mags

[Landon500]

Can anyone tell me if you leave a mag full will it wear out the spring? Should I unload if not using?

 

[Sylvain]

No, loading and unloading will wear the spring.
Leaving it loaded will not.

 

[ATM]

Nope and nope.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/handguns/103401-keeping_rounds_in_the_magazine.html

 

[Landon500]

Thanks Sylvain, your help is appreciated. I have alot to learn but safty will come first. Thanks again

 

[Drail]

Wrong answer. It could weaken the spring in time. This is not an internet myth. The military learned about this a long time before we were born. I have personally seen many magazine springs take a set and weaken from being left compressed. Notice I said it "could" weaken? Here's the deal - IF the spring was made from high carbon spring steel and IF it was properly tempered and stress relieved it probably can be left compressed for years with no loss of tension. Guns from WW1 have been found loaded since that war and still functioned perfectly. The question is - what are your springs made out of? Was it properly tempered by someone who knew what they were doing? Or even cared? Are you willing to bet your life on the quality of that spring's manufacture and composition? (especially since most manufacturers now buy them from the cheapest vendor) If you're not then just down load it by 2 or 3 rounds if you're going to leave it loaded 24/7. I have seen magazines springs become weak and fail in handguns, shotguns and rifles. Every time somebody tells you that a mag spring only wears out from cycling just smile. There's good springs and there's not so good springs. You can't tell by looking at it.

 

[ATM]

OK, if you get a crap component, it will, of course, be prone to premature failure.

This cannot be blamed on leaving it compressed, as the crap component would fail even quicker from cycling it if you unload and reload to try to keep it from happening.

The myth is perpetuated when you associate these same fears of dysfunctional component symptoms to the normal use and stresses that functional components are designed to withstand.


I'll link to this article again here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_163_27/ai_99130369/

 

[Drail]

Well, the whole point is that you MAY have a crap component without knowing it. That's why we should not keep telling the new guys that they can leave their mag springs fully compressed and it won't hurt anything. It is NOT a myth. People should stop telling guys that it is. Just because you've never seen one doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Just repeating some drivel you read on a forum doesn't make it true. The best you can do is to buy Wolff or ISMI extra power springs and install them. The springs the manufacturer put in your gun are a big question mark and were probably chosen from the lowest bidder. Talk to the guys sent into Iraq and ask them about the cheap mag springs the Govt. specced out for their Berettas. They were told to take them out and stretch them. (which makes the problem even worse) That's not a myth either. Or ask any police armorer who's worked on Rem. 870s that have been in service fully loaded in a cruiser rack how many mag springs they have replaced that wouldn't feed the last 2 or 3 rounds. These guns have almost never been cycled or reloaded. Just static tension over time. If you're going to bet your life on a spring fed weapon you should never assume things like "springs don't weaken from being left loaded all the time." But it is a free country.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Ok, so are you saying we should all leave all our mags unloaded until it's time to shoot them? That's real useful right there, empty mags. If the springs fail in mine, maybe I'll drop two or three rounds when it stops going "bang" when I pull the trigger, but then I just throw in a new one, pull the charging handle and continue. Big schmeal. Like clearing a failure. Don't be dumb*.

*I don't really think the guy is dumb, per se, but his opinion doesn't make that much sense to me. I'm not threatening him in any way. Please don't think I am.

 

[jd4320t]

Every magazine I have is loaded. They will be reloaded after shooting until I'm broke or being chewed on by zombies

 

[clt46910]

About half my 1911 mags are loaded and stay that way. I am too lazy to load the other twenty or so.

 

[Drail]

Mr. E. I never said leave them empty. I said leave them downloaded a couple of rounds IF you're leaving them that way for a long time. Especially if you own a high cap double stack.Compression is fine as long as the spring and follower aren't over compressed. All of the mags that require so much force to get those last rounds in that everybody buys a "loader" to load them, those are the ones that will have a short life if left fully loaded. Oh yeah, I love your avatar photo.

 

[ATM]

If you own a magazine designed such that it physically allows the spring to be overcompressed with a full standard loading, throw it away.

Do not replace the spring and download it by a couple rounds - just throw it away, it was designed wrong and should be considered a defective product.

 

[Drail]

I absolutely wish that you were in charge of designing functional magazines because there seems to be a lot more cheap junk ones on the market than good ones. But people have been convinced that they need 15 rounds or more and they don't want to pay for good mags.