Lightly greasing magazines for EDC weapons: good or bad?

Since late last year I've up-sized my EDC choice from my beloved SP101 revolver to one of three 9mm autos. I will be rotating a P95, a P89, and a CZ75B. After each practice session (about once monthly) each gun is field stripped, cleaned and lubed. I chose a ptfe light grease (Super Lube in the 3 ounce tube) for lightly greasing the slide rails. So far so good.
Since the magazines are of course critical to gun function,I find myself pondering mag disassembly in the routine, and a very light wipe inside and out of the mag body. Is this overdoing the cleaning technique?
Thanking all of you in advance for suggestions. Oh. I thought about posting this on another forum that's not brand specific but in the last few years I've seen answers given there to simple questions that are borderline smart aleck. That's not how I treat others and won't participate in that sort of discourse. Thus my posting here. Don.

I would advise keeping the inside of your mags clean and dry. Grease on ammo=bad news. Not only does it attract dirt but it can prevent the chamber from having proper contact with the case walls which can lead to ruptured cases. A super thin coat on the outside of the mag should be ok as long as it doesn't migrate onto the ammo.

Clean and dry, inside and out for all my mags, carry or range. Lube is not needed. I blow the dust out of my carry mags every couple of weeks, and they get broken down and cleaned after a range session.

Thank you. I'm pleased I asked. After 50 years of gunning I suppose I should have known, but I'm a man not afraid to ask advice. Don.

I vote clean and dry also. I've only seen one person who lent me his M&P 9 to do this. I wasn't expecting it but when I picked up the mag it was coated so heavily it almost slipped out of my hand. I asked him about it later and he told me it was for competition. It felt like hoppes but I'm not sure. I remember doubting how much good it did since as a rule the mags drop out fine without oil from the M&P as they should with any higher end semi auto. /shrug

From what I've been told, grease is bad....collects dirt and debris... and not only can this cause premature jamming... it also means your lube will have aggregates in it which is not good. I think the high quality combo clean and lube oils are a much better choice these days... a spray can of the stuff does not really cost that much and sure last a good long time.

I drag my oily rag that I use to wipe down everything through the mag and wipe down the follower, spring, and base plate too. I do not add oil typically unless it is a used mag that needs cleaned very well before use. I mean one that may have rust starting on the spring etc.

To be very clear, these mags (rusty) would be range use only. Good enough for plinking.

Another vote for clean & dry. I have read that lubricants can cause primers to not function properly. I have not experienced this but a firearm is one thing I really want to work when I need it to.

I clean my mags after every range outing. Thouroughly dry the inside of the mag and the follower. But I do spritz the spring with Remington Dry Lube.

kbm6893 said:

I clean my mags after every range outing. Thouroughly dry the inside of the mag and the follower. But I do spritz the spring with Remington Dry Lube.

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Hi,

Essentially the same drill here except the mag spring gets a light wipe down with an oiled rag, as does the outside of the mag. Corrosion protection's my goal, not "slickin' things up": I've got something nasty in my hide that will rust guns while I'm using them...

Rick C

I've got the same stuff... the left side of the slide on my LC9 rusted last year after I'd been carrying it for about two months......and the mag. disconnect button has turned brown. Go figure.

I do a light spray inside and out with silicon spray. It offers some lube and rust protection but won't collect grime, just let dry a bit before loading ammo in them. Acetone FREE silicon spray only!

There is a product called Dri-Film that I use on the surfaces of woodworking equipment; table saw, router tables, shaper, etc. It makes wood pieces slide as if on ice. You spray it on and wipe it off and it leaves a slick surface that doesn't collect dust. Works great on magazines as well.

I use Johnson's Paste Wax on blued carry guns as a rust preventative. It works really well.

I use a product called Pistol Pro MagSlick on all my semi-auto magazines, inside and out and on the springs. For the first use, you need to degrease the magazine and springs first before applying the MagSlick. It's worked great for me. It's made by Krunch Products and I got mine from Brownell's.

I'd never use grease on a mag, inside or out.

I wipe them down, thoroughly, inside and out, incl. the spring, with a lightly oiled (Hoppe's) patch when I first get them. If they're heavily-coated, they first get a wipe-down with solvent. Then I pretty much leave them be. I inspect them, and give them a repeated wipe-down, if they're getting dirty.

My EDC guns end up getting more dust and lint in them than anything just from being on me everyday so I'm not going to add trouble with grease in or on my mags. Tiny bit on the slide, that's it.

Everyone has their own "method" of proper cleaning, and generally most are just fine...if it wasn't, then time would show them they need to change up their method. I clean and lightly oil gun and magazines lightly, after each shooting session, and do the same with any revolver I decide to carry, sans the magazine routine.

I don't know if I am following the most up-to-date and modern way to clean up and carry a weapon, but I do know that I have never had any issue since the early 1980's, when I learned to do it this way while in the Marines.

usmc6433-6437 said:

Everyone has their own "method" of proper cleaning, and generally most are just fine...if it wasn't, then time would show them they need to change up their method. I clean and lightly oil gun and magazines lightly, after each shooting session, and do the same with any revolver I decide to carry, sans the magazine routine.

I don't know if I am following the most up-to-date and modern way to clean up and carry a weapon, but I do know that I have never had any issue since the early 1980's, when I learned to do it this way while in the Marines.

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I think all of us are guilty of using the logic that- "my way is the best way", or "only way". I know I have been in the past. But in the case of semi auto's I think they have gotten better over the last few decades and so long as nothing is broken, just about all of them seem to run almost no matter what you do to them (within reason). Every semi auto I own including my Ruger will run just fine completely dry. Even over oiled they do fine as well. I try to come down somewhere between those extremes.

Maybe this debate is slightly less important then it used to be compared to the age of the 1911. I hear they remain temperamental to this day if not properly lubricated.