[gunnutery]

Just curious on everyone's thought's. I've heard opinions on both sides of the "bad mag debate" and thought I'd take a poll here.

Once some results start showing up I'll cast my vote and share my thoughts.

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

What kind of mags----cheap AR mags or expensive Ruger mags.

If anything --you can save the springs---followers and floor plates.

[Inebriated]

Refurbish, and label "RANGE USE ONLY".

[Teachu2]

The only mags I've ever had "go bad" were 1911s, and darn few of those. I seem to be a magnet for people who quit shooting or found them in Grampa's sock drawer after his funeral, and about 10% of those don't function 100% reliably. As (until recently) my CCW piece was a 1911, I had a standard response for unreliable mags - unload 'em and deposit in nearest trashcan.

It's not worth it to me to screw with them. I've tossed three or four in 30 years - and I have a pile of them left.

[chris in va]

I have a drawer half filled with bad CZ magazines.

[JERRY]

New spring and follower and you have a new mag.

[bigfatdave]

refurb unless the body is damaged beyond repair

you can at least get a range-only mag out of them, most of the time

magazine-fed weapons without a spare magazine or seven are pretty pointless, refurb or at least save parts if it is a damaged body

[stumpers]

I must have thirty G19 mags, some from as far back as 2005. Springs are the only things I've ever had to replace...no reason to throw them away.

[9mmepiphany]

I don't consider springs wearing out as a magazine going bad. Mag springs are just like recoil springs and need to be periodically replaced.

However, a magazine going bad, like split lips, split welds, cracking baseplates, should be discarded. Especially 1911 magazines, or other single stacks, which should be treated as consumable items.

The only popular pistol where I have not seen their magazines fail is the H&K P-7. Their magazines are built like tanks

[Skylerbone]

I chose other. You can always mount them on a board or piece of wood an have a handy pistol stand. Even better with drawer slides mounted inside a safe, pull out storage. With 1911 magazines some follower/springs are propriety so saving innards may invite future failure.

[el Godfather]

Discard or sell off. Buy new.

[WardenWolf]

If the springs are shot, refurbish them. There's no sense trading a mag with known-good feed lips for one that may or may not work.

[barnetmill]

The choices on the poll are not sufficient. It really depends on what is wrong with the mag and how expensive a new mag is. If a new mag was made wrong relative to shape and does not work in your gun, then you may not readily be able to fix it. Some new magazines for my saiga 12 need to be fitted to the gun.

If it is feasible I would repair; if not feasible I would not repair.

[mgmorden]

If the feed lips or mag body are damaged then its junk. Otherwise though, every other part in a mag is dirt cheap. And if its not the mag body what went bad, why even relegate it to "range only" use? Its not as if the ghost of the broken spring is gonna come back and work its voodoo on the new one. ;)

[wildehond]

Feed lips and body OK. New springs and followers. If they then still give you grief get rid of them.

[Peter M. Eick]

It depends on the gun.

Sig 210 mag that runs $150 a pop? Refurbish.

Glock 20 mag that runs $18 a pop? Trash can.

[ny32182]

How exactly are you going to "refurbish" a bad mag?

Mags can only fail for about 3 reasons:

1) Dirty
2) Worn out spring
3) Body is damaged or manufactured to bad specs

Only case #3 really counts as a "bad mag" to me. I'd fix each as follows:

1) Clean
2) Replace springs (I do this all the time in magazines I use a lot, the mag spring is a wear item like any other spring, and in any pistol I have ever shot a lot, it is the FIRST thing to go if you took a pistol out of the box and started shooting it until it doesn't work)
3) Chuck it. If it is actually a bad mag I want it nowhere near me for any reason.

[ku4hx]

Assuming the magazines can be successfully refurbed, it depands on the price of new magazines. When refurbishing gets to be, oh, 60% of the price of a new magazine, trash it and buy new.

Magazines that have demostrated flaws are a good candidate for the trash can regardless of cost.

[bannockburn]

I'm with ny32182, especially in regards to the mag body being damaged or out of spec. I don't think I could repair it to any extent were it would be back in spec, and quite honestly I don't have any use for a non-functioning mag.

[2wheels]

Generally, if the body is OK I simply install new springs+followers.

[gunnutery]

So I'd never really thought about this until last summer during a firearms instructor course. To make it into the course we had three chances to post a 90% score. I was having a bad day to begin with, but on top of that, my mags were jamming. Mind you the jammed mags on a timed course was the least of my worries (seriosly I was doing that badly). One of the instructors suggested that once a mag goes bad he just pitches them.

I kept one mag as it was and labled it well for a jam inducing practice tool. The rest I replaced all the springs and they worked great afterwards. So I'm thus pro refurbishment as long as the body isn't bad.

[NG VI]

Like everyone else it would depend on if the magazine is actually bad, which to me means irreparable structural faults, or just needs new springs and maybe a wipe of the insides.

