XD45 7,124 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Cause if you're loading them to full capacity, you're damaging the springs. I know you might think that if they're made to hold 30 then it must be OK to put 30 in there, but a "gun expert" told me today that I'm ruining my magazines. He must be right. After all he's an expert. He told me so. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 springs wear out in all magazines Leaving mags loaded for extended periods is hard on them loading to capacity is not All springs take a (set) when first taken to coil bind They stay about the same through their life span Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SGL 530 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 I'm ruining the shit out of my magazines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brandon402 86 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 all my mags are ruined too... damn it lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
termite 463 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Then I guess that WWII sterling mags are just pieces of crap, even though they still function and work fine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SmilinEd 364 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Mine are in plastic bags, springs should last forever. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigChongus 765 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Best way to keep your mags from wearing out is to disassemble them when they're not in use and give everything a nice coat of oil. Now place them in a waterproof box and bury them. Now they'll never wear out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Leaving a spring compressed does no harm. Cycling it is what causes fatigue. 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SHOTGUN MESIAH 855 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brad cole 65 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Shit , a bunch of eastern europeans ruined my mags before I got them then I ruined them more ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rhodes1968 1,638 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Now I have heard tell of but not really seen that the pressure of rounds on the lips of some composite/plastic mags causes the material to "flow" over time and misform slightly. But the spring? I guess if it were marginal to begin with perhaps but those would show up in other ways. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
semper299 284 Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Leaving a spring compressed does no harm. Cycling it is what causes fatigue. This... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Leaving a spring compressed does no harm. Cycling it is what causes fatigue. This... I can measure the open pressure loss in the valve spring on a race motor from an open valve over a one month time. All real race guys loosen all the valve springs to prevent this over months between seasons. common steel music wire springs do fatigue from full compression over long periods of time . Just ask any mechanical engineer. Or call the engineering people at any custom spring manufacturer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrance@iacwds.com 716 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Cause if you're loading them to full capacity, you're damaging the springs. I know you might think that if they're made to hold 30 then it must be OK to put 30 in there, but a "gun expert" told me today that I'm ruining my magazines. He must be right. After all he's an expert. He told me so. "Gun Expert" is incorrect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nlacy 692 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) sounds a bit extreme. But I do load my ar mags to 28 typically. Though I'll be the first to say, I'm far from expert. Much closer to wanna be. Edited December 29, 2014 by mizombiekilla Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LuPiN8oR 333 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) I solve this conundrum by only loading the readily used mags up to capacity and pulling floorplates off the others in storage. Best of both worlds and good steel mags are cheap again! Well, till the next moron tries to ruin our fun...bastardos! Eta: I assumed we were talking about ak mags and mostly of the steel variety. However I still follow the same principle,load what makes ya happy and store the rest. Edited December 29, 2014 by LuPiN8oR Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Voltia 375 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Leaving a spring compressed does no harm. Cycling it is what causes fatigue. This... I can measure the open pressure loss in the valve spring on a race motor from an open valve over a one month time. All real race guys loosen all the valve springs to prevent this over months between seasons. common steel music wire springs do fatigue from full compression over long periods of time . Just ask any mechanical engineer. Or call the engineering people at any custom spring manufacturer. This mechanical engineer has discussed this very thing on here before. People believe what they want to believe. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I believe I'll just use my magazines and not worry about it. