Do you folks keep your mags loaded or unloaded in storage.

Loaded with 20 rounds in my 30 round mags. Always.

Unloaded, as this is not one of my home defense weapons.

Most of them loaded

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Magazines are stored loaded so I can just grab and go when it is range time.

Same here. Also, I really enjoy loading mags the night before I go shooting. And that lets me pick loads and mags based on what type of shooting I anticipate doing the next day. I guess if you keep all mags loaded and use a single load that is not an issue. But then what would I do on Friday nights?

About half-n-half

Loaded because it about halves the storage space required compared to seperate ammo and mags.

Of course, I have alot of mags.

Springs wear from travel NOT compression and PMags with the caps on don't seem to suffer from the stress of spring tension pushing up.

The mags for my carry .45 are loaded, NATCH. That is one in the gun and a couple of reserves.

As I have 3 AR clones in the safe I do tend to keep 25 rounds in one (30) mag loaded and on a shelf in the safe.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Loaded to 20/ea. One never knows...

about half and half myself plus labeled with what they are loaded with, but I dont leave them loaded to the max 25 in a 30 15 in a 20 7 in a 10. It does cut down on the number of storage boxes I have to buy and the mags take up the same space loaded or not!
I do keep my pistol mags loaded 2 rounds shy of max, they are my primary home defense, the Sporting Rifles are used for predator control for our poultry and goats and calves. So I keep mags I can grab when I hear the fowl starting to raise cain!!!

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Grover Oathkeeper

not true... you can let a car sit with stiff valve springs and the cylinders with either open intakes or ext will be toast... not saying over night or even a month but this happens over winter season all the time on drag cars... why alot of guys change springs every season...

:beer:

Drag cars are not regular cars. We have cars sit for years. Drain the tank, re fill, change battery, overall check and they are good to go.

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Game Plan

Four 30 round mags. Load three with 25 rounds each. Leave one empty.

Swap the empty one every thirty days.

Sounds good anyway.

Not the same thing. Valve springs suffer most of their wear from high RPM compression AND decompression, thus causing steel fatigue. Mags will hold their spring tension compressed for many years if not indefinitely. There may be a limit but your ammo would probably deteriorate before quality steel mag springs.

I should add, mag springs are made so that a certain amount of tension will be lost over time. However, not enough to effect function . Once the initial, small loss of tension is achieved, further deterioration is almost nil. This is taken into account by manufacturers of quality springs and is why they become a bit easier to load over time.

Fatigue is caused by cycling NOT storage so don't worry about it.

Self and home defense guns are kept fully loaded with one reload handy. All other mags are empty.

I'm a hard core handloader. If my mags other than mentioned above were loaded, I'd probably have no idea whether or not the mags contained a proven match grade load or an unproven squib. Few things in life worse than hearing a pop when you expect, or need, a bang.

My Glock M23 is the only auto I have and it was my service weapon from my LEO days. All three mags have been loaded since I retired in 1997 and they continue to work just fine.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Yeah I download by two rounds in all my mags even p-mags...LOL old school I guess.

I keep a couple mags for my primary HD firearm topped off. Otherwise magazines are empty.

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-John

We're not running top fuel and storing our weapons outside in the winter or burning out the clutches after every run. I keep enough topped off and the rest empty. I shoot off the full ones,rotate and load the other mags. All mags are numbered for any problems and makes it easier to rotate.

Always Loaded and ready for my next desert trip... unless, like today, I just went to the desert and they havent ALL been loaded again

ya never know when the Zombie Invasion may hit... or some DUMB robber may stumble into the house..... Just cant be too safe can we....


LOL

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--Stav--

I keep all (6) 15-22 mags loaded at 25 ,the colt M-16 mags ( 8) at 28 and my 40 cal stoeger cougar mags (2) at the full 11 rounds at all times.

That way if I want to go to the range I just grab my bag and firearms and go.There is nothing better to relieve stress than a good day at the range sending rounds downrange.

For the 5.56 S&W weapons, we use 30 round P-Mags at work kept loaded at a basic load of six magazines per person for issue, plus another six magazines per person loaded in the fly-away kits, plus another two general use basic kits with 20 mags each - each mag is loaded full capacity.

Same type of thing for the H&K MP5's and HK416's except they use the H&K mags but don't have extra mags in the fly away or basic kits but extra mags are available for issue and with the supressor kits in either 9mm or 5.56 depending on the weapon - each mag is loaded full capacity.