Since springs cost a buck or two and mag bodies last far longer than the springs, and complete new mags run anywhere from $15-20 all the way up to $50 or even more for obscure or H&K mags, I'm pretty unlikely to spend that much money over a few dollar part that is expected to wear out before the magazine itself does.

[Fishslayer]

Most of the time a new spring will fix 'em. Maybe a follower.

[BCRider]

A mag is a servicable item just as is any other mechanical part. If we are using them in action events where we drop them onto gravel or hard floors then obviously SOME will hit lips first and might require some lip tweaking to restore to fully functional. Springs? An easily replaced item again.

THe ONLY reason to ditch a mag that was working at one time but has stopped is if the welds have split or some other non-tweakable damage has occured. Anything else is fixable.

The key is to take careful measurements of how a known good mag holds and feeds the rounds. It's best to do this in a field stripped frame. Insert the loaded mag and measure the presentation height at the head and mouth of the casing. Then tweak the lips of the bad mags to replicate that. If the mags still don't feed well then it's likely that the spring is not providing the same pressure at the proper location to the follower as found in the good ones. In that case the spring can be replaced or tweaked THEN replaced so you better understand the issue.

Toss an otherwise good mag? Not on a bet! ! ! !

[Jaymo]

Split or cracked welds? I'd reweld them and use them for range use, until they proved 100%.

[Swing]

Bad mags? With few exception, I just toss them and replace as necessary.

[Rexster]

Springs and followers wear out, so that is not what I consider a "bad" mag. Especialy when I used Wilson 1911 mags, I would replace those soft plastic followers regularly. Mag springs, too, should be kept renewed.

Mag bodies are a different story. Mis-shaped feed lips do happen, and those are tossed.

Kimber 1911 magazines, at least the one made in the 1990s, seem to largely be bad. ALL of my several Kimber mags were unreliable, and I crushed and discarded the ones that came with my first two Kimbers. The mag(s) that came with my Stainless Gold Match were retained, and kept in the factory box until I sold that pistol, with full disclosure of the mag problems.

Welds and seams should be monitored. When a crack appears, the mag goes.

[shep854]

I presumed that by 'bad mags' you meant unreliable. I voted 'other' and use them for malfunction practice, since they are unpredictable as to when they will cause a problem.

[gunnutery]

I liked the idea of using a bad mag as a gun stand/holder. The thought just hit me that one could hide a HD gun somewhere in the house and secure it to the wall or celing with the bad mag permanently attached to the wall and just hit the mag release button to get the gun, then insert a carried mag.

It sounds like a slower option than just carrying the gun, but I don't always carry at home and in the yard. My wife and I have kind of been wanting a hidden gun closer to the outside door as my only unlocked gun requires me to walk through our long house.

[evan price]

Common stuff like AR or Glock or 1911, if the body is bad, scrap it. Springs and stuff are a wear part.

Mags are consumables, the feed lips wear out eventually.

I've got Sig mags I repaired because of cracks in the feed lips. After I fixed them I realized how much time it took and resolved never to do that again.

I also had some cheap "USGI SURPRUS!!!" Chinese counterfeit 1911 mags that were junk out of the fake brown wrapper bag. There's nothing like slamming a mag home and seeing a fountain of unfired brass pop out the ejector port of your pistol; or having the mag baseplate drop off and all the ammo and guts of the mag puke into the dirt (Scherer G18 mags).

[wally]

Other.
Clean it completely, and try again. If still having problems:

Replace the spring, if problem solved, you've refurbished it, discard original spring.

If not, replace the follower, if problem solved, you've refurbished it, discard original spring and follower.

If not solved, discard the mag body, the original spring follower and baseplate are likely fine so set them aside.

IMHO, unless the mag is rare and difficult to replace its more trouble than its worth to attempt to repair the mag body.

[bigfatdave]

discard original spring and followerslight addition
INSPECT the follower if it was the problem, figure out why is is borked and check your other ones for impending failure

[jmr40]

I like what this guy did with some AR mags and other gun gear.

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmr40/media/240_zps1ef971d0.jpg.html?#/user/jmr40/media/239_zps621a7f80.jpg.html?&_suid=135038329461603732279182329356

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmr40/media/239_zps621a7f80.jpg.html#/user/jmr40/media/240_zps1ef971d0.jpg.html?&_suid=1350382909629004090522456109186

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmr40/media/239_zps621a7f80.jpg.html#/user/jmr40/media/236_zps9f1f4b15.jpg.html?&_suid=1350382909629004090522456109186

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/user/jmr40/media/239_zps621a7f80.jpg.html#/user/jmr40/media/242_zpse1a9b150.jpg.html?&_suid=1350382909629004090522456109186

[hentown]

You guys just tossing mags must not shoot Glocks! ;) Even a Glock mag with out-of-spec feed lips can be brought back into spec, easily. Generally, all that's needed would be new spring and/or follower.