Finding out that I don't know as much about handguns as I thought (question)

Clammy

Clammy

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Well, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of handguns, but I find myself asking what are likely beginner questions... and I think this one qualifies:

Are you supposed to lubricate (with gun oil or other lubricant) the magwell of a semi-auto pistol?

Thanks for any insights offered.

Cheers!
:cool: :cool: :cool:
 
If the magwell is on a polymer frame, no. If it is an aluminum frame, just keep it dry and clean. Steel frames, yes, clean and lube then remove all excess oil. Just leave a tiny film that won't attract dust.

Basically keep them dust free. The steel frames only needs a tiny little bit of rust protection.
 
Clammy said:
Well, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of handguns, but I find myself asking what are likely beginner questions... and I think this one qualifies:

Are you supposed to lubricate (with gun oil or other lubricant) the magwell of a semi-auto pistol?

Thanks for any insights offered.

Cheers!
:cool: :cool: :cool:
Click to expand...





I never have and I've never heard of anyone who does either.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have an old WWII era BHP, and the mags are tight as it is (they only drop about 1/4 " when I hit the mag release), but when i was cleaning it the other day, I decide to run an oiled patch throught the magwell. Now the mags don;t even drop the 1/4"... so i guess I'll clean the magwell out.

Cheers!
:cool: :cool: :cool:
 
I had a similar proplem with my Inglis when I switched to a Hogue Mono-grip. The screws were just a bit too long and made contact with the mag. Try backing off the grip screws a bit and see if that fixes it. For me it was a matter of passing a file over the end of the screw. (Watch you don't bugger up the threads though) If you can get a small washer under the screw, that will help too. As was mentioned, oil is really just for rust protection.
 
BHP's are designed to hold onto the mags when you hit the release - Not so great if you are an army troopie in the field and you keep losing mags in the mud underfoot!

The spring at the rear of the mag well can be removed if you wish to cancel this feature, and have drop free mags.

Cheers,

Neal
 
I think that the "freely dropping magazine" is an idea made popular through action-shooting sports like IPSC, rather than being the "normal" way to release a magazine when you look at the history of semi-auto pistols.

I wouldn't expect a military pistol built before 1980 to have a freely dropping magazine. More likely, it would pop out 1/3 of the way to allow you to remove it (by hand) and put in another one.

Look at the old "heel" type mag releases on European pistols and you'll see that a freely dropping mag simply was not in the plan. The 1911 is a design that's inclined to drop freely and it's what made it possible to do a fast mag change. To make things quicker, they were generally "tuned" to release freely (but that's the influence of IPSC, as far as I can see).
 
Don't be worried about asking questions.... we all begin somewhere. There's a lot of guns out there that I understand in the only most vague of ways (ARs, for example).
 
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