[Guest]

Ok after about 4,000 rounds through my m40 w/ six mags i'm starting to get double feeds.

Ditto on S9 w/ 2 mags and about 1500 rounds.

say about 1 in 200 rounds on both pistols have a jam and all but one of them has been unable to be cleared w/ a QUICK tap, rack, ready.

I'm gonna mark my mags (meant to before just didn't get to it) as I know a number of bad mags have cropped up leading to some of the (mostly false) reputation for unreliablity. I actually suspect two mags in particular, but I need to clean and mark them before I test further.

I've cleaned the extractors (including one spring disappeared into the corner of the office, and had to buy a whole new assembly).

As I've never cleaned the mags, how often should this be done and what is the procedure? I know there've been directions on the old GT forum and i could probably do it by looking at them, but a repeat would be nice for all the new blood (and I'm too lazy to search as bed is calling me).

 

[CGuns]

How often are you cleaning the magazines roughly? How many rounds before you clean?

 

[Guest]

As I've never cleaned the mags, how often should this be done and what is the procedure?

umm, never. 8O That's why i think it's time :lol:

 

[hihoslva]

Cleaning magazines is incredibly simple. IMHO, it should be done at least every-other gun cleaning, if not every time.

To disassemble the mags, first locate the small opening in the bottom of the plastic floorplate of the magazine. Use a paperclip or similar thin tool to push up inside the opening, releasing the spring from the floorplate. While keeping pressure on the paperclip, slide the bottom of the magazine off a little bit; you can then remove the paperclip, and slide the bottom off all the way.

Your mag will now be disassembled. Clean it the same way you would the rest of your gun.

What exactly do you mean by a "double-feed"? I'm not exactly familiar. Do you mean the fired round fails to extract, and the next round gets loaded behind the spent shell? Or does your gun now somehow load two live rounds at once?

 

[Guest]

I haven't needed to clean my Steyr mags yet, but I do clean my XD mags all the time because they are always getting dropped in the dirt, and kicked around at competitions.

 

[Guest]

spent round partialy out and new round trying to go in. that's why i went after the extractor first and it smoothed it out for about 500 rounds on the S9. yesterday it started again, but jamming up much more tightly, had a heck of a time removing the mag one of the two times it did it yesterday.

M40 did someting kinda similar two weeks ago, I KNOW I seated that mag as I DOUBLE checked it, but it did not feed a new round, TAP RACK BANG worked though. One of my M40 mags has become difficult to load, like it stiffened back up like it was new again.

 

[Noocyte]

Hey folks. Today, I finally cleaned my mags. the way I did it was to first go at the (dry) interior of the mag body (nomenclature?) with a tooth brush, and blew it out (only my paltry smoker's lungs this time; I'm going to pick up a can of compressed air for such things, lest I experience head-rushes whilst handling a firearm) .

I then daubed a thin layer of BreakFree on the follower with a Q-Tip, and let it be for a bit. While it was doing its solvent thing, I ran a patch with a couple of drops of BreakFree along the spring in a spiral fashion, after which I wiped off the BF from the follower.

After this, I put another patch with a drop or two of BF on the end of my finger, and wiped the interior of the mag body, and finished the whole business with a dry patch on all the above areas, to remove the excess (not much).

The reason I did this last bit was concern over any BF attracting crud and fouling the works. Is this a valid concern, or should I be thinking about leaving a bit in there for lubrication?

 

[Guest]

I've been told that dry lube is a better choice -- just for the reason you mentioned. Anything liquid is likely to start accumulating build up...and defeating the purpose of cleaning the mags in the first place!

 

[madecov]

Generally lube inside a magazine is not a good thing.

I dissasemble the magazine and just use a dry paper towel to wipe everything off.

Then reassemble and pop the follower up and down a few times to insure evrything is seated.

never had a problem doing this.

Whatever you do, just make sure the mag is dry inside and the follower is dry also.

 

[Noocyte]

Roger that. I've since been using the toothbrush-compressed air-dry patch technique, without incident.

Then again, there has been precious little opportunity for incident,since I've not been shooting since mid-July as I've recently bought a house (actually, I bought the debt...I just get to live in the house while I chip away at it!). Not much time or coin, y'unnerstand.

Still, I hope to make amends this week.

Back on topic: Are there any circumstances under which one might lube the inside of one's mags? If so, what's the preferred technique?

 

[blueiron]

It is never a good idea to oil or lubricate the interior of magazines, followers, or springs. Oil migrates and with the "wonder" oils out there now, it can easily make its way into primers or case mouths.

To prevent corrosion on the exterior of the magazines, I wipe them down with a silicone cloth. It prevents an excess of lubrication.

 

[madecov]

Once USA Steyr is really up and running, you may want to get new magazine springs.
Double stack springs seem to be more sensative to wear.

 

[bigbob68]

I generally use a patch with a little G96 on it, after I disassemble the mag, I go after it from the top to get most of the powder and then follow up with a 12ga bore mop with a dry patch over it. I have found this works great for me. I also use the patch with G96 on the spring and follower then use a t-shirt to wipe off the excess. I have never had any problems.

 

[Guest]

To clean my mags I use the Birchwood/Casey Gun Scrubber, followed by a brief wipe down with a lightly oiled cloth on the outside. It keeps them dry so I don't have penetrating oil foul my ammo. I have already treated the magazines with Militec-1 at least five times. I clean my mags about as frequent as every other time I clean my S40. This may not be the ideal way of doing it, but so far it has worked well for me.

 

[madecov]

I clean mine if they get dropped Iin loose dirt. If they don't get dropped like at an indoor range, then I clean them if and when I remember to (about every 2-3 years :lol: . Never really had a problem with dirt in the mags.

 

[Guest]

just picked up a Kleen Bore mag brush for double stack magazines.

Nylon bristles, VERY handy, esp. in the corners and crevices. I know they make a mop in the same shape too, but i didn't see it where i was shopping.