Finally stepped up and bought a M&P 9 2.0 compact. I know i'll love the gun but does anyone else think the the mag springs are crazy strong. Even with a mag loader it seems to be a struggle to load them to full capacity.

This has been beaten to death over and over and over. Yes, the springs are stiff when new, but leave the magazines loaded for a night or 2 and they will loosen up a bit. Problem solved. Enjoy your new compact as I enjoy mine.

The advice for leaving mags loaded to break in the springs has also been beaten to death, and is incorrect.
Springs weaken by full cycles, load, unload, load, unload.
You can leave a magazine loaded for 30 years, and that won't weaken, "season" or break in the spring one bit.

If you want to make your magazines easier to load, go out and use them.
Full cycles of compression and decompression.

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U. S. Army Veteran

Actually, coil springs do take an initial set when left compressed over a period of time.

Back in my USPSA days, I bought some Wilson 10-round 1911 mags for competition. They arrived the night before a local match. Wilson recommended leaving their 10 round 1911 mags loaded for 24 hours before using them. I ignored their advice and tried them brand new, just a quick cleaning. Nothing but difficult loading and feeding jams during that match. I left them loaded for 24 hours, then tried them again and they were easier to load and perfectly reliable.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I have a Remington 870 I kept fully loaded for about 5 years but rarely shot. I had to replace the magazine spring because it barely got the last shell into position and when empty the follower rattled because the spring was too weak to push it against the receiver.

So maybe properly designed and manufactured magazine springs don't weaken from being loaded but some do. I saw it happen.

Theory is great but actual real world data is always better. If a lot of people say storing a Shield for a few weeks with the slide locked back makes the gun easier to rack or leaving the magazines fully loaded a few months makes them easier to load it is worth a try.

I haven't noticed that the 17 round magazine I keep fully loaded for my M&P is any easier or harder to load than the range magazines that are empty but get cycled more often. But the Magula makes loading them easy enough that I do not pay a lot of attention. Next time I go to the range I am going to load one right after the other and see if I can detect a difference.

If you think the mag springs in the 9 Compact are stiff don't buy that same gun in .45. I have both and can tell you the 9 mm is pretty easy with a maglula but the .45 even with the loader is really tough on the last round.

The .45 has a couple hundred rounds through it and I haven't noticed any loosening up yet.

Springs in 9mm Shield mags have eased a little in 7 years . I'm able now to load first 3 rounds by hand , Uplula is great investment