cleaning mags

I was given about a dozen carbine mags. They are all wrapped in a reddish brown material, and coated in dried out grease.  Some show some rust where the wrapping was worn through.   Now.....how do I get these things clean????  I tried some WD40, as it is what I have on hand.  It doesn't help at all.

I used mineral spirits on cosmoline. 

I would go ahead and clean them. There could be rust forming that could damage the mags. The only way to find out is to clean them.

painter777 wrote: floydthecat wrote: I clean clogged-up bolts and parts by letting them soak a couple days in paint-thinner mixed with mineral spirits about 50/50.  That's almost like saying I mix 1 cup of water to 1 cup of smellier water.

I just received a 30 round mag from a friend, he said he was digging around in his old footlocker and found the mag.  It was still wrapped in the wax brown paper as well.  I disassembled the mag, plenty of videos on YouTube, I recommend norwich93’s videos.  I wiped the mag, spring, follower and baseplate down with a rag with mineral spirits.  Once done, I ran it under warm water and dried it, hit it with the air compressor to get the extra water out of places.  Lastly, I applied a decent amount of CLP to a rag and wiped down the inside and outside of the mag, spring, follower and baseplate.  Reassembled and ran some rounds thru it without a hiccup.  

I believe that is International Silver for Inland.

I’ve never had an issue using Rem Oil or CLP on my mags, springs and followers.  I apply a liberal amount to a rag and wipe everything down inside and out.  I will then use a dry lint free cloth to dry it leaving just a fine film coating to the parts.  I had some feed issues with some old Korean mags and after using rem oil on them they have fed flawlessly.

I've seen and had rust form on mags that seemed like they should be well preserved in cosmoline.  Sometimes the coverage isn't as good as it looks. I've found it most commonly on mags with the red cellophane wrappings, but occasionally on the paper/fiber covered ones too.  Remember, these things were coated 40 to as many as 75 years ago. Dry spots can develop. Areas can be accidently wiped clear and nobody would notice. Its always best to be safe.