What do you do about your pistol Magazines?

C

CDR_Glock

New member
I have a Pistol magazine that frequently has the bullet moving up vertically or at a steep angle. I'm not sure what the solution is except to maybe crime the magazine lips a touch to prevent it. Any ideas? Or should I just toss it into the trash?

It brings up some other questions since it seems like I don't read/see much about magazines in general.

What types of routine maintenance do you do for your pistol Magazines? Do you take them apart, oil the springs? Clean the case? Replace the spring or follower?




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Who makes the magazine and for what pistol?

In probably 80 handguns now I can count on one hand the number of magazine feeding issues I've had. My experience is that usually quality made magazines just work. If you want to clean them you can and I do replace springs after a number of years, but really they've been mostly trouble free for me.
 
Start off by cleaning it and replacing the spring. No lube. That may be all it needs. If that works, test it well and carry on.

If that doesn't work, and it's not rare/expensive/unobtainable, toss it. Most mags are a disposable item. If it's hard to replace, get a pair of jeweler's needle nose pliers (smooth, rounded jaws) and carefully tweak the lips. If you get it to work don't trust it to work all the time, it'll fail at the most inopportune moment.
 
CDR_GLOCK: said:
I have "a" Pistol magazine that frequently has the bullet moving up vertically or at a steep angle. I'm not sure what the solution is except to maybe "crimp" the magazine lips a touch to prevent it. Any ideas? Or should I just toss it into the trash?
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You have "a" damaged magazine, I'd trash it & replace it, JMHO!
 
Sounds like a damaged mag, as JDBerg notes. Compare the gap at the front of the feed lips -- the two pieces of metal that hold the topmost round IN the mag -- from abad mag to a good one, and you'll probably see that it's different (maybe wider or bent.)

It might be fixable, but you're probably better off getting a new magazine. (If the rounds were dropping down (or nose-diving) IN the mag, it could be as simple as a new mag spring.)
 
The mag isn't damaged, garbage or need a new spring. Its lips have opened up a bit. Easily fixed with regular needle nosed pliers. A very wee, tiny, small, tweak to close 'em a very wee, tiny, small, bit. Only enough to keep the round in place until the slide grabs it on its way by and no more. Easier to do than it sounds.
Doing the same thing to a mag that doesn't feed properly works too.
Routine maintenance for mags is normal cleaning. You don't need to oil 'em for lubing purposes or replace the springs or follower.
And springs do not lose temper from being compressed. A flat spring can work harden at the bends through extensive use over a very long time, but that's all. Mag springs do not require periodic replacement. Nor will they "take a set" if a mag is left loaded.
 
T. O'Heir said:
And springs do not lose temper from being compressed. A flat spring can work harden at the bends through extensive use over a very long time, but that's all. Mag springs do not require periodic replacement. Nor will they "take a set" if a mag is left loaded.
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Not always true. It depends upon how deeply a spring is compressed or stretched, and HOW LONG that level of compression/stretching continues. Some gun designs never push recoil or mag springs to their limits, and those springs will be fine. Others may not fare as well.

The next time you install a new recoil spring, measure the length of that spring at rest before it's installed, and then use the gun for a while, and take it out and measure it again, at rest. It'll be shorter. That's called "taking a set." It'll generally happen pretty quickly, if the gun is cycled at all. It'll happen pretty quickly with mag springs, too... and happen more quickly if they're left fully loaded.

Wolff Springs has an interesting article about this on their FAQ page. If a spring is pushed to, near, or beyond it's design limit (generally called it's elastic limit), it will degrade, and will often degrade quickly. Most gun designs don't push the springs that far. Wolff recommends downloading hi-cap mags a round or two for long-term storage, but I suspect they are, like you, making a general statement that doesn't apply for all hi-cap mags. It certainly doesn't hurt the mag springs to download them for long-term storage.

I've had some unpleasant experiences with 7- and 8-round Kahr mags left fully loaded. Some of these smaller gun mags are, in effect, the equivalent of hi-cap mags in terms of the work required of their mag or recoil springs.

We've had this discussion here many times here on The Firing Line. JohnKSa, a staff member, an engineer, air gun and handgun enthusiast, and someone willing to do more than TALK bout the issue, did the following tests. Tell him that springs don't degrade. (His tests show that they can degrade, but won't necessarily stop functioning.)

