Cleaning Magazines

[f33dback]

How often should this be done? Lately I have been wiping off the follower but I'm starting to think I need to take it completely apart and clean it.
These are Glock Mag's.

[BlackonBlack]

Hey there, an external wipe of the follower is usually all that is necessary. Modern magazines can go a long time before they need to be completely stripped and cleaned this is due to a plastic follower that doesn't require lubrication and thus dirties less easily. (such as those in glock magazines). Maybe someone can chime in with a rule of thumb but maybe ever few thousand rounds clean them...if you are a neat freak but personally I wouldn't clean them unless I had to due to mag-related failures and on a glock that would be going a LONG time without cleaning.

I recently cleaning both my USP magazines. The gun had been fired about 300 rounds and the insides of the magazines weren't really dirty much at all. I would assume the same would hold suit to glock magazines.

[tlillard23]

never. just wipe them down.

[cmichini]

+1 for not as a general rule unless you experience a need to.
Also, if I purchase a weapon used I will normally take the magazines down to clean them. You never know what is inside if you just got it used. I usually take used guns totally down and clean as well for the same reason (usually after an initial range trip).


I normally wipe them down the outside, the follower and (pressing down a bit on follower) the top of the inside of the mag near the feed lips. That is where you'll probably find most of the dirtiness. I rarely have to disassemble a mag that is maintained like this.

[FieldsofFire]

For range mags, I'll fully disassemble them every now and then and clean them all the way through. I do this more frequently for the mags I keep in the house and near me. I just don't want the powder residue getting everywhere in the house...personal thing. Glock mags are easy enough to take apart anyway so it doesn't take very long at all. I just use some Simple Green squirted all over it and wipe it all dry.

[Glock-matic]

Failing to clean a magazine will eventually lead to feeding issues. How often you clean will depend on how often you shoot. I try to clean the magazines after 1000 rds or so. Use a magazine brush to scrape the carbon off, run a cloth through it and you are done. Do not use any oil on the inside of the magazine!!! It will attract dirt and carbon and gum up your follower.

[Kyle1886]

Obviously Glock doesn't think their 10 round magazines need to be disassembled, I can't get the base plates off, even with a G-Tul. But I did manage to ram the Glock tool into my forearm when it slipped out of the hole. Maybe squishing the thing in a vise might work?

Kyle

[GearHead]

My father has probably 10k rounds through his glock mags and hasn't had to clean them

[Glock-matic]

Obviously Glock doesn't think their 10 round magazines need to be disassembled, I can't get the base plates off, even with a G-Tul. But I did manage to ram the Glock tool into my forearm when it slipped out of the hole. Maybe squishing the thing in a vise might work?

Kyle

The first couple of times, the mag plug is pretty stiff. I use a cleaning rod (stainless, not plastic) and us it to push the plug in to slide the base pad off.

[Glock-matic]

My father has probably 10k rounds through his glock mags and hasn't had to clean them

Probably not, unless he shoots competition or the pistol is over 5 years old. At 10k rounds its time to look at replacing the followers and or springs. For a competition shooter, 10k rounds will probably occur once a season. For the non competition shooter, 10k rounds will occur at the 5-8 year mark. Remember that 10k rounds is 200 boxes of ammo. Or 10 Cases of ammo.

[Saym14]

depends if you are dropping them in the dirt practising tactical reloads.

[taloft]

This. Dropping them in matches gets dirt in them. I just pull them apart and use a mag brush in the bodies. I wipe down the spring, base, and follower with a cloth. Inspect everything for rust/fatigue and put them back together. It gives the solvent time to loosen the crud in the barrel. By the time I'm done with four mags the rest of the gun is ready for attention.

[asgalindez]

^^^I basically do the same thing taloft does.^^^

I never disassembled any of my mags for cleaning, until I started shooting outdoor matches and started dropping mags in the dirt/mud.

[38super]

Don't forget to wipe down your ammo. Dirt stick to everything.

[zeb]

If the mag hits the ground, it gets pulled apart, cleaned and lubed. I don't worry about the lube attracting dirt because I clean my mags before they go back in the gun.