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keep magazines loaded??

nabobnabob Member Posts: 24 ✭✭
edited October 2001 in Ask the Experts
Is it OK for firearm magazines to be kept loaded for an extended period of time (years) or should they be unloaded periodically to relax the springs?
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    Unloaded periodically
    Guns don't kill people, it's the bullets, stupidI am the NRA, the KABA, NJ Area Rep for the 2ampd, and the AARP :(njretcop@copmail.com
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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,078 ******
    edited November -1
    I have told this before. I have a Colt .38 Super magazine that stayed loaded in the gun, in my grandfather's bureau, for about 30 years. If you load it and then load a new mag, you can tell the spring in it is weaker than the new one, but it works just fine.I think the springs have a fatigue factor built in.
    Certified SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Egotistical Rogue, Evil, Dangerous Racist Moderator of the General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Email davidnunn@texoma.net Jesus is Lord!
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    Nunn: Are you sure that wasn't a SIG 38 Super?
    Guns don't kill people, it's the bullets, stupidI am the NRA, the KABA, NJ Area Rep for the 2ampd, and the AARP :(njretcop@copmail.com
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    And then there are older guns ,with rare mags..218
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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,078 ******
    edited November -1
    njretcop: I am a SIG armorer because my PD assigned me the training. I carry a SIG 229 because it is issued and required. I have learned to love the SIG pistols, but it was a process.That said, if I had a choice of what to carry for a duty sidearm, it would be an older Colt. '70 Series or earlier. .45 caliber Lightweight Commander with a few small tweaks.
    Certified SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Egotistical Rogue, Evil, Dangerous Racist Moderator of the General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Email davidnunn@texoma.net Jesus is Lord!
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  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've kept mags. loaded for years at a time with no feed problems.Mudge
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
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  • JudgeColtJudgeColt Member Posts: 1,790 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I am sure it would be best if magazines were allowed to "rest" periodically. However, like several of the above, I have my own stories of magazines kept loaded for decades that still work fine.I have an early Smith & Wesson M59 that has been loaded since it was new (1971), and its early magazines hold 16 rounds so the spring is really compressed. It works each time I shoot it.I acquired a WWI Colt M1911 in the 1980s that was loaded with WWI headstamp ammunition that I was told had been in the magazine since WWI. It works fine as well.Ideally, one should probably have a series of magazines one could rotate in service, but I do not have the discipline to do that. I am not sure how important that really is. I agree that magazine springs are ideally designed to allow for loss of tension over the years, and still remain functional.
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    NUNN: Lighten up, it was only a joke.
    Guns don't kill people, it's the bullets, stupidI am the NRA, the KABA, NJ Area Rep for the 2ampd, and the AARP :(njretcop@copmail.com
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I will admit that I don't know a thing about magazine springs however I often wonder if I should jack up my pickup occasionally to take the weight off.
    " Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects" Will Rogers
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