Loaded magazines

[bigpoppop51]

What are all of your thoughts on is it good nor not good to have your auto magazines pre-loaded versus not loading them till you go plinking. Does it damage the mag to pre-load them till you shoot them?

[WR Moore]

Leaving magazines loaded for long periods will not damage quality magazines. In the case of weapons kept ready for defense, occasional rotation from loaded to "resting" does no harm and may extend the spring life. (I try to do mine on a yearly basis, but my previous issue service pistol did 15 years with the original springs without issue and no time outs.) I did replace all the magazine springs after buying the piece when we changed pistols.

If you're talking about a dedicated plinking piece, there's no real advantage to leaving them loaded long term. I'm not sure I'd leave .22 rimfire mags loaded long term. There are a few weapons/magazines where loading them to full capacity isn't a good idea under any circumstances from a reliability standpoint.

[Dan Cash]

My father's Colt Woodsman has had a magazine filled since 1936 with no issues. If it was shot, the magazine was immediately reloaded. I have similar experience with 1911 magazines loaded more than 20 years. No problem.

[bigpoppop51]

I know I said plinking, but I actually meant in general. I don't have a dedicated plinking gun. My stuff is always locked up as I have or am raising two grandkids, but my father always kept all his guns loaded when I was young.

[TDR911]

In general they will last for many years. In my test gun, Glock 17, I had feeding issues after 7 years and a little over 15,000 rounds. In my competition and concealed weapons I change out the springs every year so as to never have any issues. The springs are marked and stored for givaways.

[BUFF]

Springs made from proper alloys with proper heat treatment eventually fail from being repeatedy cycled, from being compressed and relaxed, not from being kept under load.

While disposing of a favorite aunt and uncle's estate, I encountered a pair of Colt 1911 .45 magazines, loaded with Evansville steel case cartridges, 7 in each. They were in a web belt mag carrier. My uncle was an infantryman in WWII, serving in North Africa and then France and Germany with the 63rd Infantry Division, right in the thick of things the whole time. He did some time with the occupation forces before coming home late in 1945.

He was an avid outdoorsman and liked hunting and fishing. I helped my aunt dispose of his guns after he died and wound up with her gun, a Ruger Blackhawk .357, when she passed.

My uncle talked a bit about the war with me, mostly about things and people, not events. He held the USGI .45 Auto in low regard. He said it was wildly inaccurate but did pack a punch. I know he never owned one after the war until he died. The 2 loaded mags were with a bunch of other items he brought home, which included a wide array of Axis and British arms cartridges.

The magazines were in an open crate on a shelf in the garage and hadn't been moved since the garage was built about 1960, at least. They were filthy with dust and grit. I blew the magazines out with compressed air, then with brake parts cleaner, then more air.

I took them to the range along with about 50 more loose cartridges found around the garage, all Evansville steel case. At the range, I dribbled a little oil on top of the top cartridge in each magazine and let it dribble down. Using my nice, stock, 1944-made Remington-Rand 1911-A1, I cranked off one magazine, then the other. 14 holes in the paper, about a dinner's plate spread at 25 yards.

I then reloaded those 2 mags, and the one that came with the Remington-Rand, and shot all of them. Old gun and old ammo and middle-aged BUFF were capable of 7 shot groups of about 6 to 8 inches offhand.

I then shot up a box of 50 current Federal red box FMJ using the 2 old mags. No failures of any kind

The 2 mags that had been loaded, springs fully compressed, sitting in a garage with temperatures running from 100 in the summer to zero in the winter, collecting grit and grime and dust and mouse turds, from 1945 to 2005, probably 60 years, and they worked just great. They still do.

I am pretty sure that the idea of "resting" magazine springs to extend their life doesn't do anything.

I have seen lesser quality springs "take a set" from being compressed for a long time, like the aftermarket extended magazine tube spring in a 8 shot pump shotgun, which just plain lost most of it's tension after sitting,loaded, in a zippered case in a patrol car trunk for two or three years. Once relaxed, they never regained their original length or strength. I think they were just cheap springs. Good springs from Remington and Choate didn't seem affected by the practice. The armorer didn't remember where he got the faulty springs, they may have been already installed in seizure shotguns we put to work.

Other than psychological comfort from doing so, their is no gain to be had by unloading and resting your firearms magazine springs.

[bigpoppop51]

That was a great response. I and many others thank you for that.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by bigpoppop51

I know I said plinking, but I actually meant in general. I don't have a dedicated plinking gun. My stuff is always locked up as I have or am raising two grandkids, but my father always kept all his guns loaded when I was young.

Someone in the same boat with me, raising two grandsons and keeping everything locked up. I am a reloader and even put all my powders, primers and cases under lock and key. I'm 64 and oldest boy is 4.5 years and not quite ready other then size, maybe in couple more years before I am too old to even make range trips with him.

[Big Foot]

Originally Posted by TDR911

In general they will last for many years. In my test gun, Glock 17, I had feeding issues after 7 years and a little over 15,000 rounds. In my competition and concealed weapons I change out the springs every year so as to never have any issues.

Quote:"I have seen lesser quality springs "take a set" from being compressed for a long time, like the aftermarket extended magazine tube spring in a 8 shot pump shotgun, which just plain lost most of it's tension after sitting,loaded, in a zippered case in a patrol car trunk for two or three years. Once relaxed, they never regained their original length or strength. I think they were just cheap springs."Quote
Very contradictory info. The fact of the matter if you read actual metallurgical studies on magazine spring effectiveness, and not the tales of "Uncle Joe's 1911 stored in attic for decades and functioning" is that they will fail...Mag & firing pin spring replacement is big business and their is a definite reason why. You really think mfgr's use some "magical steel" in their springs? Expense means less profit.
To OP, for long-term storage, no need to keep fully loaded. For daily carry, no problem fully loaded, but reduce your mag one less when not being used for a time...

[BUFF]

Could you steer us towards such studies? Links?

[Big Foot]

Buff, fair question. I'll try to locate a few articles from my gun periodicals that go back many decades. One such study was in an older copy of Gun Tests, another in Guns & Ammo. A few other independent studies I recall were discussed on gun forums. The problem with older studies is how far has technology progressed hence making these studies somewhat dubious. Anyway, I'll stand by my statements. Since cheap parts-changing (such as in springs) is an integral part of our firearm culture: I'll change them out prior to any failure. The link below is a current, and fair assessment that really doesn't bolster my argument much...
The Gun Digest Book of the 1911 - Google Books

[Vulcan Bob]

In my humble opinion, the loaded mag issue is over. Any quality spring will be just fine left compressed. It is compress/release cycles that wear a spring. In Germany a few years ago a WWII German MP-38 with spare loaded mags was found inside a wall of a house that was being demolished. All was good with the mags. Now I know that this story dosent prove much, but I have had no trouble with mags, rifle and pistol that I have left loaded for years.

[another41]

My house gun Mags are always full. 2 mags have been full since 1986.
The Range stuff is always empty.