Magazine Wear

[Guest thebeast09]

To you all who carry handguns or even those who don't: have you noticed any problems with your magazines over time if you keep them loaded constantly. 

 

If I am carrying and my magazines always have the spring compressed with them fully loaded will that wear the spring down over time to where they will not feed reliably? Should I switch out magazines over time and give them a break or even replace them?

 

 

[DWARREN123]

No but I do rotate ammo and mags every six months or so. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

Springs wear out from use. They do not wear out from being left compressed.

[peejman]

Springs wear out from use. They do not wear out from being left compressed.

 

... unless they're poorly designed. 

[173rdABN]

I leave all my mags loaded. Never have an issue.

[Guest The Itis]

The consensus is that springs wear out more quickly from repeated compression and expansion, not so much with staying compressed.

The caveat is that NEW magazines will settle in if you leave them loaded, but only to a certain point that would be also reached with a dozen or so loading/unloadings.

People have had mags loaded for upwards of 30 years and still functional, and of course those mags were at least 30-year old tech.

[Spurholder]

Springs wear out from use. They do not wear out from being left compressed.

 

Tru dat.

[TnShooter83]

I personally have not. But there has been issues where when new some mags left fully loaded had caused the mag lips to bend outward.

This didn't seem to happen after the mags springs were broken in. If the mags were left loaded an inserted in the pistol this didn't seem to happen, as the slide would press down on the round in the mag. But left loaded and out of the pistol there were issues.

This caused feeding issues. I can not remember the what make or models they were. In my opinion this was due to a weak mag design.

 

Honestly, If your using a reputable makers mag. You'll have no issues. 

[glock55]

I was at Glock recently getting some pistols and mags updated and was advised that Glock recommends rotating mags on a regular basis. They have found some issues with the 40 cal and above mag springs after long periods of compression. The tech advised that Glock is looking into changing the coil count on the springs just to improve the reliability of the mags. I number all my mags and rotate them on a monthly basis. the numbering also helps to identify any mag that is suspected of malfunctioning.

[enfield]

We need a sticky on this question, also on the "best oil/grease" topic.  It's getting tiresome.

 

On magazines, follow the manufacturer's recommendation, or your best buddy's recommendation, or your gut feelings.

 

Same with oils.

 

That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

Edited September 13, 2013 by enfield

[NRA]

A question that is as old as time itself.  What Dolomite said "Springs wear out from use. They do not wear out from being left compressed"  Unless it is a cheep mag

[Guest The Itis]

If you foresee leaving mags loaded for months at a time, and you're worried about mag springs, just don't load them fully. a couple rounds under capacity should alleviate any concerns you have.

[tnhawk]

I've never had any problem I could identify as being from length of time a magazine was stored loaded.