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Posted: 4/9/2003 12:17:58 AM EDT
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I keep 4 magazines fully loaded 24/7. How harmful is it to keep the mag fully loaded for long periods? Is it harmful for the ammo? Also...how often should I replace the springs in my magazines? Thanks |
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it shouldn't be harmful at all. IIRC, you can damage a spring by compressing it and expanding it repeatedly, or by compressing or expanding it too far, but not by keeping it compressed or expanded for any length of time so long as it isn't beyond the limits of the spring. since mag springs are designed to be compressed to whatever the max load of the magazine is, it should be perfectly fine. I'm sure there are more people with more detailed information on this subject around here, since I learned that here at ARFCOM. |
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Ditto what Voilsb said. The only thing I'd add would be that if you actively carry the full magazines around with you on a daily basis, you may want to change out the ammo maybe once or twice a year. That's only because the shifting of the cartridges while being carried and shaken around could dent or slightly damage the cases possibly causing a feed problem. The magazine and spring itself should be fine. However, if the magazine is being stored in your home, I wouldn't worry about changing out the ammo. [img]photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=476[/img] [url=www.nra.org][b][red]NRA[/red][/url] [url=www.nra.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url] [url=www.gunowners.org][b][red]GOA[/red] [/url] [url=www.gunowners.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url] [url=www.saf.org][red]SAF[/red][/url] [url=www.saf.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/url] [url=sas-aim.org][red]SAS[/red][/url] [url=sas-aim.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/b][/url] |
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Quoted: Yeap.....the ol' "never store loaded mags" or "download by one round in your mag" stories are pretty much old wive's tales. So long as your mag spring is in spec, you can load and store mags to capacity pretty much indefinately. Actually, there is logic to downloading mags by 1 round. Its for when you do a tactical reload (ie. the bolt is foreward and a round in chamber). You do this because it requires less force to insert a mag downloaded by one into a closed chamber than it is to insert a full mag into a full chamber. |
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Quoted: Actually, there is logic to downloading mags by 1 round. Its for when you do a tactical reload (ie. the bolt is foreward and a round in chamber). You do this because it requires less force to insert a mag downloaded by one into a closed chamber than it is to insert a full mag into a full chamber. besides, it doesn't take much force to get a fully-loaded mag to lock with a closed bolt. if you're concerned about that kind of a workout, I'm not too sure you need to be training with your firearm; you should be at the gym. |
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Quoted: I wasn't saying that was what I did, I was just telling the guy that the rumors about people downloading mags by one round wasn't a rumor and people actualy did that for that reason. I for one am quite sick of hearing rumors. Can we all agree to just post stuff that we actually know about??? Or maybe flag the comment: (IdontKnowWhatImTalkingAbout).223 rounds are vastly inferior in battle, and you will need to shoot someone 10 times with it to stop them because they have no knockdown power(/IdontKnowWhatImTalkingAbout) Thanks! |
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How harmful is it to keep the mag fully loaded for long periods? No. Static spring compression does not wear out a spring. Is it harmful for the ammo? No Also...how often should I replace the springs in my magazines? When you see magazine/feeding related problems in your weapon with certain mags. |
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Quoted: Yeap.....the ol' "never store loaded mags" or "download by one round in your mag" stories are pretty much old wive's tales. So long as your mag spring is in spec, you can load and store mags to capacity pretty much indefinately. To that end, there was a story in Gun Digest about a guy who had a 1911 mag from WW2 that he loaded during the war and never emptied. 50 years later, he had a friend take it out and empty it, which he did with no problems. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Yeap.....the ol' "never store loaded mags" or "download by one round in your mag" stories are pretty much old wive's tales. So long as your mag spring is in spec, you can load and store mags to capacity pretty much indefinately. To that end, there was a story in Gun Digest about a guy who had a 1911 mag from WW2 that he loaded during the war and never emptied. 50 years later, he had a friend take it out and empty it, which he did with no problems. Yeap...heard that one too. I also experienced somthing similar.....loaded a Chinese steel AK mag and "lost it" in the garage. Found it aprox. 11 years later, with a fine coating of fuzzy orange/red/brown rust and the first few rounds of ammo discolored. Figured "what the hell...it's an AK!" and took it to the range....ripped through 30 rounds without a hitch! And to Wipeout...yes, there are reasons people download mags......wearing out mag springs isn't one of 'em, though. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Actually, there is logic to downloading mags by 1 round. Its for when you do a tactical reload (ie. the bolt is foreward and a round in chamber). You do this because it requires less force to insert a mag downloaded by one into a closed chamber than it is to insert a full mag into a full chamber. besides, it doesn't take much force to get a fully-loaded mag to lock with a closed bolt. if you're concerned about that kind of a workout, I'm not too sure you need to be training with your firearm; you should be at the gym. [LOL] |
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I used to think that you could wear out the springs. So I did my own test on some mags. I loaded colt 1911 mag, glock 19 and 20 with wolff mag springs, Ar-15 mag, Remington 870 shotgun, and dont rip me on this one... got the gun from my grandpa, Raven .25 auto. 5 years later all the mags worked great. Keep them loaded dont worry Jason |
| Hope this helps and clears the air some. Without quoting any rumors or myths I will just state what Ive been taught by the SWAT and academy staff at our police department in regards to the loaded mag issues. As some have previously stated, it is correct that the compression of the spring will not be compromised by keeping the mags loaded for indefinite periods of time. As far as unloading one round, it is recommended that we load 26 rounds in a 30 round mag and 18 rounds in a 20 round mag. The reason being is as perviously stated, in tactical reloading it has been observed that it is easier to seat a mag that is not totaly topped off. Also, with a completely topped off mag, the incidence of jamming after the first round fired seemed to be more prevalent. I dont know all of the physics behind this issue but I have experienced it first hand. Just my two cents. |
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Quoted: Can you also keep a pump shot gun loaded with no harm to the spring? I don't know the definitive answer to that, but I do know that gunfight guru Masad Ayoob changes his twice a year, along with the smoke detector batteries. Then again, he does it for a living. |
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SK -- Your SWAT girls are just carrying less ammo if they're downloading magazines this way. There's more than enough slack in a USGI 20 or 30 round magazine to do a so-called tactical reload if it's done right. Takes minimal force. In fact there'e enough slack to sometimes slip a 21st or 31st round in there, but this is a common cause of stoppages. -- Chuck |
| Back when I first learned about M-16A1's, we were taught by the USMC range instructors to load our 20 round mags with 18 or 19 rounds only. These early magazines had springs that would take a "set" and would fail to lock back the bolt on last round. Especially if the last rounds were tracers as was the custom of the times. Newer magazines and springs have made this requirement a thing of the past. |
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