Leaving Mags Loaded VS Unloaded

[Chevusa]

What's everyones opinions and experiences with leaving your pistol mags loaded? I usually rotate between 2 or 3 carry guns and I usually try to carry a spare mag. So at any given time I might have up to 6 mags sitting around loaded. I have heard a few thoughts on this. So I ask you, will leaving my mags loaded cause the springs to wear faster or is the spring only worn when being used (loaded and unloaded)? It seams like staying in a compressed state would cause wear to me. Everyone likes pics so here's today's carry with the spare mag. Thanks!

 

[GOPerfect]

I have been leaving my mags loaded for years and years.

I have never had an issue.

 

[spat]

Do you leave half the valve springs in your car loaded while it's parked ?

Ever have a problem from that ?

 

[Darth]

Springs wear from use.

I keep all mine loaded.

 

[S&W Fan]

Load em up , keep em handy and don’t sweat it.

 

[Bananabandit]

In my scientific studies, I have come to the conclusion springs wear out faster during use rather than being compressed for X amount of time.

 

[Deplorable Me]

Buy good quality mags, buy good quality guns, should be no problem. Sig, Glock, Beretta, S&W. Stiff springs.
I think Glock OEM mags have a 2,000 years shelf life on loaded springs.

 

[vanderblack]

Even if you had to replace the springs or mags every 5 to 10 years, not a big deal. I have a mini14 for which the mags have been loaded for over 25 years. They still function perfectly.

 

[GOPerfect]

Even if you had to replace the springs or mags every 5 to 10 years, not a big deal. I have a mini14 for which the mags have been loaded for over 25 years. They still function perfectly.

My God man, go shooting!

 

[GOYABEAN]

Seriously all joking aside if you live in land 10 or 7 rds isn't going to affect things except little want to be man ego

 

[Chevusa]

Lol thank you everyone. I will keep them loaded. So much more convenient that way. It makes me wonder why I see people number their mags and swap them out then. Do they number them in case they have a malfunction they will know which one it was? Seems like a decent idea.

 

[Bananabandit]

Lol thank you everyone. I will keep them loaded. So much more convenient that way. It makes me wonder why I see people number their mags and swap them out then. Do they number them in case they have a malfunction they will know which one it was? Seems like a decent idea.

They are just OCD and weird.

 

[spat]

Lol thank you everyone. I will keep them loaded. So much more convenient that way. It makes me wonder why I see people number their mags and swap them out then. Do they number them in case they have a malfunction they will know which one it was? Seems like a decent idea.

I do try to rotate out the *ammo* in carry mags periodically.

Constantly being in motion on your person can physically break down the powder grains and at least in theory cause higher burn rates and pressure spikes.

But as soon as that mag gets emptied at the range it gets filled right back up with fresh stuff and stays that way.

 

[Chevusa]

Thanks guys. Merry Christmas.

 

[Edwardteach72]

Springs degrade due to tension being added and removed..

Keeping them compressed will do little to nothing over extended periods of time

 

[dsdmmat]

I used to replace the springs in my competition gun’s mags once a year. The mags I get issued for deployment I replace before I go.

 

[Cleck]

I keep mine loaded all the time, I have no use for an empty magazine

 

[Exonautic]

I keep most of my mags loaded. I have one Glock mag with a tti extension, it gave me a lot of issues in my first match with it. Turns out keeping it loaded for a bit is the best way to break it in. Some springs need a bit of breaking in. But tests have proven that they don't degrade significantly overtime.

 

[Uzi]

It's important to keep them in a relativity dry area too when storing them. The tiniest amount of rust or corrosion can easily bind up the follower when it's compressed down for a long period of time.

A magazine can look fine externally, but internally covered in surface rust or other grunge and crap either on the spring or mag wall. I've seen this more than several times. Springs will fatigue when they're compressed followed by being depressed, but other factors are more likely to mess up the feeding reliability. I like to lubricate my magazines but I also keep them very clean.

 

[Exonautic]

It's important to keep them in a relativity dry area too when storing them. The tiniest amount of rust or corrosion can easily bind up the follower when it's compressed down for a long period of time.

A magazine can look fine externally, but internally covered in surface rust or other grunge and crap either on the spring or mag wall. I've seen this more than several times. Springs will fatigue when they're compressed followed by being depressed, but other factors are more likely to mess up the feeding reliability. I like to lubricate my magazines but I also keep them very clean.

