Gents,

 Just got back from Iraq and I must say that I was disapointed with the magazines that my M9 had alot of problems with the sand.  One round would feed and then the follower would get stuck.  It required a lot of cleaning but it did not give me the much confidence in the mags.  Luckily I also had my M16 as well so I felt a little better.  Has anyone had these problems with this?  I cleaned my mags twice a day and still I had problems.

Maybe I should of brought the Glock.....


MAX

I've heard that a dry lube would help on mags. What were you using for mag lube?

Welcome back.
Was it just your magazines or others as well?
Were any parts replaced in order to try to fix the mag's?
Such as the spring, follower, base plate?
How much lube were you putting into the magazine? I hope next to none, only a VERY light coat, not even enough to keep the parts damp.
I live in the desert (no where near as extreme as Iraq) but I haven't ran across this issue.
I guess that's why the M9 has that open top side, so you can feed it one at a time when the mag turns into a piece of dog crap.
-Steve

Thats the most commonly heard complaint with the M9 in hard use.  To quote the Marine Corps after action report thats floating around:

M9 Pistol Magazines ~ The magazines are not working properly. The springs are extremely weak and the follower does not move forward when rounds are removed. If the magazine is in the weapon, malfunctions result. If out of the weapon, remaining rounds fall out of the magazine. Dirt and sand does cause some of the problem with follower movement, but multiple cleanings of the magazine each day does not alleviate the problem. The main problem is the weak/worn springs.  (note:  I personally encountered this problem as well.  Say what you will, but I had to break down all magazines daily to clean them.  Despite this effort, rounds routinely “fell” out of the magazine.  Forces in contact did not have the time or the luxury to break down each 9mm magazine daily.  M16 magazines worked well.). (email me if you want a copy of the full report).

You might try getting some of the non-mil-spec plastic followers from Beretta and installing Wolfe extra power magazine springs.

Dri-Slide is also a good dry lube to put on the springs.  Just let the liquid carrier dry before you load them.

The springs are extremely weak and the follower does not move forward when rounds are removed.

That's exactly the problem I had with a couple of USGI M9 magazines I was using for my 92FS. They wouldn't lock the slide back, occasionally had feeding problems, etc. I bought some of the Wolff +10% springs and that cured it. These springs are considerably longer than the factory springs and noticeably more robust as far as thickness. I'll try and post a comparison photo later.

Jim,

 I think your right.  I think I will buy those Wolf Springs for all of my GI Mags.  In the long run I think it will be a worthwhile investment.

Ma

Here's a photograph of a Wolff +10% magazine spring (left) versus a factory Beretta spring (on the right). Pretty big difference. The Beretta spring is from a USGI M9 magazine.