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Opinions Please...leave magizines loaded or not ?

VW_Factor

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
1,092
Location
Leesburg, GA
What do you mean?

The only time my magazines are unloaded is after I am done emptying them. >.>

Why would you carry unloaded magazines?
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Dear OP -

Are you really wanting to start a "leaving the magazine loaded will cause the springs to fail" debate?

Really?

Why not do your own research and see what a little over 100 years of collective wisdom has to say about this, before you open the floodgates here?

Or did you have a side you wanted to take, but were afraid someone from the other side would call you nasty names if you just came out and stated your opinion?

In case you did not notice, I have a low tolerance threshold for stuff like this.

stay safe.
 

Ken56

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
368
Location
Dandridge, TN
I hate to keep this alive but I have to just say, most things manufactured by man have a "usefull life". Do you drive at night without headlights on to save the bulbs? I hope not though I witness too many people who do. Thats why they make replacement parts. Fill up the magazines and carry a spare one or three.
 

Teddybearfrmhell

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
348
Location
Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA
many parts of your pistol are "consumables" ... they are parts which will have a limited usefull life and if you are a shooter they will probably need replaced during the lifetime of your sidearm, they include the magazine and/or its springs, hammer spring, trigger spring, recoil spring, extractor/ejector, firing pin and perhaps even grips..... just accept that they will not last forever and use them till the fail, then replace them.
 

Griz

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
315
Location
, ,
Dear OP -

Are you really wanting to start a "leaving the magazine loaded will cause the springs to fail" debate?

Really?

Why not do your own research and see what a little over 100 years of collective wisdom has to say about this, before you open the floodgates here?

Or did you have a side you wanted to take, but were afraid someone from the other side would call you nasty names if you just came out and stated your opinion?

In case you did not notice, I have a low tolerance threshold for stuff like this.

stay safe.

Not trying to be ornery, but I've done some of the research and found it to be inconclusive. Ask the old timers, they tell you not to fill em. Ask the new guys, they say to keep em filled.

As I understand the above posts, yes equipment will wear out. Carry spares. But wear and tear will depend upon the quality of the manufacturing process.

My take? If it's a newer, well made item from a reputable shop - fill er up. If it is an older model, seen a lot of use, or an unknown manufacturer, it will be suspect.
 

fire suppressor

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
870
Location
Kitsap County
I buy expensive name brand products, call me old fashioned but the name still means something to me. I have had my magazines loaded for the past 4 years and inspect them once and awhile but have not noticed any defects with them. I give my gear a break about every six months where I will unload my gun, magazines and full dissemble my magazines. I let the springs air out for a few days then load everything back up. I was not told to do this but it just made sense to me. Springs develop a memory just like anything ells and I think it does them some good to be able to relax for a few days out of the year. I have been doing this for four years and I have had no problems I have been using the same gear for four years
 

HandyHamlet

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Messages
2,772
Location
Terra, Sol
Another reason to ignore the Cal. debate. Smaller calibers put less strain on springs so there is no need to worry. Only owners of .45s or .46s who carry in Condition 1 really have to worry about wrecking their springs. A side bonus is that you can get more small caliber rounds in a magazine as they obviously take up less room. You can really pack 'em in with one of those aftermarket loader things too.
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
many parts of your pistol are "consumables" ... they are parts which will have a limited usefull life and if you are a shooter they will probably need replaced during the lifetime of your sidearm, they include the magazine and/or its springs, hammer spring, trigger spring, recoil spring, extractor/ejector, firing pin and perhaps even grips..... just accept that they will not last forever and use them till the fail, then replace them.
Barbara Streisand

A spring operating below the elastic limit of its stress-strain curve has an essentially unlimited fatigue lifetime. Think tuning fork or watch mainspring or IC engine valve spring or nuclear reactor SCRAM spring (my expertise).
 

nonameisgood

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
1,008
Location
Big D
HHK, if you are talking high counts of fatigue cycles, then reduced life can be expected well below yield. But I imagine those things you work on get few cycles (thank goodness). I also think that very few pistol mags get the kind of round counts required to fatigue.
I suspect that there are mag springs out there that are produced with inappropriate radii or metallurgy, and will be subject to problems well below those of a properly designed and produced spring. My suggestion is to buy quality and avoid this fate prematurely.
 

Teddybearfrmhell

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
348
Location
Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA
Barbara Streisand

A spring operating below the elastic limit of its stress-strain curve has an essentially unlimited fatigue lifetime. Think tuning fork or watch mainspring or IC engine valve spring or nuclear reactor SCRAM spring (my expertise).

every armorer and gunsmith (MY area of expertise) in the world has a work bench filled with springs, not for upgrades but because they stop preforming to spec, break or become less efficient. not every gun is new with modern metallurgy, not every gun is high end with quality parts...... springs DO fail, its the main reason they make REPLACEMENT springs.
 

Ironbar

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2009
Messages
385
Location
Tigard, Oregon, USA
I buy expensive name brand products, call me old fashioned but the name still means something to me. I have had my magazines loaded for the past 4 years and inspect them once and awhile but have not noticed any defects with them. I give my gear a break about every six months where I will unload my gun, magazines and full dissemble my magazines. I let the springs air out for a few days then load everything back up. I was not told to do this but it just made sense to me. Springs develop a memory just like anything ells and I think it does them some good to be able to relax for a few days out of the year. I have been doing this for four years and I have had no problems I have been using the same gear for four years

How many years? ;-)
 

thebastidge

Regular Member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Messages
313
Location
2519 E Fourth Plain Blvd, Vancouver Washington, US
Research seems to indicate that springs become fatigued and fail through repeated cycling and or being stressed beyond design tolerance.

So being normally compressed, even for long periods of time, should not negatively affect the spring, unless it becomes corroded (an issue even if it is not compressed).

Being compressed beyond normal, or stretched beyond normal will harm it, and eventually the cycle of being compressed and returning to uncompressed state will affect it. So be carefull if you are taking your magazine completely apart just for grins and giggles- you are probably doing more harm to the spring than leaving it in place would. I know I have personally destroyed springs in various equipment by carelessly taking it out of the housing it was in.

Bottom line- store your mags loaded, store them empty- either way will not harm them. However, they are much less useful when empty. The environment you store them in is much more important- check the humidity in your gun safe, maybe get some of those big bags of silcone, and maintain them as well- every few months, throw them in the oven and bake them for a little while (not too hot or too long!)
 
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gunns

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
270
Location
Minnesota
I rotate my mags. I leave three loaded for each gun and every month I unload them and reload the other three.
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
check the humidity in your gun safe, maybe get some of those big bags of silcone, and maintain them as well- every few months, throw them in the oven and bake them for a little while (not too hot or too long!)
Sodium silicate, silica gel, silicon dioxide - not in anyway silicone, a hydrocarbon polymer that includes silicon.

Dry in an (convection) oven at 120°C/250°F for as long as you will but beyond two hours is wasting time.
 
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