Magazine question
 

I've been wondering, does it hurt the spring in a magazine to leave it loaded all the time? What do ya'll think?

RE: Magazine question
 

to a verry little extent it does. but no leaving it loaded won't hurt the spring.

RE: Magazine question
 

Studies say no.

RE: Magazine question
 

I leave a pistol loaded by my bed ( locked up) .It has a 14 rnd mag ,I load 12 just to be sure.

RE: Magazine question
 

I read an article on that very subject. The author claimed, and had research to prove, that if you kept your mags loaded with fewer than the max. capacity that there would be no noticable affect on the mag spring. I've got 3 mags for my Sig. just to make sure I rotate them in the house gun, but keep them "under-loaded" so to speak.

RE: Magazine question
 

The military also does not load their mags. to full capicity, the 30 round M-16 mag is typically loaded with 28 rounds. I have two handguns that stay loaded to full cap. -1 round, never had a problem. If you are really concerned you can purchase extra power springs for fairly cheap and they are simple to install.

RE: Magazine question
 

Thanks guys for your input. I've been keeping my mags full to capacity, but after hearing everyones thoughts, I will go with the -1, or -2 theory. Thanks again.

RE: Magazine question
 

Honestly... I think it really depends on what kind of magazines you use. If you buy higher end it goes without saying that they will work better and shouldnt require underloading.

RE: Magazine question
 

It would literally take many many many years to see any ill effects on keeping a magazine fully loaded.

Actual repeated use will weaken one faster than just having it compressed because you are working the steel over and over and that takes 10 - 15 years before that happens.

Keep your magazines fully loaded. You'll probably loose it before it would need a new spring.;)

RE: Magazine question
 

Just for clarification.... the primary reason that the US military does not load M16/ M4 magazines fully (28 instead of 30 rounds) is a feed jamb issue, not long -term storage. For whatever reason, which has never been fully addressed (by re-design), the M16/M4 magazines tend to feed-jam on the first round if loaded to capacity. This was true from the beginning, when the weapons were first issued, with 10 round mags. Later, it was found that the 30 round mags often gave the same problem. In fact, many "civilian" versions of this rifle family have this problem as well - such as the Bushmaster. Not all of the rifles do it all of the time - but it is enough of a problem that the military evolved a policy of under-loading the mags.... way back during the Viet Nam war.
The original aluminum magazines designed for the M16/M4 rifles (and never re-designed) are far from perfect, you see. In addition, they are much more prone to damage (and subsequent feed problems) than steel or polymer mags.

RE: Magazine question
 

For handguns, just replace the factory springs with Wolf springs, load them up and don't worry about it.

RE: Magazine question
 

It really depends on a lot of things: Magazine capacity, quality, age, and design all play a major role in the life of a magazine. It's unlikely that it SIGNIFICANTLY decreases the life span of a magazine, i.e. it holds up for 50yrs instead of 55yrs would even be a stretch.

I'm guessing this thread is primarily refering to coil spring type detachable magazines for a pistol or semiauto rifle, or maybe a high capacity shotgun. You won't "wear out" a coil spring by keeping it compressed, you'll reform it. If you wear out a spring, they break, not just lose strength.

It's very possible to wear out an "accordion spring" like that found in box magazines in some bolt action guns with low (5rnds usually) capacity magazines by leaving them loaded long term. This happened to my father, he used to keep a bolt action .410 in his truck, he claimed he broke the mag spring 3 times in 15yrs, and it broke on me after he gave it to me. I also called Ruger about leaving my M77 loaded for the entire season when I was in high school, and they said besides the safety issues, they'd not recommend it because of the prolonged stress on the magazine spring.

Older magazines (like 20yrs old or so) are likely to have lower quality spring steel than that available today and are more prone to breakage, however, the extended use they've already seen is likely more responsible for early failure.

High capacity shotgun magazine springs are more likely to wear out than typical detachable magazine springs as well, since the amount of travel and compression is higher in them. Not to mention these are usually lighter springs to begin with.

However, if your gun is new or you could have bought it new (i.e. it isn't OLDER than you), you'll likely not see it fail in your lifetime because of leaving it loaded.