Question on maintaining magazines

[e_v_h]

Is it bad to leave a mag loaded for too long? Such as will the mag spring get tired and compromise performance? I've had one loaded for HD purposes now for a few months.

 

[Deserteagle]

Your magazine was built to hold bullets, so dont worry about having it do what it was made to do.

However, it is wise to take those magazines shooting on a frequent basis to make sure they are functioning correctly. And if you want to, change or cycle your magazines every couple of months. There is no one correct answer for this.

 

[Glockout]

I've heard this before but I don't believe it. I have Glock and AR mags that have been loaded for a year and some change. When I fired from them, never experienced any problems. You're talking about spring set. Some people will say it happens, others do not. Best thing to do is buy high quality magazines and you shouldn't have a problem. I have about 10 Glock factory magazines and about 20 Magpul AR mags.

 

[Naybor]

What Glockout says.

Actually storing a mag fully loaded will not harm the spring at all. Where metal fatigue comes in is when it is cycled full to empty and back again. BUT, we are talking many many cycles. By the time the spring metal is fatigued, the mag itself will be so worn it will need to be replaced anyway. IMHO, spring set is a thing of the past with today's better metals.

Anyhow, if you do get a fatigued, broken spring, etc. There are replacement springs available for most popular models.

 

[Treo]

This topic comes up all the time.

Magazines aren't meant to last forever that said they do last a long time. by some spare replacement springs and use the magazines normally and they'll probably out last you

 

[no sheep]

I keep them full all the time and have never had a problem. I have glock 23 mags from 8 years ago and they are still going strong.

 

[gunnerbob]

Don't worry about it... if it'll make you feel better, load them a few rounds shy of full.

I have AK mags from the surplus market that are older than me, looked like they suffered through Vietnam or the Soviet-Afghan War... cleaned 'em up, scrapped the crud out and steel wooled the rust off. They work 100%!!!

I've got this little Llama .380(baby 1911) with original mags from the 80s, they've been loaded & unloaded probably thousands of times and I've had them loaded full-up for about 8 years with only shooting it like once a year... again, they work fine.

 

[Jay]

From an older article in Hangunner magazine...

Magazine spring madness: 'creep' to your 'elastic limit' to un-earth the urban legend of 'spring-set' (C/O American Handgunner Magazine)
The shooting sports are full of some of the most knowledgeable and capable people you'll meet anywhere. I've been impressed consistently with the abilities of those I meet at the range to diagnose and fix a gun problem with as little as some spray lube and a cotton swab. However, sometimes a myth will creep into the folklore.

The magazine spring myth has been around for many years and is growing in popularity. It goes something like this: "You should unload your magazines when they're not in use or the spring will weaken causing failures to feed." This has gone as far as shooting competitors actually unloading their magazines between stages to extend the life of their springs. A variant of this myth is: "You should never load a magazine to capacity and should always leave it one round short." What if you need that round some day?

Recently, I read an article in a gun magazine suggesting you rotate your magazines so the ones not in use can "recover and rest." The same author uses the phrase "spring-set" to describe weakness of a spring because it was compressed for a long time. Hogwash. There's nothing further from the truth. Springs don't care how long they're compressed and don't require rest, recreation or even a vacation from time to time.

Shameful Spring Benders

To put this one to rest, you have to understand creep. Creep is the slow flow of a non-ferric metal like copper, brass and lead under force. At temperatures outside of a furnace, steel doesn't have any appreciable creep. Under most conditions, steel flexes and then returns to its original shape. When pushed past its elastic limit, steel will bend and not return to its original shape. All designers of well-made magazines make sure the spring never approaches the elastic limit when the magazine is fully loaded. Honest. This means the spring will not weaken when the magazine is fully loaded -- not even over an extended time. Like 50 years. American Handgunner recently ran a story about a magazine full of .45 ACP that had been sitting since WWII and it ran just fine on the first try. So there you go.

 

[e_v_h]

Thank you everyone for the responses. I'm a relatively new gun owner and these random questions pop up as time goes on.

 

[Treo]

Thank you everyone for the responses. I'm a relatively new gun owner and these random questions pop up as time goes on.

I promise you are not the first nor will you be the last to ask that question

even Oz the great and powerful has asked that question

Magazine Questions?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you load your pistol magazines to capacity?

Is it hard on the mag

How long do you leave the mag loaded/ how often do you switch them out ?

particularly interested in CZ factory mags & how well they preform

 

[Jay]

All of us have asked questions at one time or another. Most all things firearms-related are quite subjective, and opinions don't always translate into facts. Gather your answers, do a bit of research on your own, and see what suits you.

Shoot safely

 

[S&W645]

Springs sag from loads over time. But in the case of railroad car coil springs, that is millions of miles over a 40 year period. The most severe case in coil springs is the springs in railroad car draft gear. Again it is measured in millions of miles and equals billions of cycles. Your mag springs will never see that sort of abuse.

 

[fiasconva]

Most engineers and gun experts will tell you that the cycling of the springs is what weakens them. You can leave the mags loaded for months and even years with no effect. However, I have seen some the latest news that keeping the mags loaded with one or two less rounds than full capacity is even easier on them if keeping them loaded for a long time, according to those "experts".

 

[Jay]

Most engineers and gun experts will tell you that the cycling of the springs is what weakens them. You can leave the mags loaded for months and even years with no effect. However, I have seen some the latest news that keeping the mags loaded with one or two less rounds than full capacity is even easier on them if keeping them loaded for a long time, according to those "experts".

Then you just have to decide whether to listen to the engineers, and gun experts, or to the latest news. You could likely get magazine springs to last forever if you only carry two rounds in 'em....