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I believe I'll just use my magazines and not worry about it. Load em and use em Just dont leave them loaded for weeks or months at a time ,and if you do....expect a little shorter life span of the springs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigChongus 765 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I believe I'll just use my magazines and not worry about it. /thread Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) Has anyone here ever had a problem with a weak magazine spring? I haven't, yet. I generally leave my rifle mags empty, until expected use. I read a personal account (here?) of a very old loaded pistol magazine being fired w/out FTF (after decades (20?)). His father had passed and left it loaded. I won't lose any sleep over this issue. Springs are very easy to find and make. Edited December 29, 2014 by Sim_Player Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mancat 2,368 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I leave a few all-plastic mags fully loaded at all times and have never had any problems with them so far. These are the cheap Radom 7.62x39 mags that I thought were going to suck, but turned out to be my favorite all around AK mag. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Exciter 20 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I have a S&W 4046 that I received new in 1993. I kept all 3 magazines loaded to full capacity for 11 years. I also have a Glock27 from the first year of production (1995 I think) with 2 magazines. Both magazines have been loaded to full capacity since December of 1995. I have never had any issues with either gun or their respective magazines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiskeyMinion 300 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) Leaving a spring compressed does no harm. Cycling it is what causes fatigue. Yup, I recently acquired my Great Grandfathers Spanish Ruby pistol (1903 copy) It still had Western Cartridge .32 auto's in it loaded to the brim. They must've been in there since 1960 and it still cycles like a champ Edited December 29, 2014 by WhiskeyMinion Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ShadowFire 220 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Cause if you're loading them to full capacity, you're damaging the springs. I know you might think that if they're made to hold 30 then it must be OK to put 30 in there, but a "gun expert" told me today that I'm ruining my magazines. He must be right. After all he's an expert. He told me so. "Gun Expert" is incorrect. Everyone claims to be an expert. I generally just start talking when someone has a problem with a firearm I am familiar with, it's up to them to decide if they want to listen/use that knowledge. Motion wears out all mechanical objects over time. Yes you may weaken the spring slightly with it being fully compressed but I've intentionally weakened springs faster by rapid motion (A hyper active cousin is more than adequate to break in a good spring on an XD pistol mag. Calmed him down too, cuz he got to do something.). In truth though, if it slightly weakens the spring in a set position on a magazine, I'd be more worried about the quality of the steel they used to make that spring and how much service life it will give me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Lets see.... the engineers that design and manufacture gun springs may possibly know a little about the subject. Maybe not as much as a mall ninja, but it is possible years of collage and more years of development , testing and manufacturing, Could Possibly give enough cred to at least listen to them..... Read the FAQ http://www.gunsprings.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Has anyone here ever had a problem with a weak magazine spring? I haven't, yet. I generally leave my rifle mags empty, until expected use. I read a personal account (here?) of a very old loaded pistol magazine being fired w/out FTF (after decades (20?)). His father had passed and left it loaded. I won't lose any sleep over this issue. Springs are very easy to find and make. I have a box of hundreds of mag springs and recoil springs that were replaced due to age and fatigue. But then, I maintain equipment that people put 30k rounds a year through. People can think, say, or do what they like, It has no impact on me whatsoever I stated simple facts, no more no less. Im involved in LE qualifications, I have seen many pistol mag springs that were left loaded over extended periods of time, FAIL and induce repeated malfunctions in the officers guns during the qualification. A spring change later the firearm is functioning properly. Rotating fully loaded mags, or weekly downloading is common practice to reduce this problem. This is especially true with double stack mags. People who read this can decide for themselves to read FAQs, or get the facts from spring manufacturers and engineers. Or listen to peoples opinions on the subject. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) I do respect the knowledge and experience of those who design springs for a living. I also understand that spring manufacturers need to sell springs to stay in business. So when a spring manufacturer tells me to replace springs I keep that in mind. The word of an armorer or other professional who has worked on thousands of guns holds more water. I have not experienced a spring failure in a quality magazine (that I can recall). But to be honest I don't spend effort troubleshooting a faulty mag. It just gets binned. I have had recoil spring failures. Which makes sense to me. Edited December 29, 2014 by Darth Saigus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thebuns1 4,323 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 I'm still running 2 mags that were loaded by a nazi in the last world war in a p38. They stayed loaded for almost 60 years. Its still running fine to this day . Its not a big deal. They may eventually wear out, but will it be enough to cause a problem is the real question. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juggernaut 11,054 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 This... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.