How often do you clean your magazines?

[GLOOB]

Only when jamming is an issue.
The prudent man cleans them before 'jamming is an issue.'..........

Yeah, but so far a dirty magazine has never been an issue. The cleaning was just to rule it out as a problem. In fact, I don't recall ever cleaning the mags of my childhood Ruger 10/22. Do they even open?*

I do clean out a magazine if I hear something rattling inside, though. And I do open and inspect new mags. I've had some NIB mags with globs of grease inside.

* Edit: Yes, you can open them. And nope, I certainly never did!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek4_iFVoKdo

 

[Zach S]

Under ideal conditions? Rarely. The last time I cleaned a magazine the feed lips and follower looked parkerzied. It was a stainless Metalform magazine...

If they end up in the dirt, ASAP.

Ever since I put 5,000 trouble-free rounds though a pistol with only a little lube every now and then, I haven't worried about guns getting fouled with GSR - its everything else I want to keep out. I take the same approach with magazines.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

To do it every time seems overkill, but roughly every fourth or fifth time the gun is cleaned is reasonable.

 

[BCRider]

I'm lazy so they get done every few thousand rounds. Usually after shooting in a match where they get dropped onto gravel or sand.

Along with any sand that I find inside I'm surprised at the amount of black powder residue that is also in there. Now the clearances in magazines is hardly something that will cause a jam from some of the burn residue but it's surprising how much builds up after a couple of thousand rounds spread between the five magazines I use. Or perhaps it isn't since that same build up occurs on the trigger action located at the rear of the frame. And I clean that out every 500'ish rounds fired.

 

[David E]

If the mag never sees the ground, there's not much cause to clean it very often, if at all. But most of mine do see the ground, so I clean 'em now and then.

 

[Blackbeard]

Related question - how do you clean them? Seems to me that polymer mags should be ok to use soap & water, as long as they're completely dry before reassembly.

 

[sidheshooter]

Clean and inspect when brand new (they always seem to be gummy) and lately I've decided to clean each complete set at the same time I change the parent gun's recoil springs-sort of like changing the battery in your smoke detector as a yearly ritual.

I'll admit that I have a couple of guns that went up until recently without ever having the mags disassembled-like, decades. But for now, with working guns, same time as the spring change. I just use cloth patches and hoppes #9; no fancy brushes and no greasy stuff...

 

[wally]

I only clean them after they fail to feed, if they fail to feed after that, I'll replace the spring, and if it fails after that its in the trash with it.

I keep a fresh mag in my carry gun which gets carried way more than it gets shot.

 

[FatPants]

Huh... I've never taken one apart to clean it. I've wiped them off with a rag then they were dirty, but never bothered to take them apart.

 

[JohnBiltz]

My honest opinion is most people don't have to clean them at all. In the military I cleaned them all the time but those magazines were doing everything I was doing in some pretty funky environments and I think that is where the idea comes from. If you are wading through waist deep water and the magazines are at waist height you need to clean them. If you are dropping them into sand and dirt clean them. If you are carrying a spare in a pocket you need to clean it now and then for pocket lint. But a magazine moving from a range bag in a closet to an indoor range and back, what exactly are you cleaning it for? I think you are getting into the don't fix what isn't broken area.

 

[Snakum]

Never clean mine. Now if they were dropped in a lot of sand/dust or mud then I would, but just regular use, no.

I'm glad it's not just me.

 

[KJS]

Last Thursday I buy a loading tool for my Ruger MK III. First one breaks. Then second one breaks. Three guys at the shop examine my mag and ponder why this thumb saver keeps breaking all in one session. They give me a 3rd one still at no additional cost, but suggest not using it till I clean my magazines -- as if my mags are dirty and put excess pressure on the loading tool. When a loader can't stand the great pressure of a .22 Mag perhaps the tool was designed by a tool.

BS! The loading tool is a poorly designed piece of junk (breaks along a joint in the hard plastic). The plastic should have been thicker and/or more flexible so that it's not so fragile as glass.

My thumb pushed down the follower and my thumb didn't break! Gun is clearly getting dirty and in need of cleaning, but I sure don't see any real filth in the mags, nor notice any greater thumb pressure needed to load them relative to when they were pristine clean and perfectly new two months ago.

 

[rscalzo]

[/QUOTE]That is what compressed air is for. You can even buy it in Wal Mart at the computer stuff section

Those cans don't put out a lot of pressure for very long. a small compressor with a receiver/dryer unit works better. The small airbrush types would even work. the dryer is essential as humid air compressed is heated then shot into the firearm as water. The dryers are cheap and worth the cost.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The dryers are cheap and worth the cost.

+1 Absolutely a necessity! I wouldn't hesitate to clean a magazine that has been in a situation that caused it to get dirt in it. Routinely cleaning mags under "normal" use is not necessary but does no harm. It is like changing your engine oil at 3000 miles(under normal circumstances 7,000-10,000 is sufficient)) . It makes you feel good but isn't needed.