Loaded magazines

10ring

How long can magazines be left loaded without developing some sort of issue with the springs ( stored at the ready ). I am asking specifically for AR mags but is there a rule of thumb for all magazines in general?

10ring

Anyone have an authoritative opinion on leaving magazines loaded for long periods of time? Specifically, AR magazines and pistol magazines used in home defense.

toolmaniam

There is no specific time frame or rule of thumb I know of. I usually swap mine out every month. May be a little overkill but it's your life at stake if it fails if its a defense weapon.

deerhide

I generally leave 2 rounds in my Rem. 7400 mag, have for years and the 742 before that. Never had any trouble with a weak spring or a broken one.
An uncle had a .32 acp, I think it was a Beretta, fully loaded for 25 or 30 years. The ammo turned green but the gun worked just fine with new ammo.
I imagine it's not a good idea though, the spring might 'take a set' or get weak..............

perry shooter

Depends on the QUALITY of the spring . My spare match pistol magazine has been kept loaded 40+ years I may need to use it once a year for range alibi during a match. Never had it fail.

beantownshootah

This is the topic of much debate.

Some believe that assuming the mag springs are designed right and not stressed beyond ordinary use its the compression/decompression cycles only that wear mags out, NOT keeping them under tension for long periods of time.

I've heard anecdotally of 1911 magazines stored loaded for 50+ years then running fine (with the 50 year old ammo!).

With AR-15 mags, honestly, I wouldn't worry about this at all. The mags will last at **LEAST** for many years, and they're cheap and readily available enough that I don't think swapping a few "to go" mags every decade or so is going to be a big hassle or expense!

asop

Perry is right on. I've also have magazines loaded and left sit for at least 30 years with no feeding problems after that time utilizing them. Maybe it's the older mags.?? Just better materials and maybe workmanship? I'm sure they WERE built with over engineering of X 10 back then, but now?

tsr1965

There have been several threads on this TOPIC in tha past. If you do a smart search, you should find more information, and opinions.

Best

bartman45

I believe it is the total number of compression/release cycles that cause a spring to fail, not the length of time of compression. Should be easy to research.....

golferboy426

As a mechanical engineer most if all springs are designed for infinite life plus a factor of safety. Spring failures are almost always the result of a material or hardening defect or possibly weakening by corrosion. So if a spring failed, it was going to fail anyway regardless of how it was stored

Laredo Lefty

About 15 years ago I looked at a Govt .45 1911 that had been carried by one of the pilots who flew with Clair Chellault's Flying Tigers in Burma during WWII. His widow had it. The gun was in the pilot's shoulder holster and the mags were still loaded with 1940's .45 ball ammo. I unloaded a couple of the mags and the springs were still in good condition.

GONESHOOTING

In a fifteen round mag load only thirteen. Never had any problems. Had my mags loaded for years and never had issues with them.

1sgret

10ring,

I see this issue magazine popping up all the time in other forums.

I think the fear about the magazine springs getting week after having a full load of cartridges in them for extended periods has been around since the US Military first started using the M-16 in Vietnam. They way the ammo system was supposed to work in the beginning of the M-16 experience was all ammo was supposed to be shipped pre-loaded from the factory in 20 round ALUMINUM magazines. This is a documented event. What was found was the feed lips on the aluminum magazines were bending outward from the constant upward pressure of the spring pushing on the cartridges. The answer was to take two rounds out of the magazines, which "seemed" to cure the problem. This "cure" remained even after the ammo was shipped in stripper clips, negating the issue of the feed lips causing jams. This "cure" remains to this day in the minds of countless people. It is probably because of the hundreds of thousands US Troops who served in that theater of war having passed their knowledge on to the susessive generations.

This problem of the springs getting week was not experienced before, mainly because the magazines prior to the M-16 were made of steel. The problem disappears with steel or polymer magazines. The Mag Pul magazines even issue a magazine cover which pushes the cartridges down (causing more pressure on the spring) which takes the pressure off of the magazine lips. You will notice that the Russian AK-47 family of weapons have monster steel magazines with thick feed lips, never a problem with that system.

I was in the Navy 1967 - 1971 with two years in Vietnam and 21 years in the Army. I have never had any failure to feed or extract that was caused by a faulty magazine spring.

Dirty weapons and/or magazines are another issue entirely.