[AcceptableUserName]

What's the proper way to care for a pistol magazine? Oil lightly or no oil at all? Ive gotten in the habit of taking the baseplate off of my mags, scrubbing them down inside with Remoil and a soft cloth, lightly oiling the spring and putting them back together. Is this bad practice? Anything to add?

[The Lone Haranguer]

I don't like to use oil due to the possibility of contaminating primers with it, instead keeping them clean and dry. A very thin film on the inside of the tube or the sides of the follower will not hurt anything, though. Silicone spray should also work, I would think.

[CWL]

Don't oil your mags, they will pick-up and hold dirt & lint and all manner of nasties to impede reliable function.

If you do want to lube them with something, I would suggest only using dry lubes, or even wax.

[NC-Mike]

After I've run a few hundred rounds through, I'll break the mag down, swab it out and give it a good shot of dry-lube in the body and on the spring.

[usp9]

I use one of the several "dry" lubes such as Eezox and Militec1 on my mags. The benefit of this is that;

The mags are dry, yet slick and thus work well.
Are coated with a rust inhibitor.
Are easier to clean.

[psyopspec]

I clean the mags for a given weapon after every 500 rounds or so through the individual gun, or if it was dropped in something gnarly (mud puddle, snow bank, sand). I use Gunzilla, so I'm not worried about contaminating primers - just spray on, let sit, and clean till dry/light film with q-tips and rags.

[Straight Shooter]

I wipe the exterior and follower with a dry cloth after a trip to the range. Every few trips I take them apart and do the same to the interior. Then I use the cloth I wipe the excess lube (CLP) from my gun when I clean it to wipe the springs.

Less is more when it comes to the magazines.

[Baneblade]

I just took the Glock Armorer glass again today and the instructor made a big point about not oiling the magazines. The two cited reasons were possible ammunition contamination (ruins the primers) and dust/debris collection in the magazine.

I doubt a light coat with a wipe down would cause either of those to happen.

[Spike66]

I clean mine about every 10 years if they need it or not!

Don't oil them though. Clean and dry.

[Sport45]

I clean mine about every 10 years if they need it or not!


I'm a little anal about this and clean mine every 5 years or so.

But if you're in the camp that cleans your handgun every time you shoot it you should be cleaning the magazines as well. They are arguably the most important part of the gun when it comes to functioning.

[twofifty]

Acceptable,

if you end up competing in USPSA/IPSC, you'll be dropping your mags onto the ground several times in each stage of each match. This happens, rain or shine - I've retrieved mags from muddy puddles.

Since dirt and grit gets in there, many competitors regularly brush out their mags. Take the mag apart, run a mag brush inside the tube, wipe the inside, wipe the spring down, the follower, the baseplate, reassemble. Make sure to wipe the outside too: outside dirt can prevent a mag from seating.

I bring an "Arredondo" brush to all comps. The handle has a mag bottom release thingy built into it. The brush is less than $15 and makes for fast and effective work.

[Aka Zero]

I take my mags apart, and put some silicone or teflon on the follower. Sam on the exterior of the mag.

I spray silicone inside plastic mags (saiga) because it helps them not to bind, and it soaks into the mag, so they are dry, yet slick.