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Suppressors Leaving magazines loaded

WillAdams

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Was asked over the weekend about loaded magazines and how long I left them fully topped off. Had to think about it since some of my work goes back over 30+ years. Started off with Colt 45ACP and never thought much about it. Same for for my Sig 220. This shooter has a Glock and was wondering if leaving them full for a year or 2 at a time would be a problem. I have no idea on Glock mags. These would be G21, all factory.
Who has experience knowledge ?
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Dunno. Had a range officer in the academy tell us all to get three extra mags, so we could rotate out what was on our belt/in the gun every couple of months.

I trade mine out every three months. I wouldnt recommend leaving them topped off for a year or two. Id think it would weaken the springs, although I have zero proof of that.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

I carried a Glock 19 at SPD with the same three magazines for sevarl years. Fully loaded, never a problem. Had a 1911 once upon a time and now a 96FS, same thing, no issues.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

I have a S&W 5906 since 1993 I have (6) factory mags for it and (2) cheap US mags. I have had all the factory mags fully loaded for 15 years except when I shot them. Never had a problem with the mags. I understand the concern but don't think it as big as some folks think.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

leaving a spring compressed is fine, and leaving a spring relaxed is fine. it's the cycling from relaxed to compressed that weakens springs. that said I have a few range mags, the rest stay full. period.

hth,
LM
 
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I don't know much on this subject at all period but why do people release the firing pin/ relax the spring in firearms before storing them? Again I don't know much and am just asking the question.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Our department has a policy of regularly rotating magazines (loaded/unloaded) and ammo. Checking your equipment periodically is a good idea, and the policy serves this function well. But the practice is, as far as anyone can tell, rooted in the latest iteration of law enforcement fashion based on voodoo.

I still have a bunch of old Colt 7-round cheap-spring .45 magazines that I loaded in 1979. They have been fully loaded and fully compressed since then. The last one I took out and fired - in February - worked flawlessly.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: joe90</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...why do people release the firing pin/ relax the spring in firearms before storing them?</div></div>It makes them feel better. Remember, the bolt body takes up the spring tension when the sear doesn't.
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Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Mine stay loaded 24/7 in my duty gun.

I have had the current magazines loaded for five years. Never had a magazine related malfunction.

My G21 and my Combat Commander stay loaded 24/7 that means a round in the chamber and the striker pre-staged or hammer cocked.

Unloaded guns and magazines are useless. Magazine springs are wear items. Replace as needed.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

In the 80s I found a couple of my grandpa's mags for ww2 that were still loaded.I fired them just to see and they still worked fine.I would say 40 plus years puts that wives tale to rest.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dmg308</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In the 80s I found a couple of my grandpa's mags for ww2 that were still loaded.I fired them just to see and they still worked fine.I would say 40 plus years puts that wives tale to rest. </div></div>

I'd say your spot on.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Luvman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">leaving a spring compressed is fine, and leaving a spring relaxed is fine. it's the cycling from relaxed to compressed that weakens springs. ... </div></div>

What he said .

Springs wear out from cycling not from being compressed or relaxed all the time . You wear out mag springs more from loading and unloading them all the time than from leaving them loaded .
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

of course its loaded... carrying one around unloaded would be like driving a fire truck that doesn't have water in it,,,,,,,,,,duh
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Mine have been loaded in my carry gun for 5 years now and they still work fine. Still a bitch to get #12 in there also.
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All of my pistol and AR mags stay topped of, they are just expensive hammers without loaded mags.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

On a G21 if the spring feels weak you need to replace the magazine spring. If you use the gun regularly I'd suggest replacing them annually. Because of the weight of the 45 cartridge a weakened spring CAN FAIL TO FEED the last few rounds.

The worse failure I've seen is on a magazine w/ 3-4 rounds remaining. One of the cartridges actually flipped inside the magazine during a tap-rack-bang drill and you end up with a round facing the rear of the magazine.

I have a range GLOCK (G35) that is fully stock and has seen almost 200,000 rounds. Cracked the frame rails at around 110k rounds and GLOCK replaced the frame. The springs on that gun is pretty shot but the gun still shoots pretty well. That gun is probably 12 years old.

I don't gamble with my carry/duty weapons and maintain them regularly. Tell your friend to have the department armorer change out the springs when they do the annual inspections.

