Clean your carry mags!

[Zombified]

I ordered some Hyve extended based pads for my Shield. During disassembly of my carry mag I found some gunk inside. I've never had any trouble with the gun/magazine, but I imagine it could have easily gotten worse over time. Maybe it's a nothing burger, but it sure surprised me. It appears to be lint and very soft, but who knows what could've happened.

[Tex1961]

Thanks for the post. Often one of the most overlooked part of the gun.

[Jusme]

I disassemble and clean my mags once a month. I switch out my mags so that I only carry the same mag in my gun once every three months. They do accumulate a lot of lint, dirt etc..

[striker55]

Clean the mags after every shooting session, especially with my Shield. I clean them with Rem Oil, spray the insides and wipe them out. Rem Oil has silicone and helps with feeding, got this tip from a Smith & Wesson guy.

[bfm1851]

Don't know if cleaning mags every range trip is necessary but they do need to be cleaned every so often. My carry mags get cleaned every other month. I also switch out the mags every month. I have never found anything too much when cleaning them but I do it for piece of mind. You should also shoot the ammo you are carrying every four to six months to keep it fresh.

[oljames3]

I will hazard a guess that the decisions we make about cleaning magazines will be even more varied and unique than the decisions we make on how to carry.

My S&W M&P M2.0 9mm 5inch came with two 17 round magazines. I bought two more so I would have more loaded ammo for training classes. I bought the fifth for a class that required even more.

I've carried the same magazine in my pistol and the same magazines on my belt for three years. I keep all five of my magazines loaded all of the time. I expend my basic load of 50 self-defense rounds about every month. I empty all of the magazines on the range once or twice a month, 10 to 20 times if I have a two-day class.

I don't have a set routine for cleaning magazines. I have, in the past, disassembled each magazine several times and found nothing in them other than magazine parts. So far, I have only cleaned and lubed the magazines if I had been training in the rain or had dropped the magazines on the ground, especially if the follower got dirty.

So far, I have seen no rust, corrosion, or lint.

[LeonCarr]

Brownells sells brushes that are made specifically for cleaning magazine interiors. These are available for single stack, double stack, and AR magazines too.

They work well for getting the gunk out of magazines, especially the carbon/powder fouling that builds up near the feed lips.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr