Magazines need occasional disassembly and cleaning
There may come a time when the magazine collects enough debris to warrant disassembly and cleaning.
Magazines of many configurations that I have seen over too many years have had provision for disassembly in relatively easy manner. The magazine that came with my Mark II was crimped so tightly, it seems that was not considered.
Disassembly can be done, and the bottom plate and magazine can be altered for easier future attention. Placed in a vice (machinist's vice in my case...having smooth jaws), the bottom plate can be carefully driven off with drift and hammer, alternating blows from side to side.
Note the angle of the bottom of the spring while still in the mag. It is opposite to the angle formed by the follower.
The follower is very nicely designed. Long anti-tilt legs, and configured to follow the curve of the magazine...making it impossible to install incorrectly.
I suspect the legs of the anti-tilt could be trimmed just enough to convert the magazine to hold six...which could come in handy for those who like to fire that initial clean-up/warm-up shot prior to shooting a five group. If a follower can be purchased, that might be a worthwhile alteration, if it doesn't lose anti-tilt qualities.
I carefully opened up (spread) the engaging edges of the bottom plate with a flat-blade screwdriver gently smacked with a 2-ounce ball peen. The bottom of the magazine body was diamond stoned to slightly decrease thickness and the leading and trailing edges slightly rounded to ease engagement. The flanges at the bottom of the magazine were also slightly beveled at the outer edges. In all, the plate now slides on and off easily while remaining a decent fit.
To capture the bottom plate to the magazine body, simply very slightly bend the ends of the bottom plate so they lie slightly below the magazine body end plates. This will leave the assembled magazine with a slightly loose bottom plate when the magazine is empty. Pressure of loaded cartridge almost eliminates the looseness, and a little tweaking of the bottom plate ends will assure that it won't pop open while leaving it easily disassembled when needed.
Generally, it is advised that magazines not be lubed, for two reasons. Lube attracts and retains debris that might otherwise pass through without clinging, and oils theoretically might penetrate and kill primers. I seriously doubt that last one, but in this case we are dealing with rimfire....a non-existent problem. I used a cotton swab and a little bit of CLP on the spring, follower and insides of the mag body this time. Time will dictate whether that practice is wise or not.
