Hahn Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Ive heard of people not fully loading their mags for reason being that it "wears out" the spring and follower. Is a mag with a few less rounds worth it when SHTF? What do you guys do? And this applies to both pistols and rifles. Right now, i have both fully loaded. Just fired the pistol today and no problems with the mag or feeding. Just curious what others do and why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyM3rC Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 people believe too much of what they hear. I've left mags loaded for years and they've always been 100% when they get cycled in. Lots of people (myself included) like to load certain mags 1 or 2 rounds below capacity just to make it easier to lock in on a closed bolt, but it won't hurt the magazine one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark1647545493 Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 people believe too much of what they hear. I've left mags loaded for years and they've always been 100% when they get cycled in. Lots of people (myself included) like to load certain mags 1 or 2 rounds below capacity just to make it easier to lock in on a closed bolt, but it won't hurt the magazine one bit. exactly what I was going to say. I've never had a problem with factory mags or quality aftermarket mags. I consider Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick mags good quality, stay away from stuff like Promag, ATI, Mec-Gar. Your better off buying 1 good mag than 2 or 3 of the cheap mags that will give you grief. I was buying ATI G22 mags from cheaperthandirt.com for $5 each about 2 years ago so I bought 20 of them and out of the 20, 5 of them was total junk. They are ok to use at the range but I had 2 of them pop the floor plates and dump all the ammo when I slammed them into the gun. Not something you'll want to trust your life with. Do springs wear out, yea sure they do. It takes a long long long time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangsn95gt Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 people believe too much of what they hear. I've left mags loaded for years and they've always been 100% when they get cycled in. Lots of people (myself included) like to load certain mags 1 or 2 rounds below capacity just to make it easier to lock in on a closed bolt, but it won't hurt the magazine one bit. exactly what I was going to say. I've never had a problem with factory mags or quality aftermarket mags. I consider Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick mags good quality, stay away from stuff like Promag, ATI, Mec-Gar. Your better off buying 1 good mag than 2 or 3 of the cheap mags that will give you grief. I was buying ATI G22 mags from cheaperthandirt.com for $5 each about 2 years ago so I bought 20 of them and out of the 20, 5 of them was total junk. They are ok to use at the range but I had 2 of them pop the floor plates and dump all the ammo when I slammed them into the gun. Not something you'll want to trust your life with. Do springs wear out, yea sure they do. It takes a long long long time though. this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Back in 09 we found my great grandfathers Colt 1903 in my grandmothers house. While cleaning out the house after she died in 2011, we found the magazine elsewhere in the house, fully loaded. The rounds in it were probably from the 30s. Guess what? We shot the damn thing and it never had an issue. Springs will last close to forever if they stay within their elastic range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 springs wear out from movement. Leaving them loaded or unloaded forever will have no effect on them. The follower will only wear from the last round sliding out, which happens at the end of every mag. The only issue I know of with leaving mags fully loaded is pressure on the feed lips causing them to crack if plastic, or distort if metal. But I wouldn't worry a lot about that unless you are using shitty cheap mags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjxlr8 Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Over time, all springs tend to lose elasticity. If you keep mags full of cartridges, the spring can 'relax' and 'creep' over time. The constant compression force on the spring causes it to become shorter (creep) and the decrease in force is called relaxation. That said, I've never had any problems keeping the mags in my Glock loaded all of the time, although I do notice a huge difference in spring force between certain magazines. Not sure why, and they all seem to work fine, weak spring or strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M0nk3y Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 As said earlier, springs wear out from constant travel (load/reload). You won't do as much wear with leaving them fully compressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 I leave all my fully loaded and have for years. Worst case is you buy a new spring once every decade or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hahn Posted February 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 This just confirmed what i thought already. Thanks for the comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motozachl Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Isn't most mags just a folded piece of metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Huge difference in the quality in springs. There are some you maybe able to leave fully loaded off and on for years and never have noticable degradation in spring strength and elasticity. Some others, not so much. What works for one clip may not hold true for another. If it worries you so much, buy another spring. Depending on the clip, it shouldn't be too expensive or hard to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate1647545505 Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 We had some 'nam era mags when we deployed, stretch spring back out -- all better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 I leave all my fully loaded and have for years. Worst case is you buy a new spring once every decade or so... About a decade has been my experience with springs in office equipment as well ie paper feed trays and roller assemblies. I leave all my mags loaded as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 My mags are always full and I have no problems. I don't buy aftermarket ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjxlr8 Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Huge difference in the quality in springs. There are some you maybe able to leave fully loaded off and on for years and never have noticable degradation in spring strength and elasticity. Some others, not so much. What works for one MAGAZINE may not hold true for another. If it worries you so much, buy another spring. Depending on the MAGAZINE, it shouldn't be too expensive or hard to replace. Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hahn Posted February 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2012 Figured. Just seems to be you personal opinnion but most of us agree that leaving them fully loaded doesnt hurt. Thanks fellas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted February 16, 2012 Report Share Posted February 16, 2012 I've heard of this also. I have several factory Glock mags, i'll leave 2 loaded and the rest empty, then after a few months i'll switch which ones are loaded and which ones i leave empty. I doubt they will ever 'wear out' but if i have extra mags sitting around why not just cycle them through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted February 16, 2012 Report Share Posted February 16, 2012 Fixed. I'll fix you, dammit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 What works for one clip may not hold true for another. Did you just say clip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 I've heard of this also. I have several factory Glock mags, i'll leave 2 loaded and the rest empty, then after a few months i'll switch which ones are loaded and which ones i leave empty. I doubt they will ever 'wear out' but if i have extra mags sitting around why not just cycle them through. Because cycling is what weakens the metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Did you just say clip Yep. For my gat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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