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6005156#post6005156

The NEGATIVE example that always comes to mind is the recoil spring in the Rohrbaguh R9, the smallest 9mm available. (Rohrbaugh has since been bought by Remington.) The R9's recoil spring has a recommended service life of 250 cycles. Other recoil springs last a lot longer -- but because the R9's spring must do the same work as a full-size spring in a smaller area, using less metal, it doesn't last as long. Springs in a 7-round 1911 mag may last forever if the mag is left fully loaded (because there is a lot of reserve in that spring/mag design); springs in a fully-loaded 18+ round 9mm mag might not fare as well. Ditto recoil springs in some guns.

For most guns, it's probably a non-issue, but for some models, magazine and recoil springs CAN deteriorate pretty quickly -- depending on how the gun is used, and the gun's design.
 
I have 12 mags ( 1911 9mm, wilson )....that I use every week for my tactical training ( speed reloads, Tac reloads, etc ... and they hit the concrete range floor often...)....and in my weekly buddies match. I shoot about 10 boxes, 500 rds, a week thru them...so some may get used more than others.

Once a month - I take each mag apart ...clean tubes, springs, etc....

If a mag fails to feed...I will mark it with a permanent marker and set it aside...clean it & put it back in rotation. If it fails again - I trash it & replace it.
 
I can't attest to how well CCW semi-auto pistol magazines hold their length when fully loaded over time, but I recollect very well a situation, that I actually observed, taught me never to say never.
Years back I have a WW2 Navy vet come into my shop with a paper bag. In that bag he carried a Remington Rand 1911 .45 ACP pistol that he was issued in 1942, along with 36 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition in the very same box that was issued with his pistol and flap holster. When he first was issued that pistol, he told me the first chance he got, he fired 7 rounds off the "fantail" of the ship he was on. I actually don't know where that part of a Navy vessel is, so I'll accept him at his word. He then reloaded that magazine with another 7 rounds. When he came into my shop in the late 1980's, those 1942 head-stamped .45 ACP cartridges were still in the magazine. As I fed those rounds out of the magazine, that magazine spring fed those rounds up and out like they were loaded that very morning.
A fluke? An anomaly? Maybe so, but I remember that incident like it was yesterday.
 
I replaced the springs and followers in my 5906 Mags , the oldest one was real soft and wouldn't feed. If really dirty I disassemble and clean the follower with CLP, use a Mag well brush with dry shot gun patch to clean the tube, wipe the springs with dry shop cloth. You mat want to inspect new mags for burrs, shavings and machine oil.
 
I recently started experiencing weird problems with 2 of my 4 magazines in a
Springfield XD subcompact--when using the full size 16 round magazines, with the grip extension sleeves. After a few shots, the magazine would come loose from the gun. Because it was held in place by the pressure of my little finger on the sleeve, it didn't fall free, it just came unseated. At first I thought the gun was failing to cycle properly, but it was the loosening of the magazine. What I realized was that 3 of 4 mags were actually bent on top, with the front edge bent inward. I have to believe it was enough to distort the small area that is gripped by the magazine release gizmo inside the gun, maybe combined with the added pressure of my finger pulling downwards on the grip sleeve.

Anyway, it all happened after taking a tactical training class in an outdoor area, where I repeatedly dropped magazines on rock and gravel. The instructor wanted us practicing emergency reloads EVERY TIME, and so we were dropping partially loaded mags on the ground. My guess is that the weight of the ammo in the upper part of the mags was causing them to fall top-first, and that's why they were do badly bent.

I bent the metal back outward with needle nosed pliers, and so far, no malfunctions....fingers crossed.

These are ONLY training magazines. If these were the magazines I use for defense, I'd have replaced them immediately.
 
Regarding 1911 7-round mags left fully loaded for decades:

SGW Gunsmith said:
A fluke? An anomaly? Maybe so, but I remember that incident like it was yesterday.
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Not a fluke. A widely observed and frequently cited experience with 1911 7-round magazines. Those springs NEVER get compressed enough to cause significant wear or degradation -- the springs are never pushed close to their elastic limit.

1911 7-round magazines are NOT TYPICAL, but many full-size guns with non-high capacity mags will also have long lives, because the mag springs are never pushed close to their elastic limit.
 
I would like to thank all the slackers who toss mags in the
trash cans at the range!!
Do you have ANY idea what's wrong with 99% of 'em??
DIRTY
That's it, they simply need cleaning.
Occasionally they need a new spring...
Occasionally the spring has been installed BACKWARDS...
Occasionally the FOLLOWER has a BURR, which needs to be
filed off...
Occasionally I use the HiStandard Mag Lip Tool to fix 'em.
Easier than needlenose...since it's made specifically for mags.
Order directly from High Standard of Texas...

On the upside, many get handed to kids and gals shooting
at the ranges I go to once they're functional :)
 
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