The SPR weapons - mags issued as needed loaded full capacity.

For work, the Glock and Sig handgun magazines, except these are the Glock and Sig magazines and are two for carry with one loaded in the weapon for a total of three issue per person, the fly-away kits remain at six mags per person and general use kits at 20 mags each - each mag is loaded full capacity.

I use 30 round P-Mags for the rifles at home at two magazines per weapon - each mag is loaded full capacity. The Glock handguns at home are two magazines per handgun - each mag is loaded full capacity.

Every 90 - 120 days the mags are unloaded, inspected, and cycled for "fresh" mags at both work and home.

For range use or training magazines are loaded as necessary.

I keep mine unloaded while stored. I swap out mags every week. I like to think it helps the mag springs stay strong.

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Lt. Dan, what R U doing here?

I keep lots of whipped cream pies and a couple of rocks and a slingshot at the ready to defend myself with.

Who needs guns here in Ca??? It's safe.

I never had problems with having loaded GI mags stored for years.

I have seen them sit for 5 years and no ill effects.

I have been over this a thousand times.
I bought a case of WWI magazines for the 1911 pistol, loaded with military ball ammo, from a bunker in Greece. They had been loaded since 1918. I bought over 100 of them in the spring of 2009 when I got back from my last trip to Iraq.
I had a bunch of guys waiting to pay me $50 each for the two-tone lanyard ring mags. (this is a steal) None of them wanted the ammo.
I fired every single round. Every round fired. Every magazine performed perfectly, and locked the slide to the rear on empty in my Colt series 70 1911. Every single mag worked perfectly after having been stored loaded for more than 90 years.
The springs in today's mags aren't "13 turns of music wire" like the 1911. They are much better steel, and I can't fathom any of them wearing out from being static loaded.
All my AR mags at work get shot, then loaded, then left alone. All 143 of my guys do the same, and nobody has ever had a problem with a mag.

I think quality mags are more durable than people think.

Only those mags that I expect I may have to use on short notice.
Which is only a few - and surely plenty.

Otherwise, I store my spare ammo in ammo cans.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

plus 1, that is if i didn't shoot them all at the range. i can't stop myself sometimes.

I have 3 TangoDown mags coming in the mail today, I will use them and probably load at least one and keep it that way just to test it out. For the price I coudnt say no, and they do look interesting. They may not be Pmags and I like my Pmag but I generally use Stoners or USGI. It wasnt that long ago that I had 200 brand new in the plastic 30 round USGI's with the upgraded followers.

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Grover Oathkeeper

Thats a thought. I should upgrade my USGI mags with new followers.

2 30 round PMAGs full load with range ammo and a 20 round PMAG fully loaded with something a little nastier just in case. The 20 rounder always stays loaded. I also have a couple of metal 30 round mags that sit unloaded as backups if needed.

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M&P 15 Tactical

It depends on when they were made as to which followers they have...My oldest ones (not built in 2011) I upgraded with Magpul followers, which by the way other than the color are identical to the upgraded military followers. Also these new TangoDown mags are pretty nice!!

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Grover Oathkeeper

I load all my magazines to the top (sometimes -1 on GI mags). It cuts down on ammo storage and makes tracking how much ammo I have stored easier.

Part of it is also the "you never know" factor. Granted I can't think of one instance in the history of the country that a citizen needed 15 loaded AR mags and 4 loaded Glock mags at the same time. I guess part of me has a mindset that if I had to "get up and go" I wouldn't want to be carrying empty mags AND ammo.

After all...zombies don't wait for you to load up.

Now THATS Funny right there..

I dont care WHO ya are... Thats Funny

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--Stav--

Yeah it is. CA is so anal with their laws.

The problem is that "Laws" only seem to apply to those that are willing to obey them.

I have close to 40 mags, both P-Mags and GI and I only keep 2 loaded and those I change out every couple of months.

I have a lot of mags too, Im just too lazy to load them when and if I need them so I loaded them once and leave them that way.

loaded all the time

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15T,15-22,5946 & some not S&W

All loaded with 28.

Who else downloads by 2? Just curious.

I download by 2 in my Mags. Even my 10 round mags. I tried just downloading by 1 in my 10's but they seemed so tight that I switched to -2.

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Grover Oathkeeper