Do you clean your handgun magazines & how often? & how important is that?

[Velzey]

I bought 250 steel FN-FAL mags, broke them all down solvent washed, blasted and parkerized all in one weekend.
I will never take a mag apart again

Well unless it's a customers

 

[madman48]

Like anything, given enough time and use, cleaning will eventually be required. They come apart for a reason. Frequency is easy enough to figure out, simply by looking into it. You get enough powder residue, or lint (for concealed carry folks), cleaning will keep it from binding up.

 

[OutlawHoss]

I change my edc mags every few months, to give the springs a break. I heard someone say once that it's the duty cycles that wear springs out, not storing them loaded, so I leave them full and ready to go. Usually, at the time I swap mags, I empty the mag at the range to function test. All my mags get spring upgrades (Wolff Comabat Grade, etc.) and I disassemble them to check them out and become familiar with their build and any other peculiarities there might be (like some mags cleanly drop from the well while others don't, so those become the back up mag for edc) and mainly just for reference. When I change them, I disassemble them and clean them, put on some oil. They do get dirty inside.
I'm a particularly thorough person, so to debate whether they need them or not is a moot argument for me, especially when it comes to knowing I'm properly prepared. (7 P's: Prior Proper Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance).