Have you ever dropped your mag in mud or placed it in a dirty place? When this happens, you will realize that the magazine doesn’t feed the BBs effectively, or it makes your ‘ammo’ dirty to the extent that it fills your gun’s channel with a lot of muck.

Midcap magazines don’t have a complicated design, and most of these magazines are designed with the same principle. However, they can start to malfunction when dust, sand particles, and grit find their way into the BBs’ channel.

These foreign objects can make your gun jam, reduce the feeding speed, and also cause dirt to get into the barrel and hop unit in your gun. This can greatly affect your accuracy—with that, it’s important to keep your magazines, and BB guns for kids clean.

Please note that keeping your magazines in a good condition isn’t challenging—but only when you know how to do it. The first time can be a bit messy, but things can become with lots of practice. And be careful not to lose the springs in your mag, since this can affect its functionality. Besides, ensure you have a clean and clear workspace, as this makes it easier to spot anything that drops.

You will need the following items:

• Clean and clear workspace
• Allen keys
• A clean, lint-free cloth
• A set of screwdrivers
• Silicon spray oil

Steps of cleaning your mid- and low-cap mags

Step 1: Remove all the BBs out of the magazine—pull back the catch close to the feed hole to do that. If the magazine is jammed, don’t worry—you only need to tap it on a solid surface to free the BBs. At times, you will need to remove the retaining screws—but that’s not necessary. However, if you remove the screw at the bottom of the gun, keep it in a safe place.

Step 2: Depending on your magazine’s design, the inner part might slide out of the exterior sleeve. However, some magazines have pins pressed on the top to secure the magazine—if you have such a magazine, just push out the screws. At times, you can pull them out by hand, but others require some extra coaxing by punching it with a small tack hammer. When you remove the pin, it frees up the inner magazine, which makes it easier to remove the top of the sleeve.

Step 3: Next, you need to detach the two halves of the magazine’s inner shell. However, you should be extra careful when doing this, as the main spring can shoot out when moved—so be ready to catch it. Once done, the two halves will be free, thus releasing the BB retaining latch. The latch has a small coil spring, as well as a wedge-shaped clasp. Note these two, and set them aside in a safe place.

Step 4: Take your cloth, spray some oil on it, and then wipe the BB channel in the two halves of the inner shell. Do the same to the main spring before returning it in, and then spray it lightly, as this will allow the spring to move freely in the magazine. Excess oil can leak into the hop unit, reducing its effectiveness—so be careful with that.

Step 5: Place back the catches, as well as the other tiny pieces into one half of the inner shell, place the top cover, and then screw it back together. Push the main spring through the access point, before returning the cover. Then slide the inner back into the sleeve, and return all the pins and screws that you might have removed. Lastly, fill and empty the magazine severally to ensure that it’s working perfectly. This will also let off any excess silicone oil.

These steps will go a long way in bringing your stubborn mid and low-caps back to life. However, you need lots of practice to get everything correct. It always great to use field target bb guns safely.