Does it weaken mag springs to keep them full?

[gl19gobang]

I keep hearing to rest magazine springs by unloading them occasionally or keeping them downloaded one or two rounds, is there any truth to this? to me, it defeats the purpose of having them.

[enfield]

Use the search function - this subject has been discussed beyond belief.

Short answer is no, no effect.

[gl19gobang]

thanks

[Dolomite_supafly]

No, I found a loaded mag that had been loaded since at least 1986. I emptied it, cleaned it and still use it to this day.

Dolomite

[frankmako]

no, it will not hurt anything.

[kieefer]

I'll do that search along with a FTF search.

I've got 3 mags, keep them full and for the first time using my SR9 I had several FTF's. I would reload them and some would fire and some wouldn't. Some were loaded 3 times and finally fired. I don't know it this is the common result but got me to thinking about the mags. I didn't mark the mags to see if one may be the cause and then thought a good cleaning on the gun may be in order?

The ammo most common to FTF was a Swiss brand "Geco" and just two FTF from a Korea brand "PMC". I have shot four boxes of the Swiss brand without any problem, except a few stray ones, so a good cleaning will most likey solve it....and I think I answered my own question

[1gewehr]

In the early 1980's, I found several loaded BAR mags in a rotted sandbag at Ft Hood, TX while digging a fighting position. Later, I had a friend of mine with a BAR unload these at the range. All worked perfectly. Those mags had been out there at least 30 years, probably 40 or so.

It is not how long a spring is compressed that wears them out. It's how many 'cycles' of compression they have had.

[seez52]

it also may have to do with how cheap the mags are, or the springs. I'd say quality mags wouldn't be a problem. Something out of a Jennings or Raven might not hold up as well. Or maybe even some of the cheaper aftermarket mags may not have as high a quality steel (or tempering) in their springs. I almost always load my carry mags with one short. Usually that last round is really tight in there and is more difficult to strip out than the next one, so I leave it one short, but that has nothing to do with spring damage or weakening.

[Will Carry]

I have seen no hard data to suggest that magazine springs get weaker if the magazine is left loaded. I have seen data that suggests otherwise. I really don't know but I do rotate my magazines every month or so.

[Guest carter]

NO!... the only thing that wears out a spring is it being compressed and decompressed over and over, i read an article not too long ago where a guy was going thru his father's attic, and found a 1911 fully loaded and in the cocked and locked condition one, had been there for 20 some odd years... functioned perfectly...also in another article, the military had preloaded 1911 mags from Vietnam that where taken out for surplus... all functioned perfectly

Edited February 19, 2011 by carter

[oldogy]

Personal experience: I have my late fathers model 12, 12 ga Winchester of 1927 vintage. I know for a fact the gun has spent most of its life loaded either with a plug plus three or full load of ammunition. Over the years it has had a lot of lead put through it. I fire the gun once in a while when something needs shootin' and currently keep it loaded with HD loads. I assure you the tubular magazine spring is still strong enough to work just fine.

Just my experience, yours may differ. I keep all my magazines loaded.

oldogy

[Guest Broomhead]

Keep them loaded. Otherwise, like stated earlier, what's the use of having them? I will not be a Barney Fife trying to load my gun when I need it.

kieefer: Magazines will not cause a Fail to Fire (FTF). That is either an ammo problem or a firing mechanism problem. Mags will cause a Fail to Feed (also FTF) as well as a double feed. There is no reason to keep them loaded one short either. You can not recreate the force imparted on the round from the slide during shooter. I guarantee the round experiences a hell of a lot more force than your thumb could ever.

[gl19gobang]

thanks for all the replies, I will keep them all loaded as many as they will hold. Broomhead, the Barny Fife statement was funny as hell.

[Guest PistolFan]

RIP Barney. Fine Actor.

[kieefer]

Gave the SR9 a good cleaning and shot three different brands through it including the Swiss brand, no failures at all.

