2011 Mag care

[tackdr1ver]

I am just wondering what you all do to keep your 2011 mags in prime form. How do you clean and lube them and keep them feeding/dropping like they should?

I just made the switch from a G35 and am curious how tuned in to the mags I need to be?

Thanks!

[Sarge]

It would be very easy to say, "they're not Glock mags, that's for sure".

They will drop free if they are properly adjusted for your gun.

They need to be kept clean. Some guys clean them every time they touch the ground but I only clean mine if they got dirt, sand, or mud in or on them when they hit the ground.

I also clean mine completely every time I clean my gun. If the innards get corboned up they get sticky and they will eventually fail you.

Even if you don't get a full tuning done to your mags get them polished inside and out. They will run much smoother for you.

I took everybody's advice and put new springs in them for the start of the season.

Other than that just keep them wiped down and dry. Oil only attracts dirt and will gum them up eventually so don't oil them.

[HI5-O]

I've had my major match mags tuned but not my club match mags (we only get to shoot 10 rds anyway).

I use the Dawson tool-less base pads mostly, some Grams and Grams spring/follower kits in all my mags. If they hit the dirt, I take them apart and brush out the inside/outside of the tubes and wipe the spring and follower and use a silicone rag to wipe everything inside and out.

Some guys polish the inside and outside of the mag tube to make it slide easier especially when ejecting a mag for a reload.

Number the mags so you can keep track of any malfunctioning mags.

Measure the gap of the feed lips and watch for them every-so-often.

One more thing, check to see that your barrel ramp does not contact the front of the mag, it'll peen your ramp (bottom right corner) and mag a little. Just file the mag tube where they make contact.

For reference, check out FGW vendor forum, he has posted a sticky on mag tuning.

[Seth]

BAH!! Stuff bb's in them, clean them when they're dirty.

[kalaur]

I clean mine after every stage if I used them, whether it hit the ground or not. This includes disassembling the mag, running a mag brush through the tube, rag through the tube, wiping off the follower, wiping out the basepad, and wiping off the feedlip area of the tube (inside and out).

For lubrication between matches, I spray some silicone spray on them and lightly wipe them off (or use one of those silicone rags). The silicone spray really makes it easy to wipe off dirt and carbon build up as I use them.

[Rambo]

^ I do the same thing... Can't hurt

[Corey]

I may play around with the silicone spray as i have a can on my bench that rarely gets used. I normally will pull off the basepad and run a brush through it if it hit the ground. If its the mag i finished a stage with, it gets the ammo emptied out then reloaded, mainly so i can guarantee i know how many rounds are in it. Quick wipe down with a dry towel and back on the belt they go. I'lll wipe them all off good at the end of the day with a cloth that has a little solvent on it then a dry towel and put them away until I use them again.

[DMH]

I throw mine in the tumbler a few times a year, works great!

[Mitch Harrington]

I tune my mags ONCE and then keep an eye on them. I have yet to need to re-tune a mag. As far as cleaning goes, I just use a brush if they are dropped in dirt and then I use Hornady One Shot dry lube before every major.

[MoNsTeR]

Pay whatever it costs to get them tuned, it's worth every penny. You can skip this if they work perfectly already, but I promise you will never regret having them tuned by someone who really knows what they're doing.

Clean them every time they hit the ground. Every time.

No lube. Ever.

[Seth]

If you ask me having them tuned isn't worth anything. Insist on better built guns.

[tackdr1ver]

This is a sweet thread.

Thanks for all the insight guys. Just replaced the springs in all five of my Brazos mags, the follower sticking up & out kinda irritates me. Hopefully they will settle after keeping them loaded a few days. I have never had to deal with that, so not running the gun dry will be a challenge. Thanks!

[feederic]

I tune mine according to the Dawson DVD and FGW guide in the sticky. I clean them every time they hit the dirt.

I've had mags so out of square you have to yank them out of the gun. Feed lips have been so bad the round would nose dive into the mag or down and to the left or right.

[stidad]

I clean them after the match.

[a matt]

Great gun and 2 sets tuned mags. Clean them if they need it or not. I can't afford equipment issues. I have enough mental issues. lol

[dkwatch]

This is a sweet thread.

Thanks for all the insight guys. Just replaced the springs in all five of my Brazos mags, the follower sticking up & out kinda irritates me. Hopefully they will settle after keeping them loaded a few days. I have never had to deal with that, so not running the gun dry will be a challenge. Thanks!

What springs and followers you use?

