Surplus m-16 magazines used in AR-15's

[jblomenberg16]

I am starting to come around to that conclusion. I may just take them apart and give them a good cleaning. d:-)

Best option right there. Mag malfunctions are most often caused not by exterior issues, but interior issues. So long as the mags you have aren't dented, split, etc., just clean them up and run them. Also, depending on how old they are, it might be worth replacing the followers with some of the newer "anti-tilt" followers. That will also improve reliability of the mags.

 

[45fan]

Like everyone else is saying, they work fine, run them, a little patina never hurt anything.

If you are just that anal retentive about everything looking as new as possible, I will share with you what we used to do to get our mags ready for a JOB inspection back in the day (assuming the armorer was a stinge, and wouldnt trade out your mags). We would strip them down to just the body, clean with hot soapy water, and lay as thin a coat of dollar store flat black paint as possible, without leaving any bare spots. Were we supposed to do this? Nope, if you asked some it would cause your rifle to jam up, misfire, and the buffer would fall out on the ground as soon as you insert the mag. Did it ever cause any issues for me? Not a one, as I would clean, and if doing a repaint job, sand down the body, to make sure that things didnt build up too much.

Knowing what I know now, I would probably look into anodizing, cereKote, or some other more durable finish to limit the times I would feel compelled to refinish them, but truthfully, the cheap stuff from the dollar store was plenty durable to handle regular use, and not need touched up more than once a year or two.

 

[Gunaria]

Here's some that I seen yesterday.