The question is how often do you clean your magazines and how?
My magazines went through thousands of rounds and still function like new.
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I have 2 Pachmayr mags that are 40+ years old for my 1911
they work as if they are new. paid a little more but well worth it
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I must admit that I rarely do a full cleaning. My EDC and HD mags get limited use and I donāt worry much about my practice mags.
When I clean the firearm, Iāll usually wipe down the feed lip area and follower on the mags I used but I only do a full breakdown mag cleaning fiesta once every few years on my SD mags. Unless on my regular inspections I see they have attracted some dust bunnies or I feel that a magazine isnāt loading as smoothly as it should. Then Iāll take it apart and clean it.
Now that I am thinking about it I have a couple Glock and several cheap KCI practice mags that I donāt remember ever cleaning aside from my original rust prevention and the semi regular feed lip and follower wipe down. They are still working without issue.
When I lived in a place more prone to rust I would often take them apart after the first range trip, wipe the metal liners and springs with a cleaner/rust preventative and then wipe them completely dry before putting them back together. The cleaner I use for this leaves no residue to impact the ammo or attract gunk.
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My pesrsonal experience with Glock mags is that they last for a very long time. I even have a bunch of cheap KCI for Glock mags ($9 or $10 per mag over a dozen years ago) that are still going strong even though they are built with a thinner plastic shell and thinner metal liners. Have yet to have any of them fail.
Most of my practice takes place in areas with grass, dirt, soft cinders or dryfire practice at home over carpeted floors so my mags arenāt getting dropped on cement or hard gravel. And I have a bunch of practice mags to rotate through so they donāt all see use every range trip. I also do t get to practice as much as many here. So maybe all that explains my lack of issues?
Lately Iāve been using some Pmags with plastic feed lips. I do wonder how long theyāll last but so far so good and Iāve already easily gotten my $9/mag worth out of them.
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A just cleaned all of mine a few weeks ago for the first time ever. It was a total waste of time. They were clean inside and really, some alcohol or similar on the feed lips and follower would likely have been more than adequate.
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I never clean magazines.
Partly because of how I test, prove, and then sparingly and carefully use defensive magazinesā¦vs using and abusing range magsā¦and partially because my experience with my own guns and mags as well as super heavy use mags in a pro range setting indicatesā¦quality magazines in most pistols just tend to not need cleaned to work.
I think I feel safe saying, if you shoot enough to need to clean your magazines (most guns, factory ammo) to need to clean themā¦you already have the experience first hand to know what is needed and you wonāt ask me lol
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Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? 
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Have you ever had malfunctions due to a dirty centerfire rifle or pistol magazine, using a quality mag and factory ammo?
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Yes, with my Smith & Wesson 22 pistol. Unbelievable how much crud was in the two mags but there again 22ās are ādirty ammoā. Learned to check my mags after that.
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I asked about centerfire specifically. 
Rimfire such as .22lr is a different animal. Itās filthy. Itās also weak and closer to the margins for failure due to low action speed/etc, weaker mag springs, etc, IMEā¦22lr is just plain less reliable all the way around in addition to being so dirty
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My 9mm Carbine, due itās blowback action, the mags get rather dirty, Since they are Glock mags not a big deal to check and clean.
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Neverā¦ but, to be honest, I clean my magazines every 6 months (or whenever they were dumped in the sand or mud) so I have no idea how would they operate without cleaning. 
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Iāve got few 22LR pistols and never found single magazine (factory and reputable replacement) to be reliable. 
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I find factory 10 round rotary mags in a Ruger 10/22 shooting CCI Mini Mags to be extraordinarily reliable.
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Iāll do a deep cleaning when I notice a gritty sensation when depressing the follower.
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After a long road trip went to the range and my ammo would jam in the magazine and I could not even load them because it was dirty. I had to clean them at the range to be able to do any shooting. So, yes, I have had operational problems because of dirty magazines, and I use top of the line magazines also!
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If you donāt mind my asking, what firearm, magazine, and ammo?
What did the road trip have to do with it? Like, was it a road trip on a motorcycle on dusty roads open carrying or?
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Kimber 1911 with Wilson Combat magazines and Federal ammo.
I went from Washington state to Cali to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, then back to Arizona to the range. We went through several dust storms from Cali, Nevada and New Mexico. I drive a jeep! I had them sored in my safe in the jeep. It happened so, there is that.
There is nothing wrong with cleaning your magazines. Except when you are in a class, and you have to clean them to participate in the class.
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Kimberā¦well that might be a factor. Donāt think Iāve met a kimber owner yet that hasnāt told me about this that and the other malfunction they had to deal with
dons flame suit
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Gun never has malfunctioned. Magazines had a problem and I fixed that!
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