I've had to replace springs as frequently as every 6 month to as far out as every 3 years. Just have someone qualified keep an eye on it, not sure what they are teaching now in the armors' classes.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

All my carry weapons and a couple home defense weapons stay loaded 24/7/365. I can't say that I've ever had a mag issue related to leaving them loaded. Most of the mag issues have been caused either by poor quality mags or from getting dropped onto hard surfaces.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

ive seen a lot of mag related failures in 1911 handguns over the years and the prescription i was taught by an old gunny was stretch the springs every few cleanings back to factory length and replace after a few years of service. of course we were using some pretty aged kit. maybe, and ive heard it said, the new springs are less susceptible to this phenomena.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

also, i would add that my favorite answer to mag tension and storage while maintaining readiness state situation is to keep a few wind up type drums loaded and stored near their launcher. this way they can be stored in a relaxed state and then quickly brought to functional if necessity dictates.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Couple engineering points to consider on this wive's tale. And just to say it up front, I used to be guilty of swapping ammo all the time in and out of SD weapon mags "just in case" it was true. I've since changed my mind for the reasons mentioned below.

1) Unlike AL, Steel does not "creep" and springs are made from steel

2) Steel does fatigue

Therefore:

I've come to the conclusion from leaving things loaded for a couple of years that there's no issue on leaving a mag loaded for many years. You do more damage to constantly loading and unloading it.

That being said, in a duty weapon exposed to elements I would still suggest disassembly of the magazine every few months to a year in order to clean out any debris, dust, dirt, etc that has collected. This is more common to mag failures than anything I have seen.

On USGI issue M16/AR15 mags the sharp corner in the aft edge of the magazine where the shell base sits is the failure point on the old mags my dad has had to throw away. They crack in the corner and soon have little ability to properly hold rounds.

This is part of the reason why the Pmags have a clip on the top where puts light pressure on the rounds. It removes the load from the top of the little corners and relieves that stress. This further compresses the mag spring, and the Pmag is about the best damn thing since sliced bread for that weapon system. This should show you MagPul's position on leaving a loaded magazine stored for years.


Finally, I never load a mag to full capacity. My G29 holds 10+1, I carry it with 9+1 in it. The AR mags that get kept loaded are 30 rounders that I only keep 28 in at a time.

Any time that I've had a mag failure with a clean mag at the range has been because I tried stuffing the max number of rounds in it and it jammed on me. I've never had such a mag failure partway through a magazine.

My feeling is I'd rather have 28 rounds come out every time and have to change mags than have "BANG...shitshitshitshit"
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

My experience with a beretta 92 mag in Iraq was different. I was sitting around bored and just fiddling with one of my pistol mags for something to do. I popped the first round out and the next one didn't come up. I was a little stunned and turned the mag upside down, all the bullets fell out! True the checkmate 92 mags are crap, but thats a hell of a thing to see in a war.

Now for my duty guns at work, G21 and Bushmaster XM15, I down load the mags on my days off. Maybe not needed, but it makes me feel better.

I'll just add here too that our department purchased 20rd brownells mags for the rifles and they are crap. The followers are always getting hung up in the mags and cock-eyed.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

Are the Brownells mags a military knock off? I think you can fix the crooked followers with a dremel tool by nipping the alignment tabs on the sides of the followers.

What was the deal with the stuck follwer in your 92 over in Iraq? Bad spring, or crap stuck in there that jammed the follower?
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

fix the Brownell's mags by installing a Magpul follower.

The reason for downloading AR mags is so that the magazine more easily seats on a closed bolt. It's needed on some and not on others. It also depends on how you seat the mag. If you do so with some vigor it's a non-issue. If you pussy-foot around, it's going to fall back out.

Magpul Pmags work fine when loaded to capacity. I have yet to have a failure even after blowing it full of carbon with a suppressor and dropping them in the mud.
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

What about shotgun magazine springs? I've not given much thought to having that spring fully compressed by keeping it loaded to capacity. Does anyone have experience with shotgun tubes failing to feed correctly after being compressed for extended amounts of time?
 
Re: Leaving magazines loaded

ALL of my tube mag shotguns stay loaded to capacity.

Police 870's stay loaded when they are in the cars.

No problems. Same deal. Compression is not a problem. Compressing and de-compressing causes wear.

Now I DO SUGGEST that you unload periodically and check the shells. I had some Federal 00 Buck that busted the crimp and leaked buffer material in my magazine tube. It's an 870 so it still functioned 100%, but the shells aren't waterproof after the crimp fails.