Do you mark your magazines?

[Alpo]

There's a thread on here - "Someone gave me these, and I don't know what they fit".

I've got some magazines that are easily recognizable. I've got a Colt Ace. Those magazines are easy to identify. Got 1911s in 45 and 9. I know them at a glance. My 40 Smith 1911 mags, though? They have 40 S&W written on them with a blue paint stick. I have one magazine for a Colt Officers. It says SHORT, so I don't try to stick it in a full size gun. Have a Beretta 92 and a 96. Those look identical, to me. So the 92 mags have 9 on them, and the 96's have 40. And to help make sure there is no confusion, the Browning Hi Power mags say HP. Got Colt Model Ms in 32 and 380. They are marked as to which is which. Got my P38 (single stack 9) marked so I don't get it confused with Radom (single stack 9).

Anyone else do this, or I am just - peculiar?

[BUFF]

No, you are not the only one.

I carried one or another Colt 1911 for work for 22+ years, all .45 ACP, all stainless, both Government Models and aluminum frame Commanders. For the first 20 years, the department required that the guns we carried had to use that company's magazines. I marked the sides of my magazines with letters or numbers as I bought them. A qualification course usually took 7 or 8 magazines to shoot, and if the gun bobbled, I wanted to know exactly WHICH magazine or magazines had choked. Numbering them made it easier. I ended up with Colt-marked magazines in 5 or 6 variations, with different lips or followers. So, one group was marked 1,2,3,4,5,6 7 and 8; the next was marked A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H; the next S,T,U,V,W,X,Y and Z, the next 10,11,12,13,14,15,16 and 17 . I cleaned the mags with brake cleaner and used permanent, wide-tip permanent marker. Believe me when I tell you all Colt-branded magazines made in the last 20 years aren't alike.

I had to know that ALL of my mags worked in ALL four of the guns I might carry at work or off duty. It wasn't to separate and identify mag types, but my system would work for what you want, too.

Eventually, our armorer approved Wilson Combat's 1911 magazines. I bought what were widely thought to be the most reliable, number 47, and I bought a big batch of those, cleaned, numbered and tested them, and that is what I ended up with.

[BigCityChief]

I mark everything - need to, given the number of pistols I own.

[30-30remchester]

Originally Posted by BigCityChief

I mark everything - need to, given the number of pistols I own.

I do not have scads of magazines for each self loader, only 3 to 4 for each. But I do put a number on each with a label maker. Some magazines are more reliable than others. Since my interest is in antique firearms and knives, many of my magazines are very expensive and difficult to obtain. So on the inside of every magazine I leave a permanent mark that is difficult to see but can be identified if ownership comes into question. I label, number, and date about everything that comes into my house. Every piece of food, batteries, and even pants have been numbered or dated. I am wearing pants number 3 today. This drives my kids crazy.

[DR505]

I mark mine to track for reliability, not for the firearm. I keep different magazines segregated by what they fit.

[kaveman]

If I have only 3 or 8 of something they generally go in a ziploc bag and the bag is marked. Same system if I have 20 or 40 of something except they get tossed in a box and the box gets marked. It's for ID only. I don't mark individual mags and would never live long enough nor have enough money for ammo to test them all. Hundreds of models totaling many thousands of magazines,.........I do worry about keeping them identified for whoever has to deal with this junk once I kick.

[Arik]

I mark them bur for a different reason. Otherwise all my mags are different enough to tell what's what.

Glock
Sig 220
Sig 228
HK USP
HK p2000
1911

The only ones that I have difficulty with are Glock 17 and Glock 22

[Pondoro]

My first pistol was a Ruger Mark II. It jammed on round two on one magazine if you loaded it with 9 or 10, but was fine if loaded with 8 or less. Yeah, accuse me of being drunk, my friends refused to believe me, too. So I marked the bad mag and tested it. I was right. So I always loaded that mag with eight.

From time to time a buddy would call me crazy and I'd demo.

After about five years I had other guns and shot the Mark II less, 357's and 44's had caught my eye, also a couple of surplus Mauser rifles with 1200 rounds of cheap surplus ammo.

When I went back to the Ruger Mark II the mark on the mag had worn off! Both mags functioned fine!

Either the bad mag had a burr that wore off or a too-strong spring that lightened up, or I had accidentally traded with a buddy. No idea.

I now have five Mark II mags that each wear a spot of red spray paint, to avoid any accidental swaps with friends.

[model70hunter]

My Sigs are not marked. All were tested, including the new ones and all perform without flaws.

