Life of a magazine

[jnschwie]

How long do you keep yours compressed?
How often do you rotate a loaded mag with an unloaded to relieve the spring for a while?


A note in a book got me curious on that.

[Jason's CJ5]

I unload it every time I go shooting, and reload it promptly. I have never thought about relieving the pressure for awhile.

[Budman]

I unload it every time I go shooting, and reload it promptly. I have never thought about relieving the pressure for awhile.

Ditto. I leave them loaded all the time. If anyone has any info to the contrary please let me know, I might even think about changing my habbits...

[jnschwie]

The book I was reading:
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0965678415.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

just made passing mention of magazine springs "wearing out after years (or months)" and being a potential source of failure and I quoted that, but that's just the best I have it from memory.

On other firearm boards, I've only seen this topic mentioned in passing and was curious if anyone here had any great takes.

[Budman]

I have had my beretta 92 with the same mags for years, they stay loaded, and have never failed me.

But other than that I am uneducated, and have done no real research.

later

Bud

[UnlimitedFun]

Based on what I was told by my father, a licensed gunsmith of many years, magazines shouldn't be kept loaded for very long periods of time...never given me a specific time and I never have asked.

I have 7 magazines that I rotate through on a monthly basis. In other words, every month I unload the current magazine and reload the next one in line.

Does it need to be done that often, probably not...but why take a chance of having your magazine fail when you need it most.

Just my $0.04 worth (darn inflation)

[newracer]

The springs wear out from use ie. compression and then release, not from being compressed for long periods of time. So if you are unloading them and loading them as maintenance you are actually wearing them out faster.

[Jeffro600]

Youll likely wear out long before your springs do from compression. I have an old Makarov that was my grandpas, then my dads and now mine that has had rounds in the magazines ever since it was aquired many decades ago. They still work just fine.

[Yota]

The only way the spring could wear out is if you exceeded the modulus of elasticity of the spring (i.e., bend it too far). Or if it broke due to metal fatigue. If the magazine is designed correctly, the spring will have enough elasticity that it won't exceed the spring's modulus and won't be flexing at any single point enough to fatigue.

[Gunter]

The only way the spring could wear out is if you exceeded the modulus of elasticity of the spring (i.e., bend it too far). Or if it broke due to metal fatigue. If the magazine is designed correctly, the spring will have enough elasticity that it won't exceed the spring's modulus and won't be flexing at any single point enough to fatigue.
with your life possibly in the mix,would you really want to test any theories of springs?weak springs,bent followers,bent mag lips.they are not "forever" items,rotate them and keep them fresh.would you want to die because a 25 dollar mag spring failed and caused a mis feed?
i sure dont.

[MQ79]

Springs do wear out. It should just be part of your regular matinence to change out the springs in an interval you are comfortable with. This is important if you are using the firearm for defensive purposes. If it is just a target gun, just replace the springs when they start to give you trouble.

[Gunter]

The springs wear out from use ie. compression and then release, not from being compressed for long periods of time. So if you are unloading them and loading them as maintenance you are actually wearing them out faster.
there is a time and place to be frugal.with guns and magazines dont try it. they can save the most important thing in your life--you.if you want dollar store magazines,go for it.i wont be at your funeral.assuming,of course,the unthinkable happened.it is so not worth it to be cheap in self defense.

[virden]

we had this problem in iraq with our beretta's. guys that didn't use their side arm or pay much attention to it would find that after awhile their springs were no longer feeding rounds up into the weapon, and that if they removed one round from the magazine the spring would remain compressed causing the rest of the rounds to just "float" in the mag. so yes I say magazine maintainence is very critical in weapon care, rotate your rounds often and dissasemble and clean the mag

[Yota]

with your life possibly in the mix,would you really want to test any theories of springs?weak springs,bent followers,bent mag lips.they are not "forever" items,rotate them and keep them fresh.would you want to die because a 25 dollar mag spring failed and caused a mis feed?
i sure dont.

Agreed - you never know if a mag is designed well or not.

In any case, just because you're not exceeding the modulus of the steel in the spring does NOT mean that other problems can't arise and it doesn't mean that they shouldn't be exercised and maintained. I'm just saying that you're unlikely to exceed the modulus of the steel itself just by having bullets in your mag.

As for the problem on the Berettas, I wonder what happened to the springs when removed from the mag? My guess is that the spring was bound on something that was causing it to stick. That could be rust or dirt or all of the above (especially dirt in that environment). In that situation, I'd expect the spring to 'pop' back into shape once it's unbound (although it still must be replaced).

So yeah, I agree that mag maintenance is important.

[CapnCrunch]

I've had my Beretta 96 for 15 years and still have the original mags I got with it. I keep it loaded all the time and forget to rotate for long periods of time. They still feed just fine.

[jnschwie]

Interesting bump.

I've since settled on periodic rotation. I'm not sure how much it matters in the short term, but for long term, It can't hurt. :)

[CapnCrunch]

Interesting bump.

Yes, it is, except that for some reason I saw it in my list of recently modified posts (and recently I've been checking frequently). I never bothered to look at the posting dates.

Wierd.

[dmeis]

I bought some new .45 2011 mags and it was very hard to put in ten rounds. After leaving them loaded for a week, a couple of times, they loosened up and now I can fill them to 14 rounds. New springs are about $8 so replacing them once a year isn't bad. I guess it depends on your use.

Also, I have had a single spec of dirt prevent the follower from following. It doesn't hurt to unload every now and then to check the functionality.

[denverd0n]

Magazine fed firearms have been around since before 1900. Way back when the springs DID have a tendency to wear out. We've learned a lot about metallurgy since then and modern springs are not going to lose their temper in anything less than several decades. Unless you're still using magazines that were made in the 1930s you have nothing to worry about.

I have no idea what the problem might have been with the Berettas in Iraq, but it certainly was not that the springs had lost their springiness!

[Letum]

Had the same problem with M16 mags in Iraq. Granted the mags were old but definatly not 30 years old. Keeping a 30 round magazine filled with 30 rounds definatly wore the springs out. It was always explained to me as the memory of the springs, once they stay in the compressed postion for long enoughh that is the postiion they will stay in. As for it being dirt or something catching the spring, we would clean the mags and they would still have the problem. So like everyone else said it dosnet hurt to rotate mags and change the springs regulalry.