Cleaning Your Glock Magwell and Magazine

Everyone knows you need to keep your Glock’s barrel clean. A clean barrel is more accurate, will last longer, and will be less prone to corrosive attack than one that’s laboring under a heavy load of powder, lead and copper fouling.

But the magwell, and the magazine? These parts of the gun often get far less attention, not to mention less cleaning, than the rest of the platform.

That shouldn’t be the case. This short post will show you what you need to know about cleaning a Glock 19 magwell and mag chute, but more importantly, how to clean the magazine itself.

Cleaning a Glock 19 Magwell and Chute

For the most part, your Glock 19’s magwell and mag chute should be pretty clean, unless you dropped your gun in the mud or you store it under adverse conditions (which is a problem in its own right).

To clean the Glock 19 magwell itself, all you really need is a clean rag. Wipe the exterior of the magwell without removing it from the gun. If there is any powder fouling present, you can use a little bore solvent and a nylon brush to scrub it clean.

As for the interior of the mag chute, all you should need is a nylon brush and some solvent, if not just some warm water. The nylon brush is necessary to avoid scratching the interior of the mag chute since Glock frames are made of polymer.

After you clean the interior of the mag chute, test it with a clean, dry, white microfiber towel or paper towel. If it comes out clean, you can move onto the magazine itself. 

Cleaning a Glock 19 Magazine

Your Glock 19’s magazine is one of the most critical components of the gun; despite the fact that it is not actually a part of the action or of the gun itself, without a properly functioning magazine, your Glock will be relegated to the ranks of a complex single-shot platform with a cumbersome, manual repeating interface.

The point is, without proper maintenance, dust and dirt can damage the magazine, salt and moisture can corrode the magazine spring, and more. These are only a few of the factors that can damage a magazine and compromise its functionality.

Fortunately, Glock magazines are easy enough to disassemble and clean.

To do so, you will want to clear the Glock, drop the magazine, and ensure there are no live rounds in it.

Use a small screwdriver or an appropriately-sized pin punch to depress the detent through the hole in the floor plate. Once depressed, squeeze the sides of the magazine and push the floor plate forward, but not off of the magazine tube.

Keep your thumb over the floor plate, otherwise the plate, insert and spring will shoot out the bottom. Carefully slide the floor plate forward, remove this, followed by the insert, and keep your hand cupped over the bottom of the magazine to prevent the spring from shooting out.

Then, carefully remove the magazine spring. The follower should come out attached to the top of the spring.

So you have technically 5 components to a Glock 19 magazine: the mag tube, the floor plate (or base plate) the insert, the magazine spring and the follower.

Using a nylon brush and a light powder fouling solvent, clean off the interior and exterior of the magazine tube, as well as the floor plate and magazine insert. Set these aside to dry.

You can use powder fouling solvent and a brass brush to clean off the main spring. You don’t want any fouling here because corrosion to the magazine spring is one of the main things that can compromise a magazine’s functionality.

After you clean the spring and follower, if you want, you can add a drop or two of oil to the magazine spring. As a general rule this is not a good idea as oil attracts fouling, dust and dirt, but a single drop of oil applied to the spring and wiped over it with a clean rag will help seal off the spring to both moisture and oxygen, thereby helping to prevent rust.

However, don’t apply oil to the mag tube, floor plate, insert, follower, or any other polymer components of the magazine (or gun).

After you have allowed all of the magazine’s parts to completely dry, you can reassemble them in the reverse order from what was described in this article.

Proper Maintenance Ensures a Reliable Gun

While it may be true that many shooters don’t pay particular attention to their Glock 19’s magwell or magazines, much less clean them, it’s beneficial to clean them periodically to ensure that the mag seats, feeds, and drops smoothly and efficiently. A clean gun and mag will also last longer, which in turn protects your investment in your Glock.