1911 mags are different. I have one that is not reliable, it is so marked and is used only when burning cheap stuff.

The others all are marked as to manf and 1,2,3 etc. All have been tested.

I would like an extra HS 22 LR mag for my 1950 HS Sport King but have not found a new or good one. Maybe someday. There is a rumor of a fella on this forum that has a couple of extra ones and doesn't own a HS. He said someday he may get another. Well if he changes his mind a PM would be nice.

Ar's. wow, lots of marking here. 5, 10, 20 rounds are marked due to some are the same size. Both for the5.56 and 6.5 Grendel.

And AR mags are a mistake I once made. I lived close to an army base and at a yard sale I bought a large box of used Colt 20 round Mags for cheap, like 5 bucks.

Like reloading dies and some other stuff, 15 and 28 gauge ammo comes to mind, once sold it can never be replaced that cheaply. I sold them. Since then I've owned Ar's and pay lots more to get mags.

I learned to not sell stuff, I have 8 MAg, 375 H&H, 300 win mag and on and on, in storage. Someone has said in the past I have a 30-06 or 308, if I had some ammo we'd shoot it. Well we get to bang a way with their gun. A time or 2 someone said I don't use it what will you give? I bought a couple at a win win price and still gave me room for a trade.

[RJJ 1971]

Pistol mags - I only mark the ones with issues.

22lr rifles mags - since I have so many, I have to mark them to keep them straight.

[Old cop]

I number my magazines so if something goes wrong I'll know which mag had the problem.

[Arik]

I will say this. I only buy OEM or those who make OEM. So....either OEM or Mec-Gar. I don't buy any other aftermarket mags and I'm not concerned with saving $5. If I get a gun with an aftermarket mag I usually just toss it aside or use it as a trade in mag with the gun. If I decide to keep that gun the mag will eventually be used as a target

[CustomChevyGuy]

I try to mark the mags for 2 reasons.
1 - I try to rotate my carry mags every few months, usually about every 3 months
2 - If i were ever to have a issue with a mag, it'd be nice to know which one, without having to mark it later

[Cyrano]

I have 24 different kinds of automatic pistols and 8 rifle with detachable magazines. I usually don't have a lot of mags for each weapon, one or two usually,. The exceptions are Colt Govenment Models, SW 39/59s, M1 carbines and M1A rifles. i don't find it necessary to mark them as they're all different enough I can tell them apart. All my Colt magazines work in all my Governmen Models or I throw them away. Same for my 39 and 59 magazines, and M1 carbine magazines. I haven't found any mags that don't work in my M1A.

[LoboGunLeather]

I test magazines for function in specific pistols, then place a small mark on the base plate to indicate which pistol it is to be used with.

[2152hq]

Pistol & rifle mags are all thrown together in one big drawer. These are odds and ends that I have kept that I might have a need for sometime. As a replacement or to make a gun whole again.
Those common ones I don't bother marking,,the odd ones I do with a Sharpie. It's tough to keep them all straight especially the older foreign ones.
I forget what's in there sometimes.
Pistols with their own mags are kept with the pistols. I can't think of anything I have that has more than 2 original to the gun magazines with it. There's plenty of extras for a few of them if I wanted to take them along but I've never seen any need to.

[flintsghost]

I can identify all of my magazines by sight except my H&K USPc mags and they are already marked with calibers. I keep a small bottle of red fingernail polish in my shooting bag. I put a red dot on the side of any magazine that is in a gun when a malfunction happens. I am then able to tell it is a problem and is not to be in a gun for serious use until the problem is either fixed with a new spring, follower, or both. The red dot is removed after it has been used on at least two trips to the range with no more malfunctions. As for numbering them, I have never thought that necessary.

[Ivan the Butcher]

I love 45 ACP autos and revolvers. At one point I had 7 or 8 different style of Mags. Try running out of the house to kill that varmint in the garden, then finding you have a Star PD mag for a Colt officers or some other non-functioning combo! I settled on 2 reliable magazine systems: 1911 and Sig 220. There are many brand and even several different weapons that use the two types of mags. Then I sold or traded off all the autos that don't use them. Since then the only different mag type of 45 I bough was a double stack that looks nothing like any other mag I use. When I acquire a new pistol in the 1911 family, It get a function test with a Wilson mag, and then a Colt mag, and then a proven Springfield mag. From then on I know the gun isn't the problem and most likely it is not a mag problem. Guns that don't work with my test mags are disposed of (if I can't repair the problem)! Ivan