[latech15]

I don't do anything with them til they fail. If they get dirt/mud on them I blow them out and wipe off what I can get to and put them back to work.

Ps they ain't failed yet.

[Poppa Bear]

I am new to the STI having shot a G35 for several years. I have been tweaking and inspecting the mags I already have and should be getting a tuned set delivered tomorrow along with the parts to finish tuning my current stock mags. As I have discovered with my inspection of the tubes, the smoother and more polished they are on the inside the better they will function. They are a hard material so they will not deform easily short of physical abuse.

To me the biggest issue will be keeping the sand out. Many forms of dust and dirt are not that abrasive, sand on the other hand is abrasive enough to scratch up the steel mag bodies. It is also sharp enough to cut into the case and the mag body jamming it up.

So me I will be running a brush through them every time they hit the ground while shooting outdoors, but will probably only brush them out once a month while shooting indoors.

[BillD]

I'm new to the 2011 game since early this year. I've got 9 mags with one STI and one Rescomp.

I haven't done anything to them yet but shoot them about 4K rounds.

No issues.

[392heminut]

I don't do anything with them til they fail. If they get dirt/mud on them I blow them out and wipe off what I can get to and put them back to work.

Ps they ain't failed yet.

Same here! I've been using these mags for over 10 years now with the original springs (SVI) and I'm thinking it might be time for new springs. The only time I've ever cleaned them after every stage was when I shot the Kansas sectionals in Hutchinson Ks. The range was in the 'Sand Hills' and the sand base of the bays was like sugar. Those were pretty much lost brass matches because of the sand.

[isleman75]

If you ask me having them tuned isn't worth anything. Insist on better built guns.

Ahhh, some sanity in the lot...

Attention to detail in the build of the gun is paramount.

Mags should be close to Dawson's measurements, but I agree with Seth, don't let "mag problems" always be your first guess at a culprit..

[diehli]

Build an F1 engine, meticulously choosing and fitting parts and ensuring they all work together.

Run excellent quality, high-octane fuel in it.

Feed it with the FI system of a Rambler Rebel.

In the above allegory: engine = $5000 gun; fuel = Starline brass, Zero/MG bullets, VV powder; Rambler Rebel FI = untuned mags.

[MoNsTeR]

If you ask me having them tuned isn't worth anything. Insist on better built guns.

I cannot possibly disagree more strenuously with this statement. The most perfectly built gun in the world will not run with out-of-spec mags. If STI and SV had even vaguely decent quality control on their mags it might not be an issue, but they don't.

(This is a separate issue from tuning tubes to increase capacity.)

[Seth]

I disagree MORE strenuously!

Both of my Tripp guns will run virtually any ammo from any mag. I've borrowed mags and Speer Lawman and run matches without a hitch. I lent both guns out to a shooter at a match last month to try and she ran nothing but Glock length ammo through them.

My mags are all assembled from tubes I've picked up either used or randomly. I've not found a single mag that won't run in my guns.... now there are some that are misshapen and won't drop, but they basically all run.

[Poppa Bear]

It is actually a matter of timing. These numbers are fictional but make the point.

Magazine is super tuned and polished. It can lift the next round into place in an average of .02 seconds.

Magazine is very stock and possibly even a little scraped up on the inside. It can lift the next round into place on average in .04 seconds.

Gun is sprung so that the slide stays to the rear for .05 seconds before it starts coming forward. Both mags work.

Gun is sprung so that the slide stays for .04 seconds. Polished will always work, stock might not.

Gun is sprung for .03 seconds. Polished works, stock does not.

Gun is sprung for .015 seconds. Neither works.

So as long as the magazine is capable of bringing the next round up into position before the slide can start moving forward it will work unless....

The magazines followers, springs, and/or feed lips are out of spec enough to cause issues with either jamming inside the mag, or feeding problems because the cartridge is not at the proper angle to enter the chamber. The issue is OAL of the cartridge as it relates to the feed lips. OAL to short and feed lips that are to wide at the front will lead to the round below pushing the cartridge out before it is aligned with the chamber. In other words to shallow of an angle. OAL to long and feed lips to narrow and the cartridge is unable to leave the mag in time to enter the chamber because now the angle is too steep. A cartridge that is loaded to a medium range like say 1.145 to 1.175 for a .40 will likely work even if the feed lips are not perfectly dimensioned just because it is a little slower leaving the too wide lips and a little faster leaving the too narrow lips.

So it is a balance of Gun, magazine and cartridge. The tighter the numbers are the tighter everything has to be to make it function correctly.