How do you label your magazines?

[gunnutery]

I've got a package of 10 AR mags coming soon, and I've been toying around with how I'm going to label them. I'd like it to be somewhat permanent so I will probably use stencils and spray paint. I want to be able to look at a mag and know it's one of mine, and if one gives me trouble I can single it out easier. I've thought about designating my first batch (or any others that are the same model with "A1, A2, A3..." and if my next batch is a different type, use the designation "B1, B2...".

I'm still deciding, but in the mean time, how do you label your mags (if you do)?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Initials with paint pen.

 

[jmr40]

Sharpies, silver works great on dark colored mags, black on SS.

 

[briansmithwins]

Silver Sharpie. Renew when it wears off.

BSW

 

[toiville2feathers]

All my magazines come with my address on them, unless I buy one at the grocery store. Not that big of a deal if it don't have a label on it. LOL

 

[cfullgraf]

I'm still deciding, but in the mean time, how do you label your mags (if you do)?

What ever rings your bell is the best way to label your magazines.

Most of mine are not labeled, but I do not shoot often at public places.

I will use what ever labeling device I have on hand. Frequently, it is a Brother P-touch system. Sometimes it is a Sharpie on masking tape.

I sometimes label a magazine so that i can identify it when having magazine troubles. I was having troubles with magazines in my 204 Ruger AR and I tried some experimental changes. Those magazines were labeled so that i could identify the modifications and segregate them from standard AR magazines.

When I was shooting service rifle competition, I labeled magazines with an "8" or a "2". Only 2 or eight rounds were loaded in the magazines and then I could easily tell what was in the magazine when setting up for a rapid fire string.

 

[MtnCreek]

For load testing, I have 3 old 20rd GI mags labeled by cutting the number in a piece of cardboard and spraypaint. Nothing fancy, but it works for what I need.

I keep some loaded AR mags handy just in case I would ever need them in some kind of extreme defensive situation. Black mags are FMJ's and FDE are expanding bullets (mostly 55gr Nosler BT's).

 

[Arkansas Paul]

This may be a stupid question, but is there a reason to label mags besides for simple identification purposes?

 

[RainDodger]

All my magazines are numbered. I use a dremel with a fine ball bit and engrave a small number on the back. It allows me to keep close track of which magazines fail in which gun, how many times, and what kind of failure. That's the reason I keep track.

 

[Warp]

Silver metallic sharpie here as well.

 

[TexasShooter59]

I label my mags so that if/when a problem occurs, I can identify that mag. A problem might reoccur consistently or it might be sporadic.

I mark mine by using a sharpie on the mag follower, on the lower side so that there is less friction from cases moving across. It still needs to be renewed occasionally.

 

[DammitBoy]

I label everything with sharpies - tools, guns, clothes, tupperware, lunch bag, kids, dog...

 

[aka108]

My vete uses some sort of a vibrating tool and puts the dog's name and telephone number on the rabies tag. Seems that would work well for putting ID and whatever else you wanted on a magazine and it would never wear off or need to be renewed.

 

[SlowFuse]

I like to identify mags that are loaded with handloads.

I use a strip of duct tape on the floor plate. Different colors mean different loads.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I have a lot of magazines that look alike but are for different guns. In the last couple years I've been using a label maker to label all the pistol magazines and many rifle magazines.

 

[Nighteyes]

I numbered my 1911 magazines from "1" to "12" using a Dremel, more for rotation's sake than anything else. I used colored tape to color-code the magazines for my old SIG P226, based on their capacity.

If I have rifle magazines loaded with different types of ammo, I also use colored tape to distinguish among/between them.

If I have a magazine that's beginning to give me trouble I isolate it from the others, then mark it in some way once I get back to the shop.

 

[MrCleanOK]

Numbered with blue paint pen. Aluminum mags get it on the floor plate, pmags get it in a box on the side.

 

[holdencm9]

I have just done masking tape around the PMAG with sharpie on the tape, but I am liking the idea of a silver sharpie or something instead.

Like slowfuse, I use the mag labeling for handloads. If I have 5 different loadings to test out, and 5 mags worth of factory, I like to write down which mags have which loads. (I like to load mags the day before).

Another good reason to label mags, as has been mentioned, is if you constantly get malfunctions with one, you can diagnose it much faster.

 

[gunnutery]

Thanks for all the replies. I've seen the sharpie look, but I really don't care for the handwritten style on my stuff. Maybe I'll try stencils with a sharpie instead of spray paint. Sometimes you'll see police trade-ins or surplus stocks with stenciled numbers or letters and I think it just looks more... "official" I guess. And I kind of like that.

 

[Rusty Luck]

This! Everyone should do this. I gotta ask though, how did you get it to stay on the dog and kids?

I label everything with sharpies - tools, guns, clothes, tupperware, lunch bag, kids, dog..

 

[MrCleanOK]

Thanks for all the replies. I've seen the sharpie look, but I really don't care for the handwritten style on my stuff. Maybe I'll try stencils with a sharpie instead of spray paint. Sometimes you'll see police trade-ins or surplus stocks with stenciled numbers or letters and I think it just looks more... "official" I guess. And I kind of like that.

I have handled a lot of small arms while in the military, and very few of them were stenciled. Most get the paint pen, by hand treatment if they get marked up at all. They're your toys, decorate them how you want

 

[Warp]

Thanks for all the replies. I've seen the sharpie look, but I really don't care for the handwritten style on my stuff. Maybe I'll try stencils with a sharpie instead of spray paint. Sometimes you'll see police trade-ins or surplus stocks with stenciled numbers or letters and I think it just looks more... "official" I guess. And I kind of like that.

Mine are small and not very noticeable. It's not like we're writing across the entire magazine with the sharpie. In fact, what I write on most magazines is not even visible when the magazine is inserted in the firearm.

 

[Limey46]

I use a little dot of brightly colored nail polish, usually at the bottom of the mag's back strap. It works great. The nail polish adheres and wears remarkably well as long as you don't apply it too thickly, and it cleans off easily with acetone. With guns for which I have two or more sets of mags, for instance a car or carry gun for which I change out the loaded mags every month, I use different colors on each set.

 

[gunnutery]

I've heard a lot of people using the nail polish, but my wife doesn't use any and I'm going to buy some.

I think I've remembered my other problem... I'm an artist with attention to detail. Even if I finish a piece and leave it, little things still bug me.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Except for AR mags, I only label them if they're suspect. If they go from suspect to faulty, I pitch them.

With AR mags (specifically P-Mags), I label them according to what they're loaded with, since I do use the covers and can't tell at a glance whether they're loaded with brass or steel cased, FMJ or expanding, etc. For that, I use a label maker, simply stick the label on the floorplate.