Question about home defense??

[Guest Bluemax]

I keep a couple of handguns in what I consider strategic places around the house in the case of a home invasion. I am a big believer in revolvers in this type of situation because of their simplcity and the fact that one can be loaded and put away and be depended upon to fire when needed. My question is, were one to have to rely om a semi auto, how long can one sit with a loaded mag and still be relied on ? I know this may depend on the quality of firearm but as a general rule, how often should I unload or change clips to ensure that it will be reliable when needed ?

[enfield]

Here's some info: http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/long-guns/14185-hd-gun-maintenance.html?highlight=magazine+springs

or you can do a search on 'magazine springs' and find some more.

[Punisher84]

It's not the loaded or unloaded mag, it's the loading and unloading. The spring being compacted really isn't any worse than it being an empty mag. It's the constant movement of the spring that weakens it.

I'd say you could load a mag, put a round in the chamber, leave it sit a year, pick it up, take it to the range and fire the whole mag and not have a problem. I say this because I've done it.

[cybernorris]

I lived in the anti-gun climate of Wisconsin for eleven years without any time on the range. Both the Browning BDA .380 and Taurus PT-22 sat largely untouched in a case with loaded clips. At least one spare clip was also stored full of rounds. I cleaned them a few times during this period of exile and probably emptied and reloaded the clips as well.

Earlier this year I finally got them out and did some range time. I have had no problems with either weapon or any of the clips.

Oh yeah, I've also been shooting ammo that is 10-15 years old with no problems either.

[DaveTN]

It’s a point that is always argued. Truth is it is moot. Magazines are cheap; change them every few years.

I have responded to several home invasions and one of them still gives me nightmares. They happen so fast. Anyone that thinks they can deploy and unloaded handgun while someone is coming through the door is not in touch with reality.

I don’t have any kids in the house. All my weapons are loaded and accessible, and still hope I never have to find out if I’m fast enough.

[Punisher84]

. All my weapons are loaded and accessible, and still hope I never have to find out if I’m fast enough.

Tell me about it.

My buddy has been carrying for 6 months and still won't carry a round in the chamber. I told him he needed to take a training class. He said he appendix carries and was worried he'd shoot his manhood. I told him to buy a belt and a holster lol

[Guest 3pugguy]

Tell me about it.

My buddy has been carrying for 6 months and still won't carry a round in the chamber. I told him he needed to take a training class. He said he appendix carries and was worried he'd shoot his manhood. I told him to buy a belt and a holster lol

Might as well carry a claw hammer as an unloaded handgun. And if it ain't got one in the chamber, it's unloaded for self-defense (my ).

[Guest 270win]

If someone is afraid of carrying an autopistol with a chambered round, he would be better off with a revolver.

I don't think there would be a problem with an autopistol with the magazine and chamber loaded just sitting. It is the spring going up and down/loaded and unloaded that would wear out a spring. But that does take time. I have a couple of real old pre 1994 Glock 19 mags that I should change out the springs, but I haven't done it yet. The mags work fine and I like the mags actually better than the new ones because they fit more flush and are not drop free...which to me is better in a SD gun..not as likely to fall out. I will keep my pre 1994 mags in the event I have to travel to say MA or NY for a shooting event because only pre 1994 mags that hold more than 10 rounds are legal there.

[Guest Ben]

Tell me about it.

My buddy has been carrying for 6 months and still won't carry a round in the chamber. I told him he needed to take a training class. He said he appendix carries and was worried he'd shoot his manhood. I told him to buy a belt and a holster lol

Ask your friend what he will do when he is attacked by an assailant with a knife, or a bat, and he has to use one of his hands to block the attack.

Now, he only has one hand...what if he is hit with a baseball bat and by blocking the strike, his left arm is shattered. How will he chamber his pistol? yes, there are ways to do it single handed but it takes a lot of training and time to get that right.

I am certain you have explained this to him already but sometimes it helps to actually show him by "attacking" him and forcing him to react.

[Guest HexHead]

Look at it this way, your car sits on it's springs, compressing them for years or decades and they still work.

