Normally, you're only going to run into this on 1911 magazines, but you might with magazines that belong to other pistols. That said, you actually can remove the baseplate on some 'fixed' magazines.but what you'll notice is that it takes some doing to remove it. Is it clearly not meant to be taken off? Then you have a fixed baseplate. Is it obviously slid onto the magazine tube? Then you have a removable baseplate.

Take your magazine and have a look at the baseplate. The latter is more common with single-stack pistols, such as 1911 pistols and so on. The former is much more common for double-stack pistols, though it isn't by any means exclusive to them.

The good news is that there are two dominant forms, so you don't have to know too much to figure out the basic procedure. The Two Designs Of Handgun Magazineīefore we go over disassembly and cleaning, let's go over the dominant forms of handgun magazine. The good news is that there are pretty much two designs of magazine on the market to be aware of, with only a minor difference or two between them. We'll go over magazine cleaning procedures. Magazines, as we all know, are one of the most likely sources of mechanical failure in a semi-auto pistol, so you need to do what you can to keep them up. Every so often, you'll need to take them apart, clean them, then reassemble to keep them in good working order and ensure better operation.Īlong with periodically replacing your magazine spring cleaning and lubricating your magazine periodically is a necessary bit of regular maintenance that will keep your magazine in good working order. Yes, your magazines need to be cleaned just like your pistol does. If there's a skill that you ought to pick up on if you haven't already it's how to clean a handgun magazine. How To Clean A Handgun Magazine And Keep It In Good Working Order

How to disassemble a pistol