Loaded magazines....

[jawjaboy]

Loaded magazines....and time?

How long is too long to leave a mag loaded without dumping it in some manner?

Should the ammo be fired, or placed in a fresh uncompressed mag?

[BigSlick]

Depends on the mag in question.

Newer spring steels are (so I read) much better than generations past.

I've kept Colt mags loaded for ages and they still worked perfectly, same with Sig pistol mags.

HiPower mags have been a different story.

All the rifle mags I've left loaded have worked without a problem

[cohutt]

All ammo should be fired. Eventually that is. :)

I don't think modern mag springs have memory issues but I still rotate.

Maybe I just like to fondle them or sumptin.

[BigSlick]

I rotate ammo as needed.

But, I've fired ammo 30 years old without any issues in 9x19 and surplus rifle from the 40's, all went bang.

[nitesite]

I've heard that it is the compressing and decompressing a magazine spring over and over that actually weakens the spring, not sitting over long periods of time fully compressed. And I agree that better springs being used today help reduce the problems of spring fatigue.

Ammo, IMHO can sit for ages and be good if the temps remain reasonable and stable.

But I really don't know very much about it, and can't prove it. :)

[MullahElRon]

I don't believe there are any universal rules regarding magazine springs, but there are many oft repeated theories. Used to be: believe your eyes, not your ears. The interwebs done changed that too.

My "bad" magazines have been few and far in between. Most of 'em showed themselves early on too. Got mags older than most of 'em what post these days. Never replaced a spring or a follower.

I replace duty ammo every now and then just because of the damnable desert heat in a closed vehicle. Never had any of the stuff what got rotated out fail to fire or behave as new either. Ain't much else you can count on. I'm suspicious that Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results due to American manufacturing appearing to be losing some of it's mojo. cohutt familiar wid dat concept.

[faith107]

I've heard that it is the compressing and decompressing a magazine spring over and over that actually weakens the spring, not sitting over long periods of time fully compressed. And I agree that better springs being used today help reduce the problems of spring fatigue.

Ammo, IMHO can sit for ages and be good if the temps remain reasonable and stable.

But I really don't know very much about it, and can't prove it. :)


I've had the same thoughts, if stored in extreme temps a loaded spring will definitely weaken, but shouldn't be an issue with mag springs.

Think about coil springs on an old truck, drive it everyday and over time the ride is going to change and not perform the same, due to constant change in spring load. If you bought it and parked the day you bought it, the ride will be as smooth now as the day you bought it.

GRANDPA'S QUOTE; MY OPINION MEANS JUST WHAT IT COST, NOTHING:whistling1:

[rwblue01]

I am of the theory that a magazine spring gets weak by compression/decompression.

I load up my magazines and they may set for a couple years before I use them.

I have only had one magazine with a bad spring. It was a Des. Eagle. I think the mag spring was weak to begin with and it was use that killed the spring.

[John]

i tend to think that every several to six months is a good interval to unload the magazines for anything i happen to have loaded. mostly pistol magazines. i've had several weak glock magazines that were police trade ins. some were law enforcement marked so i know they were old. who knows how many millions of times they were used or not used, and how long they set loaded.

i always replace any weak springs with new ones though when i get used mags so that way im sure they will work well.

[Rollis]

I load mine up and don't worry about them, found some 1911 mags I loaded up for Y2K that worked well in 2007. I down load my AR mags because a full load can be hard to load with the bolt closed.

[helitack32f1]

Just an example but my Glock 23 Magazine has been loaded and compressed for 18 years and it was barely ever shot in those 18 years. Still seems to work well but definitely seems to have a weaker spring than my new glock magazines. Also, I always had it loaded one less than capacity.