If you’ve ever dropped your AEG’s mag in a puddle or accidentally stuffed it into the dirt or grit, you might find it doesn’t feed so well anymore or makes your ammo dirty because you’ve filled the BB channel with muck. There’s not a lot to most midcap magazines and most are designed using the same principles, but they start to go wrong when grit, dust or sand finds its way into the channel the BBs are stored in. These foreign particles can cause jams, slow feeding and in worst cases allow dirt to get into the hop unit and barrel of your guns. This will play havoc with your accuracy so keeping your airsoft guns and magazines clean is a must.
A word of warning…
Maintaining your magazines is an easy job once you know how but you can bet your bottom dollar that the first time you attempt it you’ll end up with springs shooting here and there. If you lose any, you’ll have a tough time getting the mag back up and running. Make sure you have a clear, clean workspace so when you do inevitably drop something you’ll have an easier time finding it on the floor.
Things you’ll need…
A clean, clear workspace
A quality set of screwdrivers (usually Phillips)
Allen keys
Some silicon spray
A clean cloth
Step 1
Empty all the BBs out of the mag by pulling back the catch near the feedhole. If they are jammed, don’t be afraid to give the magazine a sharp tap on something solid to encourage them to free up, the dome-shaped follower should be visible through the feedhole unless you have some serious mag constipation. With this magazine, we had to remove the retaining screw, but that’s not always the case. Either way, remove the screw at the bottom entirely and set it aside.
Step 2
Depending on the design of your magazine, the inner may simply slip out of the outer sleeve, but some have pins pushed through at the top to further secure them, if that’s the case, simply push them out. Sometimes they come out by hand, but others might need a little persuasion with a punch and a small tack hammer. Once the pin is out, set it aside. This should free up the inner magazine and allow you to pull it out of the top of the sleeve.
Step 3
If you had to trap the long main spring in between the two halves of the inner magazine, it’d be nigh on impossible to reassemble them because of the tension required. Thankfully, the job is made easier by a spring access point. You’ll be able to identify this in most magazines by the cover you need to unscrew and lever out of place. Take care when doing this though, because once it’s moved, the main spring will shoot out so try and catch it when it does. With the long spring and attached follower removed by simply pulling it through, unscrew the two halves of the inner shell. Once all the screws are undone, the two halves will come free and often the BB retaining latch will be released. This consists of a small coil spring and a wedge-shaped latch. Take note of them and set them aside carefully.
Step 4
Take your lint-free cloth and spray a small amount of silicone oil onto it, use this to wipe out the BB channel in the magazine shell halves. Make sure it’s spotless in there. Do the same to the main spring whilst it is out, and give it a very light spray of silicone to help it move freely through the magazine. Too much silicone oil though, and you’ll end up with it on your hop unit, ruining its effect, so go sparingly.
Step 5
Carefully replace the catches and other small pieces into one half of the magazine inner then replace the top cover and screw it back together. Feed the main spring in through the access point before refitting the cover. Next, slide the inner back into the sleeve and replace any screw or pins that you removed. Fill and empty the magazine a couple of times through to make sure they are working and to work any excess silicone oil through before you but them in your AEG.
These simple steps should bring even the most stubborn of mid-caps back to life. Please bear in mind though, that springs do eventually give up their tension, magazines don’t always get on with certain BBs and sometimes you might need to fit a sector delay clip into your gearbox if you have persistent feed problems.
If you have any questions please contact us at Just BB Guns.