I want to store my mags loaded in some ammo cans I have. What mag since I have a bunch of crap USA's here is a good mag to get that will store well loaded for long periods of time?

USGI's are all I use.

Those USA mags will work ok if you do a little work to them.

A friend of mine had some he picked up at a gunshow, he told me they wouldn't catch in the magwell very good.
There is a burr on the cut out that you can take a file to, and file it off so that it catches better.

Give that a try.

I'm partial to USGI 20s and 30s, and black teflon Brit 30s. I also have an FNC 30 that has served me well.

The only way I cannot completely discredit that statement is if it is read as follows: Those USA mags will work ok [red]for range/rec. use ONLY[/red]if you do a little work to them.

Even read that way I have a hard time swallowing that. USAs are shit, plain and simple. If you wish to get some use out of them since you blew hard-earned $$$ on them go ahead and try the suggestion, but NEVER put your self in a SHTF situation where your only recourse is an AR with USA mags. These have no self-defense worth whatsoever.

Moreover, (CERTAIN) magazines can be stored loaded for long periods of time. The spring will not suffer from this. What may suffer is the feedlips, which may warp ever so slightly from the long term pressure exerted on them. This is a minute warping and would take a LONG time to accomplish. Hand-loading a mag over and over would probably cause more stress. Even if this occured you should have few worries (had you used USGIs). a simple session in the vice will restore them to drop-free condition in no time.

I didn't say ther were good, I pointed out since he had them. A friend with the same magazines had the trouble I pointed out, just trying to help him a little here.

I would never tell anyone to go buy USA Magazines.

You know people are still selling these new and boasting there lifetime warranty. If there such crap why are they still around? That is what sucks

CAR97M4,

I personally like USGI 30-round magazines with the following modifications:

Teflon finish
USGI green followers
Polished feed lips
Polished feed ramp
Polished follower contact surfaces
Rounded follower front edge
Rounded exterior edges prior to refinish
Wolff extra power springs
Magpul loop

I've seen a lot of different magazine failures but these magazines with the above modifications done PROPERLY seem to work the best.  Personally, I don't trust the USGI springs to be stong enough to withstand being loaded for any length of time.

I've left one of my upgraded magazines fully loaded for a year with a Wolff spring and there was still plenty of spring pressure.  It worked flawlessly on a full-auto M4.  Load was 30 rounds IMI M855 (same rounds that sat there for a year), no unloading and reloading the magazine, just grabbed it, stuck it in, full magazine dump, no breaks, no stoppages, no double-feeds.

I'm also a big fan of Sterling 40-round magazines.  A clamped set of those is approaching C-Mag capacity.  Unfortunately, Wolff does not make upgraded springs for 40-rounders and that steams me to no end.  The Sterlings are great but the Sterling springs are similar to USGI springs IMHO...  not strong or stable enough to be left fully-loaded for extended periods of time.  The good news is that Wolff 30-round magazine springs will operate in a 40-rounder (your results may vary) but doesn't have enough pressure to operate the bolt hold-open on my rifle.  I'm sure the Wolff XP bolt catch spring I'm running doesn't help matters there.  Hope that helps.

Uh all your upgrades um make it not even close to a factory USA mag you have just basically made a sweet customized mags. I on th other hand have no clue how to do the above. I'll just use them for target practice nothing for personal security or ops. Although I just saw on a auction somewhere 65 round mags for a AR 15 two of those in a mag cinch you exceed a C mag but wow you need a tripod or something to shoot due to there length. I just purchased some nice mags from ammoman. This hsould be plenty to keep loaded and stored for the apocolypse. Just kidding....

I've fired fired M16 magazines which were loaded for at least 27 years (1971 - ~1998), and M1911 and P'08 (Luger) magazines for 53 years (~1945 - ~1998).

And the ammo was at least that old.

No problems with any of them.

Hardly scientific, but you'll find dozens of episodes like this.  Mags were stored in attics and basements, not in controlled climate.

These were all [i]military[/i] magazines.

-- Chuck