How do you mark your magazines?

[breakingcontact]

I'm looking to mark my mags. I want to distinguish between range and "duty" service and mark the mags individually to keep track of them, how many are left/full and so on. Also if I have any issues it should help get that mag out of the rotation.

I suppose my primary methods in considering are tape and paint. What type of tape or paint do you use and where do you apply it on the mag?

 

[beatledog7]

I use silver and gold paint pens. If your mags are silver in color, a black sharpie will work. Be prepared to renew the markings from time to time.

 

[matrem]

Bought a Krylon "brights" yellow paint pen at wally several years ago.
The best mag marker I've used.. By far.
Silver mag, black mag, doesn't matter.

 

[allaroundhunter]

I use maroon/red paint pens. I mainly use it to keep track of which mags cause problems. All of my mags work, so I don't have any 'range only' mags.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Another paint pen user here

 

[rcmodel]

White appliance touch-up paint on handgun mags. (1, 2, 3, 4, etc)

Or more likely Red, Green, & Blue florescent stick-on spot dot on rifle mags.
Write notes on them with a black sharpie pen.
http://www.sears.com/avery-round-co...1x000001&kpid=05058609000&kispla=05058609000P

Or a wrap of colored vinyl electrical tape around the base.
You can spot them from 30 yards away.

http://www.emedco.com/vinyl-colored...ycode=WB0074&gclid=CIKL8Yn7qLkCFSho7AodXhYAaw

rc

 

[YZ]

I use a Brother handheld labelmaker. The labels are pretty tough and can be peeled off.

 

[breakingcontact]

Labels from label maker and colored electrical tape are both great ideas. Thanks!

 

[TennJed]

I don't mark mine and maybe this is a dumb question. why should I? I use my duty mags at the range. I want to make sure my carry mags function well before I carry them. Not trying to start a flame I honestly curious to know if I should start marking them

 

[rcmodel]

Often times, a gun that suddenly stops working 100% like it always has is a magazine related problem.

Without being able to positively I.D. the mag causing the problem?
They all look exactly the same, right???

You can be chasing your tail in an ever-tightening circle with ammo and gunsmithing costs trying to get the gun 100% reliable again.

Until you finally figure out it is the same mag causing the problem every time.

If they are numbered?
Pretty easy to remember it is the #2 or # 7 mag every time causing the feed problems.

rc

 

[MaterDei]

I rarely have mag failures. I only keep mags that are 100% reliable. If I have any failures while shooting I normally always troubleshoot the problem on the spot. I always bring multiple mags so it's pretty easy to ID a mag related problem.

I give a troublesome mag some time to work itself out so I might separate it from its brothers for a couple of range sessions. Bad magazines go down range and become reactive targets. It's quite satisfying shooting a mag that is causing problems.

 

[taliv]

i mark all my magazines with tape. walmart sells packages of like 4-5 different colors pretty cheap. it works well. for PMAGs, i use different tape for different loads. i use red tape for my 75g OTM reloads. I use green tape for my Prvi M193 factory ammo. I use blue tape for 55g reloads. etc.

For bolt guns, I mark my AICS mags with red tape. I mark my AIAW mags with white tape.

as was said above, you can see it from a long way away. it stands out well, but lots of people in matches do this. I use a sharpie and write my initials on the tape on the flat side, and then i write a number on the spine.

that way, i can instantly
-know which mags belong to me
-know what ammo is in the mag
-correlate malfunctions with mags

example below

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I don't have any unreliable magazines, and if I did I would pull it out of service immediately until I either repair it or dispose of it.

I used to have a ton of 1911 magazines...about 50 extra ones. I got them when they were going to be tossed out at one of my commands.

Cleaned them up, tested every one of them to ensure they worked flawlessly, then cleaned them again and stored them away. I gave them away as gifts to anybody I knew who didn't have at least one extra magazine for their 1911.

I have 8 or 9 for my Colt (my minimum desired is 7). I have 5 magazines for my Beretta. I have 2 for my AMT. And my wife's .22 rifle has 6. There are some markings on the magazines which I can use to differentiate between them, but realistically I don't need it because I would pull an unreliable one out of service immediately anyway.

That's just me, though. I like the marker pen idea.

 

[toiville2feathers]

why do you have to mark them, mine got my address on them when Itake them out of the mail box. I don't buy any at the store.

 

[breakingcontact]

I think some or you all may shoot differently than me and have different needs.

Shooting with friends with the same guns, don't want to mix up mags. Shooting competitions it would help to have them numbered and it could help ID what ammo is in which mags too.

 

[allaroundhunter]

why do you have to mark them, mine got my address on them when Itake them out of the mail box. I don't buy any at the store.

You don't mark them with your contact info... A simple number or just a color will do. It allows you to identify what is in each mag, or which mag caused a malfunction and should not be used.


I honestly have no idea what your post even means.

 

[clutch]

I use a paint pen made by Dykem. Yes, the paint wears off eventually but you can touch up the markings when you are maintaining the mags.

I number the mags sequentially per type.

The only thing I might change is use my initials along with a sequence number if I got back into IDPA or something similar.

 

[jacob2745]

I just use a plain ole sharpie. Works great for everything I have.

 

[AABEN]

An Elt engraving pin will do a good job and will not come off like paint.

 

[bigfatdave]

I've used:
deliberate scratches
industrial black sharpie
silver sharpie
various sharpie with clear tape over top
tape wrapped around (mag must protrude from gun when in use)
nail polish dots in baseplate grooves
labelmaker labels

... all have good and bad aspects, none strike me as "best" in general ...

one version of "best" ... Tape wrap on mags that hang out of the weapon anyway is pretty simple, degrease the mag body and wrap brightly colored elec. tape around snugly, then write on that if you like.

another version of "best" ... labelmaker on the baseplate won't come off for a long time, use two smaller labels rather than one big one, then if one falls off you're not left guessing. Labels would read "BFD _#_" or similar if I was making them.

 

[herrwalther]

Depending on the type of mag, you can get customized floor plates to distinguish between mag use. I know there are dozens of companies for Glocks where you can order custom floor plates with pretty much whatever you want on the bottom.

 

[rockhopper46038]

I'm lucky enough to have access to a laser engraver. I just put my initials and a number on each one.

 

[tuj]

I use a white craft pen you can find at Michael's. Works great on pretty much any surface.

 

[Buzznrose]

Silver or gold Sharpie work great on black gear, and black Sharpie on anything other thar black gear.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Krylon + a stencil and a distinct number that only means something to me. (It's my roller derby number)

I didn't do this with all my mags, just the ones I use in competition.

Mags that malfunction get NFG (tradition of my dad's) written on them in China Marker (grease pencil for you non art types) until they can be sorted out.