[PRD1]

I did the dirty (apt choice of words) deed, and disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled one of each type magazine - wood-base and aluminum base.
I started with the wood-base magazine: it was not difficult to drive out the pin holding the base plug in the magazine, and the plug came out without much difficulty. The spring and its aluminum contact piece/plunger came out easily enough. By great good luck (?), the follower fingerpiece was already loose, and could be removed by simply pushing it out of the follower with a punch, ane the follower then came out the bottom of the magazine. The amount of crud was amazing - the follower was completely packed with something that more closely resembled mud dauber nest than any form of grease, and took a lot of work with WD-40 (as a solvent) and small picks to get it out. The follower was scrubbed outside with a stainless steel brush, to remove the varnish and rust. The spring and its cap required the same sort of treatment to remove the dried oil and grease, but were in good condition otherwise. The base plug was O.K., and was just wiped down with an old towel. The interior of the magazine needed scrubbing with a bronze brush and WD-40, and quite a lot of effort. The outside of the magazine was gone-over with the stainless brush - the mag body was not dented or deformed, so needed no special attention. The mag finger piece got the brush, too. With all the parts clean, I blew the WD-40 out of and off all parts, and used a cleaning patch on a pistol rod to lightly lubricate the interior of the mag with Break Free - the other parts got the same on a small brush. Reassembly was not too bad, but I deviated in a couple of spots from G.T.'s recommended methods: In re-attaching the fingerpiece to the follower, I did not use a hammer and punches, but supported the head of the finger piece on a lead block, and staked the end of the shaft with a Brown and Sharpe automatic center punch, which is easier to manage, and strikes a precise blow exactly where you want it - two hits rivetted the shaft firmly in the follower. Then, when re-pinning the base plug to the mag body, I found it all but impossible to get the original pin to line-up with whichever hole was opposite to the side I started the pin from, though I did run a #40 drill through the plug and both sides of the mag (by hand, with the drill in a Jacobs chuck), to make sure the pin could pass through unimpeded - in the end, I just made a new pin from spring-tempered wire stock, which I could guide through the magazine by holding the full-length wire (about 8"); then, with the off-side of the pin flush with the exterior of the magazine, I carefully cut off the long end and dressed the stub neatly with die sinker's files, avoiding damage to the mag body.
The aluminum-based mag was easier, in some respects, being less dirty in the first place, and the grunge not having quite turned to stone. It, too was in pretty good external condition, without dings, burrs, deformation, etc. The base plug pin drove out easily, but the plug was 'glued-in' by dried oil, and had to be persuaded to come out by clamping the plug ears in the soft (plastic) jaws of the bench vise and tugging carefully on the magazine body. The spring and its plunger, as it turned out, were in upside-down, with the plunger stuck in the baseplug. Then, examination of the follower and fingerpiece showed that the shaft of the fingerpiece had been badly mashed-over to one side when rivetted previously, and would have been a wooly bear to remove, so I didn't, in fact, take the follower out of the magazine. Instead, the follower was subjected to brake cleaner while still in the mag body, then pipe cleaners were used to rub the gunk off the follower sides. The interior of the magazine was brushed out from both top and bottom in the same way as the older magazine, but with the follower pushed as far as possible toward bottom and top, respectively. Then, the brake cleaner was used again, and the mag blown dry and clean with compressed air. The exterior of the mag was brushed with the stainless brush, and the baseplug with a brass brush. Lubrication was done in the same way as the older mag, with Break Free. In re-assembly, the spring and plunger were installed right-side-up. The aluminum base plug did not give any problems in re-installing the pin.
Both magazines now load smoothly, and fit properly in the pistol - but I won't know whether they will function well until I can try them by shooting. And, as soon as I get my new toggle and rear sight from Lugerdoc, I'll do just that, and report on the whole affair.
Thanks again to all who advised on this project!
PRD1 - mhb - Mike