I am new to concealed carry and I am waiting for my permit to come in the mail and was wondering how long should I keep my self defense rounds in my magazine?

I'm interested to hear all the answers. I won't offer my opinion as I don't have enough experience with ammunition going bad. Welcome, a lot of good people here with lots of experience and knowledge.

You worried about the ammo or the springs?

I have shot ammo that is 30-40 yrs old with no problems. Ammo just doesn't go bad, and most will tell you that the mag springs go bad because of repeated use, not being under tension all the time.

I'd say until you need to use them, or practice with them...

I used some .357 ammo I bought in 1986 recently.
If you're asking about weakening the spring in the mag. As long as a spring is not stressed beyond its elastic range it should last indefinitely.

Modern ammunition will not "go bad" during your lifetime or the lifetime of your offspring.

Magazine springs do not "go bad" because they are kept loaded. Ammunition is generally kept loaded in duty magazines and carried on the belt for a year at a time until it is used for a yearly qualification. There are never any problems.

If you are constantly chambering and unchambering the same round in your semiauto then you will need to constantly rotate that individual round. The bullet will eventually be pushed deeper into the case, causing dangerous pressures. The rim will also get beat up, leading to a failure to extract. I have seen cartridges in carry guns that look like they have been chambered literally hundreds of times and there is no way that they will function properly when fired.

Dave Sinko

Like everybody said it won't go bad. however if you keep chambering the same round time after time it can cause the round to shorten and cause a pressure problem. That was from an artical from a gun magazine a few months ago.

Standard LE recommendation for replacement or range firing of ammo carried is six months to one year. Ammo that is carried is exposed to oils in the pistol, and various temperatures and environments. Yes, modern ammo can last a long time but your life is worth a lot more than the cost of a box of cartridges. Bill

Every year at annual qualification our agency issues fresh practice and duty ammo, and has us shoot the previous year's duty ammo at the range. I have three magazines for duty that get used only once a year at that time; practice mags are separate. Once a year at Gander Mountain I have had their gun smith inspect my duty weapon for function and parts wear since I practice at least monthly. No issues so far, and he has only charged $40.

I have shot ammo older than me (64) with no problem. Every now and then they find a weapon loaded since WWII and shoot it just to see what happens. There is seldom a problem. I have been told by a gunsmith who used to work for Colt that they have a batch of .45 mags they loaded shortly after WWI and that, every once in a while. they shoot one to see if the springs still work. So far they always have. Handling ammo is hard on it, it gets beat up. Cycling it damages the bullet nose and extractor groove. Exposure to oil is also bad for ammo, it kills primers. My recommendation, for what that may be worth to you, is to shoot your carry ammo up once a year (more often if you are in a really harsh damp environment). Have two sets of mags, one for serious carry that get used very little and carefully, and one set for range use that gets dropped in the dirt and stepped on. Most auto pistol faults are caused by faulty magazines, not a faulty weapon.

Every year I should fire my SD rounds. Got it. That is what I was looking to find out.

I don't do concealed carry. I do have some experience though. The reality is that it depends on the quality of the spring in the magazine. Cheap magazines, cheap springs. I load magazines with max-2 rounds to keep springs springy. Also use a different magazine that you know loads well from the magazine you practice reloads with. Re phrased, don't carry the mag you practice reloads with. The magazine lips can get banged up. Yeah, I know some people might argue with me. I like revolvers because a mis fire (or mis load) just takes another pull of the trigger to clear and automatics need to clear the slide. I just fired off some .22 rounds that had been in the magazine for 10 years and my Ruger, both mags and all the ammo, functioned flawlessly.

I like to run my defense ammo at least every 6 months, no real reason, I just like fresh ammo.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Every week or so I'll empty the magazines of the semi autos that I carry. Both to circulate the rounds and also to make sure I get in minimal practice. Even if I don't feel like doing a full on shooting session, it's easy to fire a few rounds on my "end of the driveway" range.

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- The Federalist #46 -

I grew tired of all the worries associated with mag springs/lips, bullet setback, malfunction drills, etc...

Life is much simpler with a revolver. At least it is for me.

whw

I carried one particular pistol & spare mags for 15 years continually loaded. The ammo got replaced about quarterly as the carry ammo was fired in various training evolutions. No issues.

If you''re really worried, change your mag springs about every 5 years, the cost won't be much. It doesn't hurt to have a spare set of quality magazines and rotate the ones continually loaded yearly or thereabouts. That way you'll have spares and the prices only go one way.

Ammo will last a really, really long time if stored properly. Carried on the person, it's exposed to lubricants and temperature changes that can cause issues. Replacing the ammo once per year is prudent. I'll admit to personally going 2 years upon occasion with no issues, but don't advise it.

The gent who mentioned continually chambering rounds is correct. Chambering a round more that 3-5 times can create serious overpressure situations due to bullet setback into the case. Your best bet is to load it up and leave it loaded.

Thank You for all the info I really appreciate it!!

I regularly rotate my magazines. Once a month at the range I will shoot the magazine in my pistol then load my spare mag into the pistol. I have no real reason for doing this I guess, it's just what I do.

For self defense I carry a revolver.

In all the years I've been shooting ( 35+ ) the only magazines I have personally seen that exhibited weak springs are two 30 round M1 carbine mag's. They are from WWll I believe and they would fail to feed the last two rounds. A call to Brownell's got me some new springs, and that problem is now solved.

I also inherited a bunch of GI issue WWll era 1911 magazines that work as good today as the day they were built. The springs in them are actually stiffer and stronger than some of the new mag's I have.

What Sarge said but rotate the chambered round.

You don't have an armorer?

This for sure. I have used magazines that have been loaded forever.I used to buy into the spring set theory but have found that to be untrue. Normal use of the magazines by shooting and continuously loading and unloading them will weaken the springs more than leaving them loaded for extended periods Even then,they last almost indefinetely.It is however,cheap insurance to keep a few spare mag springs in your kit. Murphy is alive and well.

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Blessed be the Lord,my Rock

Me thinks I've got you all beat. I recently fired off some .30-40 Krag ammo loaded by Remington in 1917. They all went bang. In firing off an accumulation of .38 Spl, acquired following the passing of three friends, one round produced quite a cloud of smoke but otherwise fired normally. Upon inspecting and sniffing the round, I discovered that it was an original black powder load and it still fired.

Just acquired a Browning Hi-power magazine, loaded and untouched for about 30 years, when a friend gave up his NYC pistol license. I threw the rounds away as they were reloads of unknown manufacture and quality but the magazine spring was just fine.

For years, shooters acquired and fired WWII vintage surplus ammo and it all fired just fine. But, I did experience a bad lot of 1950s manufacture, French made M-1 carbine ammo, producing the only hang-fires I've ever experienced. I don't think it was age but ****** manufacturing standards.