There is hope for your $10 mags

[drw]

I just completed refinishing all of the $10 mags that I purchased a few months ago, and I aint braggin', but they look pretty good now. I purchased a bench top sandblaster and glass beading media and have stripped them all right down to bare metal. If anyone else here has tried to clean your mags by hand, just stop, it will mess with your sanity!
I will be happy to clean our members mags if you will enclose return postage and a shipping label. PM me for contact info.

[cvasqu03]

I didn't even know they made bench top sandblasters. How much did you pay for it and the glass beading media? What does it look like and what kind of space does it take?

[drw]

I purchased mine from Harbor Freight for $99.00 and the glass bead media from a local automotive paint supplier for $85.00/50lbs. The cabinet is about 30"LX24"DX24"H, it has a window on top to see your work and gauntlet sleeves to insert your hands into the cabinet to manipulate the pieces to be cleaned. You will need an air compressor to operate the unit.

[Gun Shot]

That sandblaster sounds badass...Very cool drw.

[cvasqu03]

Hey DRW, is the media reusable? What type is best for stripping painted finishes and rust?

[tommygun2000]

Different media will give you different finishes on the parts. Glass beads will be the least abrasive on both parts and nozzle and give you a finer finish. Sand is more coarse and will give a roughr texture.

They(the blasters) also need a lot of volume of compressed air.....no small compressor is going to cut it with a decent size blasting machine.

Beware of the dust that both glass beads and sand create...its toxic and will cause real lung problems. A dust collection unit is recommended and watch the glass beads on concrete or asphalt, its slippery as hell.

[drw]

"Glass Bead" is a little misleading, the stuff I have feels like baking flour, and yes the dust on the floor is like walking on ice! The media is recycled in the cabinet and will be changed when it becomes dirty. I have used the same batch of media to strip about 30 mags and some small parts for a '50 Chevy Coupe that my father is restoring. This stuff completely removes rust and finish without harming the metal or markings. The cabinet will hold about 10 lbs. of media, at a time.

[az paul]

Several months back, I purchased three of the $10 Sterling mags from DSA. Covered them with CLP and gave them a thorough going over. Results were that two of them run flawlessly. Apparently, when the catch was installed on the back of the third one, the metal case got pushed in a hair, and as a result, it jams with about ten rounds loaded in. Not fixable, but I'm not complaining. For $30 + shipping, I got two perfect mags, plus a spare follower, spring and bottom plate.

Now, on to the six NIW mags from OOO.