Was out in the rain again yesterday. The XD .45 got wet, again. Decided to wax the magazines (I know, they're stainless steel) later in the day.
Got everything out of the cabinet/pouches and unloaded the magazines and disassembled them.
Stripped the lube/crud off the inside and outside of the magazines with cloth and alcohol and let them dry.
Two coats on the outside (Nufinish again) and then two coats on the inside. Let the wax dry before buffing it off and then let the set a few minutes before putting them back together.
Started loading the first one (13 rounds) and figured I'd just get the maglula out of the range bag when I got near the end and it got tough to insert the last couple of rounds. Well, got to the point where the next bullet wouldn't go in and started to get up from the table. Then I rolled the mag. around and sure enough, it had 13 rounds in it. Didn't even feel it getting close. Second magazine wasn't as easy. It got tough for that last round. Loaded up the last three and two of the loaded up like the first one. Thirteen rounds almost before I knew it. The other one was like the second. Got twelve in easy, the thirteenth round was the tough one.
Those magazines look like a mirror when I got done. Super bright and shiny.
Then, it hit me, why not just go ahead and wax that stainless steel slide? I field stripped the big XD, wiped it down with the alcohol and cloth, let it dry and then put two coats of wax on it (buffing it off between coats). Then I put it back together and loaded it up.
The slide was rougher surface finished to start with and did not get shiny like the magazines.
I'm sold on waxing magazines (thanks 1SOW). Over the winter I'll be working through some more of the pistol magazines that could end up being carried (CZ75 types and P07/P09 types).