Second the rust free environment, I keep my mags in metal ammo cans and pelican like cases

 

[Podmonkey]

Light duty coil springs like found in most magazines will eventually lose tension but this takes quite some time, typically years. Springs such as the kind found in the valvetrain of motor vehicle are much, much stiffer and stronger than the springs in a magazine so the wear interval is of course much longer but they too will eventually lose tension eventually, just usually not before the rest of the engine wears out.
A way to help extend the life of your magazine springs is to keep them downloaded by 1 round. Simply load the magazine to capacity and chamber the first round and the spring should be good like that for years another way to extend magazine life is to segregate magzines for duty/HD/SD use amd those that you will use for the range/training/competition. It also helps to have as many spares as you can reasonably afford to keep the cycle rate for each individual magazine low.
But they can eventually wear out. I need to replace the magazine spring in my 590A1 because I hadn't followed my own advice and I kept the magazine at max capacity for years and now the tension is very weak, had I kept it down by obe it would still probably have an acceptable amount of tension yet.
Also its easy to acquire and replace magazine springs, particularly for the Glock, so I wouldn't consider it a major consideration in the first place.

 

[spat]

Light duty coil springs like found in most magazines will eventually lose tension but this takes quite some time, typically years. Springs such as the kind found in the valvetrain of motor vehicle are much, much stiffer and stronger than the springs in a magazine so the wear interval is of course much longer but they too will eventually lose tension eventually, just usually not before the rest of the engine wears out.
A way to help extend the life of your magazine springs is to keep them downloaded by 1 round. Simply load the magazine to capacity and chamber the first round and the spring should be good like that for years another way to extend magazine life is to segregate magzines for duty/HD/SD use amd those that you will use for the range/training/competition. It also helps to have as many spares as you can reasonably afford to keep the cycle rate for each individual magazine low.
But they can eventually wear out. I need to replace the magazine spring in my 590A1 because I hadn't followed my own advice and I kept the magazine at max capacity for years and now the tension is very weak, had I kept it down by obe it would still probably have an acceptable amount of tension yet.
Also its easy to acquire and replace magazine springs, particularly for the Glock, so I wouldn't consider it a major consideration in the first place.

The springs can be designed for essentially any lifespan the engineer chooses.

If you go for the absolute cheapest possible spring, then yes they might have a lifespan issue in a magazine. If they are a quality magazine though they should be designed for decades of use.

 

[Darth]

Constantly being in motion on your person can physically break down the powder grains and at least in theory cause higher burn rates and pressure spikes.

Shenanigans.

They've done tests on ammo in a tumbler for extended periods and looked at the before and after under a microscope. No changes.

 

[Exonautic]

Shenanigans.

They've done tests on ammo in a tumbler for extended periods and looked at the before and after under a microscope. No changes.

I thought that sounded like hogwash but I didn't know enough about the subject to dispute otherwise

 

[spat]

Shenanigans.

They've done tests on ammo in a tumbler for extended periods and looked at the before and after under a microscope. No changes.

You have a link ?

I can see that being true of a ball powder in a compressed load, but no way does a stick or flake powder in a case with significant empty space not break down.

Powder just doesn't have the mechanical strength not to.

The only question is how fast.

 

[Darth]

You have a link ?

I can see that being true of a ball powder in a compressed load, but no way does a stick or flake powder in a case with significant empty space not break down.

Powder just doesn't have the mechanical strength not to.

The only question is how fast.

I can't find the microscope one at the moment, but this was a big concern with people that tumble reloaded rounds, search for that for videos on the subject. I'll see if I can find the microscope one.

EDIT: Shit, here it is, but the photos seem to be removed:

Live ammo, in tumbler for over 200 hours with microscopic images.**OP UPDATE**fired rounds > Reloading > AR15.COM

Here is a cross post in case you don't make it to GDAs an addition to the argument against the

www.ar15.com

 

[Acer-m14]

the only thing in NY that will effect your mag springs are the FUAC pot holes in the roads ..

 

[GOPerfect]

All filled to the max!

 

[Bananabandit]

Nice bacon sticker

 

[Acer-m14]

nice you have the sticker ESCORT next to the Strippers (clips ) LOL ..