[Magiccarpetrides]

Larry Vickers recommends keeping all mags downloaded a round including rifles...does it mean he's right? Not necessarily but I trust his judgement and do the same. As far as the ftf I have heard most Sr9's require a break in period

[gregintenn]

RIP Barney. Fine Actor.

Barney died?

Don Knotts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'll be d@mned if he didn't!

[enfield]

I'm not familiar with Larry Vickers. Is he a mechanical engineer or a writer?

[Dolomite_supafly]

I'm not familiar with Larry Vickers. Is he a mechanical engineer or a writer?

Superman in the Spec Ops world. A been there, done that, got the t-shirt, kind of guy. He does have the background for what he teaches though, unlike some.

Although he makes some good points in his writings I don't agree with everything he preaches. As with a lot of these people he has done a wonderful job at marketing himself.

Pat Rogers is another good marketing example, he is pretty much nothing he claims to be but was able to market himself and fool those around him enough that he has become succesful. He is a phonie but through his lies he has made himself larger than life. He may be a good trainer, which would be a good thing to brag about, but it still doesn't change the fact he has lied about pretty much his entire life experiences. pat rogers

Dolomite

[enfield]

Well, pay your money and take your choice.

I'm not unloading or underloading my mags.

[Guest Sprowse]

Well, pay your money and take your choice.

I'm not unloading or underloading my mags.

Vickers mentioned this issue on the Glock issue of his show Tactical Arms. He said he does it for two reasons: 1) increase reliability of feeding and 2) ease of performing a tac reload, since a full mag is difficult to seat on some guns when the slide is closed. Personally, I agree with the latter and disagree with the former.

[peejman]

I am a mechanical engineer and have designed a few springs. They're affected by a few things...

Design - the spring has to be designed "correctly". Most of the time, coil springs can be designed for "infinite life". They'll go more than 1,000,000 cycles before failure, with little loss of stiffness. Magazines are fairly long and aren't round, so I can imagine this might not be as simple as it seems. I haven't run the calculations on one to verify. Assuming the spring designer accounted for the maximum number of rounds in the magazine such that the max spring compression is within the "infinite life" range... leaving them loaded to full capacity indefinitely will not hurt anything.

Even when designed to their optimum condition, some coil springs can be damaged by compressing beyond a certain point (before coil-bind). Some springs can be damaged by compressing them to coil-bind. This is why some mags have a spacer in the bottom or follower designed to prevent over-compressing the spring. Those are both one-time events and typically cause permanent deformation in the spring. A loss of pre-load is the typical immediate result. Long term, a stress riser is created in the wire and can cause it to break. So if you take your mags apart, don't mash the springs.

Some springs do have a finite cyclic life. The stress level during normal use is above that "infinite life" point and so they will break eventually. That's usually in the tens or hundreds of thousands of cycles range. That's lots and lots of rounds downrange. I'd guess that only the military or professional shooters would approach that level of use. And they probably don't use the same mags for that long.

Quality of the steel wire is very important. Wire that has not been heat-treated properly will reduce the life substantially. Any nicks/dings/dents/gouges/kinks in the wire can reduce life substantially. Those can be caused by dirt/debris or poor forming during manufacture. Keep your mags clean. If you do take them apart, inspect the springs and housing for signs of rubbing, look closely at the wire for damage. Brand new Chinese made mags, 60 year old milsurp mags, 40 rd mags in a gun designed for 20, aftermarket vs. OEM, .... all of these things may matter.

So after all that... the answer is generally no but it depends.

[enfield]

. . . . Short answer is no, no effect.

Thanks for the long answer. The same question will be asked at least 2 more times this year.

Edited February 23, 2011 by enfield

[McAllyn]

Seems that on VERY cheap mags, you probably stand a better chance of the feed lips deforming before the spring dies. We're talking sub-ProMag magazines. If there is even such a thing.

Mac