposed to clean my guns!

Busted two followers so far (Kahr). Cleaned the mags when I replaced them. Took apart my Sig mag once to see how it ticked (I'm a former ing-in-neer) Took me 15 minutes to get the beeoch back together...

Now I blow them out w/ compressed air every few times I clean the gun. I'm a Virgo... so my guns get stripped and cleaned every time I shoot, and sometimes when I'm just bored and watching TV... Good thing my G/F LOVES the smell of gun oil....

Jeff

I have never cleaned the mags on my Springfields. They probably have a couple thousand rounds through them. The Kimber I just bought won't lock open when empty on 4 of the 5 mags I have for it. The mags were really dirty from the factory. I cleaned them all but it didn't help. Kimber is sending a new slide stop and if that doesn't fix it I'll replace the mag followers.

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Originally Posted by Todd

You're supposed to clean mags?!?

Next thing you know you'll tell me I'm supposed to clean my guns!

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Don't forget that they need to be fed a good diet of ammo also.

i take mine apart and clean them 3 times a yr. w/ clp

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Originally Posted by spacedoggy

Don't forget that they need to be fed a good diet of ammo also.

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Now you're talkin' crazy!

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Originally Posted by tnoisaw

It depends on who the centerfold was.

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HAHAHA

Hey mike, I hear of guys blowing fine grit out of their guns every day in Iraq, how is the dust and grime there? How easy is it to access a compressor for this purpose? How much oil are most guys running on their M4s and M9s?

If I'm shooting indoor, almost never, but just prior to and just after outdoor USPSA Shoot, I always clean them.

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Originally Posted by Old Padawan

Hey mike, I hear of guys blowing fine grit out of their guns every day in Iraq, how is the dust and grime there? How easy is it to access a compressor for this purpose? How much oil are most guys running on their M4s and M9s?

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Afghanistan has more varied terrain than Iraq, so it somewhat depends where one is located. In many areas, you have to at least wipe down after every patrol (mostly mounted patrol, LOTS of dust). In some areas with more vegetation and less dust, less cleaning is needed.

I generally wipe down and lube weekly, unless I go on the road or in a chopper, then I clean immediately thereafter. You can imagine how this kills me, since I despise cleaning guns! But it beats the alternative, should I need my weapon. :mrgreen:

Most units have air compressors available, but they are usually in the motor pool and not always accessible. Mainly we just use the canned air designed for computer care.

Lube regimen is the same as Arizona: light! One of the problems with the MK 19 automatic grenade launcher is the gobs of thick lube it requires, which makes it something of a filth magnet. Just another reason to prefer the great Ma Deuce!

I clean mine after about 500 round cycle per weapon. I have anywhere from 3 to 12 mags per weapon, and I cycle them regularly that way I don't have to clean them so often. I basically just blow out the mag with canned air and if I see an extra amount of dust and soot come out I will take it apart to wipe the insides out. I have never had a mag issue and it may be due to the light cleaning and maintenance or just luck.

I have a Walther P5 that was jamming something fierce (Shipwreck, you might remember. I think I PM'ed you over that). I was just about to ship it off to my gunsmith when, out of desperation, I decided to clean the mage...all ten of them!! The problem went away!!
Having learned a lesson, I clean mags every so often, which is good, because up till that point, I had never cleaned a mag!!