Magazines: permanent caliber markings?

[dkmatthews]

Hey folks. I've learned that I have a REALLY hard time telling the difference between my T9 and T40 magazines. There is a very faint embossing/stamping on the T40 magazines to differentiate them, but it's far too faint to make it worthwhile.

I tried using a sharpie marker to put "9mm", "40s&w", and "45acp" on my mags but the ink just doesn't stick.

Does anyone have a tried & true method for marking the mags to make them quickly identifiable?

[Markis82]

You can remove the floor plate. Using a center punch and light hammer, on the inside on the floor plate, put a small indentation. This should give you a small outward dimple on the outside of the floor plate that you can see and feel. Obviously, only do this on one caliber of mags and two dimples for the third caliber mags. So, 9mm no dimple, .40 one dimple and .45 two dimples.

[wyntrout]

I used one of the finish touch-up pens by Birchwood Casey... the Super Black... flat black... to mark some magazines. Keep it simple and repeatedly mark a 9, 4, or 45, as you like. It wears more much more durably than a Sharpie. The regular gun blue version probably isn't as good on stainless steel.

Wynn:)

[wyntrout]

You can remove the floor plate. Using a center punch and light hammer, on the inside on the floor plate, put a small indentation. This should give you a small outward dimple on the outside of the floor plate that you can see and feel. Obviously, only do this on one caliber of mags and two dimples for the third caliber mags. So, 9mm on dimple, .40 one dimple and .45 two dimples.

9 dimples for 9mm, and so on.

Wynn:D

[Markis82]

9 dimples for 9mm, and so on.

Wynn:DIt ain't candles on a birthday cake! :p

[Bawanna]

Some of the guys around here had a place laser etch stuff. They did magazines, knives, flashlights, all sorts of stuff. They had their names or badge numbers etched. Looked very nice and durable as heck.
By the time I heard about it, it was too late to get in on that program.
The outfit quit doing it.

I'm sure there are other places around that do it and a mag being pretty flat I would think it wouldn't be too expensive.
A trophy shop might even be able to do it too.

[dkmatthews]

Great suggestions, folks! I'll check on having them dyed or powder coated. If nothing else, it would be great for the color to (at least) stick where the mags are already engraved with "KAHR" and "40" so that the lettering would stand out more against the SS mag bodies.

I've heard that it's possible to powder coat objects at home in your own oven. True? Not true? Has anyone tried it?

[jlottmc]

The results of that are less than desirable. Powder coating happens at the ionic level, takes more than just an oven.

[LorenzoB]

A YAG laser that can mark stainless steel is more expensive than CO2 lasers that are more common in small businesses such as trophy companies.

BUT, they can use a painted on product (Cermark, or Thermark) on the stainless, then the CO2 laser permanently burns that paint onto the surface. Then they wash off the paint. The burned text looks nice and dark (black or almost black). I have had it done on other stainless and non-plated aluminum parts and it worked very well.

I never thought of marking my magazines this way before! Thanks for bringing up this topic.

Many people buy small CO2 laser machines for home-based businesses, so a google search should easily find someone local.