Load and Change or just Keep Loaded?

[ColColt]

I know this horse has probably been beat to death but one that still rears it's head in my mind. Case in point is magazines for the 4506 and 4516-1 I have.

I've read keeping them loaded over a period of time will not effect their efficiency-only the loading/unloading process that weakens the springs. This has never made any sense to me but nonetheless what I've been doing is keeping one magazine each for those two pistols loaded and have done so now for the past two years. The 4506 resides under my pillow and the 4516-1 downstairs under the computer desk in a special "holster" I got from the NRA.

I'm hoping what I've read about all this is not for naught if they're ever needed to put into action-something I don't ever want to happen but would like to know they'll function if need be. I guess what I'm looking for is an affirmation for this fear that they will indeed work as intended regardless if they've been loaded two years or ten without a spring change.

 

[gunnails]

Revolvers have springs under tension for a 100 years and no issues.

Not a answer, just saying.

 

[chaparrito]

I recently used a 9mm Sig SP2022 on a coyote. The pistol had been loaded with 16 rounds for well over a year. I did unload the remaining 14 rounds and rotate the mag when I reloaded the pistol. I don't think it's a problem with well made magazines.

 

[Sevens]

An affirmation you MAY get but it may not be based in any tangible reality! Metallurgists and industry insiders can educate and inform and their advice is paramount but as long as we are discussing a man-made mechanical device, it's never EVER going to be a guarantee.

Here is what I do for my carry gun:

One loaded mag in the pistol, one spare mag. 4-6 or more extra mags stay empty until range day.

On range day, the usually empty mags get loaded and run while the daily-carried mags simply stay loaded with premium factory defense ammo.

Once a year or twice a year...
The daily-carried mags get unloaded and exchanged for two of the mags I have been using on range days.

For my own comfort level, I am far happier carrying a magazine that I know I have used extensively and flawlessly over the last 6-12 months.

How do you select & remember the "magic" change day?
Easy. New Year's or your birthday if you wanna do a year. Twice a year? Do it when you change the clock for daylight savings.

The daylight savings is also a fine time to proactively change flashlight and smoke detector batteries.

Is this the final word on the subject?
Hahaha, no way and not even close. This is simply my method backed with my experience.

 

[Tom S.]

I believe proponents of the load/unload theory base their belief of working the spring. Perhaps this will explain it better. Many materials work harden and get stiffer to the point of becoming brittle and breaking if they are worked a lot. Copper is very good example of this. Bend a piece of copper in one spot and then try to straighten that exact spot back out. Steel too can be work hardened, depending on it's content.

I'm not among the camp that believes that theory. The theory that makes the most sense to me is loading magazines one round (or even two on really high capacity mags like AR 30 rounders) short of the capacity. At maximum load capacity, the spring is compressed to it's maximum, putting it under the most stress that can be applied to the spring. You can easily see this for yourself in how hard it can be to get that final round in many magazines. There are a very few out there that are properly designed so the spring isn't under maximum pressure when the mag is fully loaded but those are exceptions. Think of 10 round magazines in certain states that are made from 15 round magazines but blocked off.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, springs today made by the quality names in magazine construction (both gun companies and third parties) are made well enough that they will most likely withstand almost any abuse you could throw at them, short of outright negligence like leaving them in the bottom of your aquarium.

 

[ColColt]

I never load any magazine to full capacity unless I'm at the range with a 7-round mag. 8-round mags still get but 7 either at the range or at home. A 15-round mag would get 12 rounds. I would think that's more than enough.

It's the constant 7-rounds loaded in a 8-round mag for a certain period of time I was concerned about.

 

[Old cop]

My Gen 2 Glock 23 was retired with me in 1997 and I've kept all three mags loaded the whole time. It goes to the range now and then but aside from that, they remain loaded and I've never had a problem.

 

[ColColt]

Since both of those pistols are my "house" pistols I feel a bit better by leaving them loaded as is. I think most of the 4506 mags have S&W springs with a few having Wolff springs...maybe three out of the seven mags I have. The other springs came directly from S&W maybe five years ago.

 

[BUFF]

One of my mom's brother-in-laws fought as an infantryman in Europe in WWII. After he and my aunt died, I was executor of their estate. While cleaning out their garage in 2002, I found some of his Army items he had kept. Among them was a khaki .45 Auto belt pouch with 2 1911 magazines, both of them loaded. The ammo was headstamped as being made in 1943. I know my uncle had never owned a .45 Auto and had heard him verbalize his disregard for them as inaccurate and hard kicking. I am sure that these had been loaded since he came home in 1946.

I sprayed the mags out with brake parts cleaner and compressed air, leaving them loaded. Incredible amount of dirt and dust came out of them.

