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Yesterday as I was turning in my folks at work, one of them cleared his M-9 and handed over the magazine at the clearing barrel. I took it as usual, but was surprised to hear something hit the mat on the floor. Looking down I see a round sitting on the mat and to my surprise, another round falls down as well. Rather strange as the rounds are falling out of the mag and the spring is locked down in the body.
So we reload the ammo into another spare magazine and I take the bad one apart. Dump about ten pounds of built up dust out (okay, not that much, but it was fairly dirty), find the floorplate and retainer is starting to rust along with the spring. Clean all, oil, lightly lubricate the spring and floor plate follower and reassemble. Cleaning seemed to do the trick as the follower is working properly and there is spring tension now. It goes into the spare magazine bin on the bottom. Out of curiosity, I check others in the armory and find similiar dirty and rusty conditions. Bring this to the attention of those that need to know and request they start swapping mags out on the daily issue pistols and rifles and cleaning the old ones.
So some lessons learned/remembered:
Inspect your magazines. Is there any built up rust on the floor plate or on the floor plate follower? Is there rust on the spring? Are there any dents/dings which might be a concern for function and feeding? Are the feed lips dented preventing proper loading? Does the magazine fit the weapon properly? (especially AR15 mags that start to bulge from being loaded too long) Does the mag catch work as advertised? Take it apart to inspect the interior. While mags are fairly enclosed devices, dust will still seep in and jam up the internal workings. This is even more evident in dry/dusty conditions like the southwest (or Middle East/Central Asia for those members heading downrange) or with concealed carry pieces where lint can and will find its way inside. Even the vaunted P-Mags have metal springs which can and will rust over time if not inspected and cleaned.
Cycle your magazines. Either by firing or by loading to capacity and then unloading to see if there are any stoppages. Built up dirt and dust on the interior will cause the follower to jam up, keeping that next round from feeding. Typically immediate action drills will solve this problem, but in a gun fight, miliseconds count and the time you have to take to tap, rack and fire just gave your adversary an advantage.
Mags need love too. Just as you would lovingly clean your firearms, one should clean the magazines as well. Maybe they won't need it as often as the firearm, but a little TLC in the long run will keep magazines running properly. A very light coat of oil on the springs and floor plate follower won't hurt function and prevent rust build up in humid environments.
Magazines should only be loaded for a certain amount of time before being swapped out, inspected, cleaned and tossed in the "reserve" pile to relax the springs. While there is a certain amount of debate on the matter as to the should/should not release the tension on the springs, IMHO it's better to be cautious and swap mags rather than take the chance of them failing when you need them the most. "I've had magazines loaded for thirty years and never had a problem!" some might say. But when it comes to the safety of my family or me, I would much prefer knowing for certain the magazines are in proper working order rather than load them one time and hope they work like they should.
Some might debate this point, but isn't this why we prep? Because we are just a little paranoid about something not working like it should when we need it the most? You stockpile gasoline because the stations will run out, food because supermarkets will be swamped, water because lines will become tainted, etc because we believe some of these things are not going to be available when we need them the most. But you also rotate your food, water and fuel because it has a shelf life. Springs have a shelf life as well. Some more than others depending on the manufacturer, but eventually they are compressed long enough for the metal to start to fatigue and be less efficient. So the fifteen minutes of paranoia of swapping magazines to guarantee they work is time well spent in my opinion. YMMV on this point, but I'm paranoid myself.
Your magazines are just as important as the firearm itself. Without a magazine in proper working order, your pistol (or rifle, carbine, SMG, whatever) becomes a single shot device and transforms rapidly into a short range metal, wood and plastic club. And when it comes down to having a weapon for personal protection, it's better to ensure proper working order on ALL the parts rather than just the part that goes bang.
So we reload the ammo into another spare magazine and I take the bad one apart. Dump about ten pounds of built up dust out (okay, not that much, but it was fairly dirty), find the floorplate and retainer is starting to rust along with the spring. Clean all, oil, lightly lubricate the spring and floor plate follower and reassemble. Cleaning seemed to do the trick as the follower is working properly and there is spring tension now. It goes into the spare magazine bin on the bottom. Out of curiosity, I check others in the armory and find similiar dirty and rusty conditions. Bring this to the attention of those that need to know and request they start swapping mags out on the daily issue pistols and rifles and cleaning the old ones.
So some lessons learned/remembered:
Inspect your magazines. Is there any built up rust on the floor plate or on the floor plate follower? Is there rust on the spring? Are there any dents/dings which might be a concern for function and feeding? Are the feed lips dented preventing proper loading? Does the magazine fit the weapon properly? (especially AR15 mags that start to bulge from being loaded too long) Does the mag catch work as advertised? Take it apart to inspect the interior. While mags are fairly enclosed devices, dust will still seep in and jam up the internal workings. This is even more evident in dry/dusty conditions like the southwest (or Middle East/Central Asia for those members heading downrange) or with concealed carry pieces where lint can and will find its way inside. Even the vaunted P-Mags have metal springs which can and will rust over time if not inspected and cleaned.
Cycle your magazines. Either by firing or by loading to capacity and then unloading to see if there are any stoppages. Built up dirt and dust on the interior will cause the follower to jam up, keeping that next round from feeding. Typically immediate action drills will solve this problem, but in a gun fight, miliseconds count and the time you have to take to tap, rack and fire just gave your adversary an advantage.
Mags need love too. Just as you would lovingly clean your firearms, one should clean the magazines as well. Maybe they won't need it as often as the firearm, but a little TLC in the long run will keep magazines running properly. A very light coat of oil on the springs and floor plate follower won't hurt function and prevent rust build up in humid environments.
Magazines should only be loaded for a certain amount of time before being swapped out, inspected, cleaned and tossed in the "reserve" pile to relax the springs. While there is a certain amount of debate on the matter as to the should/should not release the tension on the springs, IMHO it's better to be cautious and swap mags rather than take the chance of them failing when you need them the most. "I've had magazines loaded for thirty years and never had a problem!" some might say. But when it comes to the safety of my family or me, I would much prefer knowing for certain the magazines are in proper working order rather than load them one time and hope they work like they should.
Some might debate this point, but isn't this why we prep? Because we are just a little paranoid about something not working like it should when we need it the most? You stockpile gasoline because the stations will run out, food because supermarkets will be swamped, water because lines will become tainted, etc because we believe some of these things are not going to be available when we need them the most. But you also rotate your food, water and fuel because it has a shelf life. Springs have a shelf life as well. Some more than others depending on the manufacturer, but eventually they are compressed long enough for the metal to start to fatigue and be less efficient. So the fifteen minutes of paranoia of swapping magazines to guarantee they work is time well spent in my opinion. YMMV on this point, but I'm paranoid myself.
Your magazines are just as important as the firearm itself. Without a magazine in proper working order, your pistol (or rifle, carbine, SMG, whatever) becomes a single shot device and transforms rapidly into a short range metal, wood and plastic club. And when it comes down to having a weapon for personal protection, it's better to ensure proper working order on ALL the parts rather than just the part that goes bang.
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