A defensive use gun? I clean AND inspect the magazine, especially the spring, after every firing. And probably at least once a year if the gun has just been in a night stand or something.

A plinker, range run, that will never be used for self defense, who cares. Clean it next decade. Maybe.

I spray the insides out with Remoil aerosol gun spray. I then wipe it completely dry with a dry rag. This leaves a lubricated surface and increases reliability in my experience. Especially with parkerized mags, large bullet mags (like 20-25 rounds of.308), and steel case ammo in polymer mags. Steel case and polymer have a weird friction coefficient and I find that in some cases, these mags prefer the gun oil spray and then wipe down.

I also inspect the spring, and compare it to a new one. If its lost a lot of length due to spring set/use, I go ahead and replace the spring with a new spring. I'll keep the old mag springs for end of times, I don't throw them away. I might use them in training mags, but my front line defensive mags WILL be clean and have new or like new springs in them.

Some of you guys are seriously, clinically OCD. I hope some of these posts are just yanking our collective chains. If not, holy fuck.

When visibly dirty (covered in dust from being dropped on the ground in the desert) I wipe it off on my pants leg. If extremely dirty, I may blow on the open end and tap it on my leg.
I don't disassemble a magazine unless it's getting new parts.

Bruce

I would presume if you are doing a lot of competitive shooting where you are doing fast reloads and dropping mags on the ground then they would need to be cleaned often...

I feel like I've shot a lot in the last 15 -20 years with various semi-autos and I can't for the life of me ever remember cleaning a magazine... or replacing a spring or follower or such....

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Some of you guys are seriously, clinically OCD. I hope some of these posts are just yanking our collective chains. If not, holy fuck.

Some of us carry guns full time for a living and depend on them to be 100% operational. I clean / lube my mags about once a year and re-spring them every other year. It's cheap insurance. Some of use put LOTS of rounds through our duty weapons and mags can diminish over time. Constantly spring compression and alleviation along with mud, water, blood, gravel et can cause issues.

I tear down every mag when i get them. I clean and degrease everything then spray all parts inside and out with Mag-Slick (purchased from Brownels)which leaves a dry film lube and doesn't leave an oily residue which i believe will attract dirt and Debre.

I have found both metal shavings and plastic shavings in brand new factory mags. Also check followers for function on both new and used mags. All used mag springs get replaced if genuine factory springs are available and followers if any signs of wear are shown. I try to buy new mags but on occasion have bought gently used. Mags with any kind of internal rust get passed on or discarded.

I am pretty easy on mags so the environment they are kept in is clean and dry so after the initial cleaning they then would be cleaned on an as needed basis.

quote:

Some of us carry guns full time for a living and depend on them to be 100% operational. I clean / lube my mags about once a year and re-spring them every other year. It's cheap insurance. Some of use put LOTS of rounds through our duty weapons and mags can diminish over time. Constantly spring compression and alleviation along with mud, water, blood, gravel et can cause issues.

Yea you must be quite the guy. Nobody else on this forum carries or runs high volume through their guns. Get over yourself. Did you actually read the posts or my posts before blathering? Guys are reporting they break down their mags and clean the tube and springs including lube and wipe down after EVERY SINGLE RANGE TRIP.

For fucks sake, at least read the entire thread before cherry picking your comments. Such posturing.