I took them to the range a couple of years later and shot them out of one of my Colts. They fired just like new mags with fresh ammo. I reloaded them and shot them empty a few times each. They felt like the mags I already have.

I figure that if those mag springs were still good after being under tension for over 55 years, I would quit worrying about it.

Rudolph "Huke" Miller, 63rd Infantry Division BAR rifleman. RIP Uncle Huke.

 

[comtedeloach]

I bought a Ruger P85 around 1987 after I got out of the Army. I bought 4 or five mags, shot the hell out of them, and then I moved to a place in 1992 I couldn't shoot as much. Kept those loaded for years, finally misplaced one at some point. Found it in 2011, still loaded, no rust, looking in perfect shape. Took it to a range in OK, fired it off without a hitch. Your mileage may vary, but I do not believe a magazine under tension or not under tension will go bad over time (all things being equal, and not destroyed by rust).


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[dlombard]

While cleaning out their garage in 2002, I found some of his Army items he had kept.
...
The ammo was headstamped as being made in 1943.
...
I took them to the range a couple of years later and shot them out of one of my Colts. They fired just like new mags with fresh ammo.

That's kind of an awesome story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BUFF]

Funny related story. Wife and I found a live WWII U.S. fragmentation grenade in the garage. Uncle Huke had quite a reputation as a fisherman, lots of photos of him and his friends and lots of big, dead fish, even though when he took me, we never caught anything!

 

[ColColt]

That's kind of an awesome story. Thanks for sharing.

I'll second that.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Funny related story. Wife and I found a live WWII U.S. fragmentation grenade in the garage. Uncle Huke had quite a reputation as a fisherman, lots of photos of him and his friends and lots of big, dead fish, even though when he took me, we never caught anything!

Ever hear the story of this old boy named Buford that the local game warden just KNEW was cheating when he fished by using dynamite. Buford finally got tired of defending himself and invited the game warden to join him on a morning fishing venture. The game warden is amazed; he knows something is up but he goes, anyway. Out on the lake Buford takes out a stick of dynamite and lights it and hands it to the game warden. The game warden exclaims:

"BUFORD you old sunuvagun, I KNEW it, I knew you were cheating!!!"

Buford looks at the game warden calmly and asks:

"You gonna talk or are you gonna fish?"

Thanks for that reminder of a favorite joke when you said you found a grenade in your fisherman uncle's stuff!

What did you do with the grenade?

And, to stick to the subject, I've only seen two magazine springs fail, an old Colt .380 Pocket Pistol whose spring was just worn out (no idea why) and it would simply not feed a round up and into the receiver after one was fired, and a modern Rossi/Navy Arms Model 92 lever rifle and the spring failed in that tube magazine because it was filthy - easily corrected, and it still works today.

 

[BUFF]

I called the county fire department for a bomb tech. They sent one tech and a pair of paramedics! Tech puts on his bomb suit, goes into garage and looks at the grenade for a few minutes, then comes back out. He asks, "Do you have any pliers?" I say, "I thought you would have your tools with you." He says, "Didn't expect this to be real or we would have bought the big truck. Got any pliers?" "Yep, on the wall above the bench where the grenade is." So he goes back in the garage, finds pliers, works on the grenade, sets it back down and comes back out. "Got any tape?" "Yeah, masking and duct tape in the drawer of the bench just below where the grenade is." He wraps it up, I presume to keep the fuse handle immobile, then brings it out to his vehicle (a red Ford Escape) and puts it into a container in the back.

He asks me if there are any more grenades. I ask him if the one I gave him is real. He says, "Yes it is. We'll probably detonate it tomorrow. Got any more?"

"I'm not sure. Might be going fishing tomorrow."

The paramedics thought it was funnier than he did.

 

[comtedeloach]

Not so funny story

Lt Joe Kenda investigates charred remains.

Kenda Investigates Grizzly Scene At Suspicious Garage Explosion | Homicide Hunter | Investigation Discovery


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[MTS Cop]

All three mags for my 5946 have been fully loaded continuously for 10 years now. They are only ever unloaded for but a few minutes after I shoot and get reloaded. They are fine.

 

[Arik]

Those mags that I have loaded have been so for years and all still work. The only reason to download the mags by one or two is IF you have a hard time inserting a loaded mag on a closed slide. Otherwise keeping one bullet in or fully loaded makes absolutely no difference so may as well have the extra round or two just in case

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[Arik]

And another thing. The way I view mags is like ammo. They expandable. This is why you have more than one to begin with. They can break just as easily as anything else. Keep plenty of spares, and part if you want, and you'll never have to worry about having one go bad.

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