Recommend Method for Cleaning Grimy Magazines (AR/AK)

[Emptymag]

At present, I have some USGI mags that were some sort of police/military/training mags and they arrived FILTHY. I've had them for a while - I just haven't bothered cleaning them yet since I wasn't sure what would be best.

They are basic, grey, aluminum USGI - no special coatings or paint.

Do I just soak them in mineral spirits and brush the insides? Is there something I should avoid getting on the green followers?
Oil the spring afterward, or leave it dry?



My question is specific to AR15 mags, but feel free to toss out suggestions for cleaning any type of mag. I have some surplus AK47 mags that came with storage "grease" so I'll need to clean those up one day as well too.

[Hodgie]

Disassemble and use some parts degreaser. You can pick up a gallon at harbor freight for a few bucks I also use one of the oil drain land where the oil drains into the inside of the tray so it can be dumped or transferred easy. I would also recommend the ultra sonic cleaner from Harbor freight it works excellent and all I use is Simple Green Concentrate and warm water. An air compressor is a good way of getting them dry.

[DucatiRon]

Personally I'd try Simple Green mixed with water first and then straight if nessicary. Only after that I'd go with a solvent.

[JDA58]

+1 on the Disassemble first....

[Emptymag]

+1 on the Disassemble first....

I DO have a hammer!

[JDA58]

Oh yeah.... I forgot.. this is you we are talking about....

[rimmer]

I just use a good soap and water scrub with a long 1& 1/2"bottle brush. let them dry and reassemble.

[Nate7667]

Diesel fuel is a good cheap cleaner.
Cleaned many "crate o'SKS" back in the day with it.

Watch out on the ultra sonic on painted items, it will more than likely start to remove the paint. More so on the AK mags.
And deff dont stick aluminum parts in there either.

[Noah_Zark]

I am reluctant to recommend either Simple Green or Purple Power for cleaning USGI aluminum magazines as those are unbuffered high pH (alkaline) cleaners and alkalines attack aluminum. USGI AR mags are of course anodized, which forms a layer of aluminum oxide on the surface of the aluminum metal for corrosion resistance. This is the "gold" colored layer under the Everlube "solid film lubricant" gray coating that's on the surface of the mag body. Alkaline cleaners will form "white rust" in unprotected areas of the mags, where the anodizing has been damaged or scraped / worn off.

If you must use an aqueous cleaner, I would recommend a mild dish soap like plain Dawn or Palmolive, or (don't laugh) Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Use a 10% solution at most. NEVER use Simple Green or Purple Power full-strength on aluminum. While still alkaline, they are pH buffered closer to neutral which is 7.0. Don't forget; A change of 1.0 pH is a tenfold change in hydronium ions in the solution. A cleaning solution with a pH of 9 is 10 times more alkaline than a solution with a pH of 8.

For solvent based cleaners for USGI AR mags, WD40 works fine without removing the Everlube SFL coating (much). Diesel or kerosene will also work, but in any event then need to rinse in soapy water to remove residual. DO NOT use brake cleaner, carb cleaner, or Gun Scrubber as these solvents will remove the Everlube SFL coating and leave you with pretty gold anodized mags.

Strip the magazines, soak them for several minutes, then scrub inside and outside with a bottle brush. Rinse in hot water and let "flash" dry. Wipe off the springs with a corrosion-resistant oil like Corrosion-X, FP-10, or even CLP, then reassemble and load up.

Noah

[Emptymag]

Thank you Noah. LOL!