[Guest Isaac]

I've got an old Ruger P95DC that I bought when I turned 21, which puts it at over a decade ago (wow, time flies). Both of the 10rd clips I got with it and the two 15rd prebans I got at the same time have spent most of their time fully loaded over the years. I just went out recently and did some shooting with it and had no problems at all.

[Guest Bluemax]

Look at it this way, your car sits on it's springs, compressing them for years or decades and they still work.

Hex, thats the best analogy I've heard yet. Im havin a mag stuffin party tonight !!

[Guest kerstuff]

Hex, thats the best analogy I've heard yet. Im havin a mag stuffin party tonight !!

I agree! I haven't thought about it that way. Makes me grin now everytime I look over my Sig mags. Ok, I grin anyway and get that warm & fuzzy feeling! Hehehe.

[Mark@Sea]

Anecdotal, but heard of a guy who inherited his fathers' WWII service pistol. Upon checking, it still had 7 in the mag and one in the chamber - WWII era issue ball ammo. He said it shot just fine, and guessed it had been loaded since his Dad came home from the war.

[Guest Phantom6]

.....I am certain you have explained this to him already but sometimes it helps to actually show him by "attacking" him and forcing him to react.

Yeah, and look on the bright side; if you attack him Cato vs. Inspector Clouseau style to get him to react, you don't have to worry about him shooting you if you miss the pin on the trigger hand the first time.

[Rangemeister]

I am not fearful my mags will lose their strength, but I would change my mags every time there was a time change (dst to cst) used to be every six months or so, now I simply change them in spring and fall.

[Guest grimel]

I keep a couple of handguns in what I consider strategic places around the house in the case of a home invasion.

Call me crazy, but, what's wrong with just putting one on your belt/in your pocket? Don't have to worry about getting to it with someone beating in the door.

[Guest Tango]

I think that there is no steadfast rule with regard to this issue.

I have a 1964 Astra Cub .25 Auto that stayed locked and loaded for eleven years, with the only relief being me changing the ammo once a year. There was no noticeable deterioration in the spring pressure. In fact, I just shot the entire box of the old ammo and two boxes of new stuff without a single glitch.

On the other hand, I have seen friends have mag problems after less than a year of being constantly loaded. :-\

If you can hand-cycle the entire clip through the weapon, you can be pretty confident that your mag is OK.

[G27]

I don’t have any kids in the house. All my weapons are loaded and accessible, and still hope I never have to find out if I’m fast enough.

Great point - I do have kids in the house and worry if I'd be fast enough.

Even if I didn't I'd worry - it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security by having firearms 'nearby', but unless it's in your hand when the SHTF, it may as well be 1,000 miles away...

[Guest Bluemax]

Call me crazy, but, what's wrong with just putting one on your belt/in your pocket? Don't have to worry about getting to it with someone beating in the door.

Cause my better half wants me to put on warpaint and a headress and play "Big Chief" when I wear my gun to bed.

Seriously I keep a couple where she can lay hands on them if need be and I don't usually carry in the privacy of our home

What about you ? Do you keep a heater stuck in the waistband of your underwear ? :D

[enfield]

If you don't trust your mag springs, leave your spare mags loaded and in the safe. Take them out once in a while and try them for function. If they're going to fail, it's better that they fail in the safe or at the range than in a self-defense situation, no?

There's no reason to leave your spare mags unloaded unless you can't find or afford enough ammo to load all of them. Unloaded mags are as useless as fuel left in the truck is to a pilot.

I have no doubt that mag springs can fail. Sometimes the designers cut corners to package too many rounds in too little space, or the manufacturer gets a bad batch of material or just makes a batch of bad springs.

Well-designed mag springs made of good material by a good manufacturer will not wear out in normal usage. You can expect them to last millions of cycles - that's loading and unloading the mags millions of times.

If you're carrying a compact 1911 with 10 rd mags, I'd expect the mag springs and the recoil springs to fail on a regular basis. In that case, I'd replace the springs on a regular basis before they fail, AKA 'preventive maintenance'. But, then, I wouldn't carry a pistol on which I expected the springs to fail.

Edited August 17, 2009 by enfield