Re: Store mags loaded?
Yeah, you're probably right on that one after looking around, I'm apologize, I disseminated incorrect information on the topic, I forgot the rule of thumb that most of the larger AR parts are Al and smaller are steel, LPK components bc of their resistance to deform when assembling the rifle, etc. I posted that after a long day of huffing resin fumes unintentionally while doing some research, but the science still stands, and is what I'm paying 12k+ a year to learn. The only difference is that the operating temperature at which creep is activated is elevated; it is still at about 1/2 the melting temperature in absolute scale (kelvin for those with a science background), which for any steel will be higher than aluminum, and even at those temperature levels the rate of elasticity loss (the "weakening" of the spring with time, the decreasing force put on the round by the magazine spring) will be very minimal, and would have to take a long time. The metals still have the same creep behavior as far as we are concerned with the temperatures magazines will experience, realistically in operation or storage, unless kept in a furnace. Cyclic loading and unloading WILL decrease their lifetime and reset the life not in terms of time, but the number of times loaded and unloaded (cycling magazines WILL decrease their life span). There is a potential exception dependent on corrosion, which will decrease a magazine's lifespan, and depends on the type of steel. Depending on the steel (I don't have the time to figure out which is the case) saltwater (table salt, sodium chloride) nitrates, other chlorides, carbonates, or a few specific other cases could cause corrosion based stress relief (what it is called when a material is stressed and deforms after time to relieve the stress, which in a magazine will cause a decreased pressure on a round being feed out of a magazine prompting feed issues, and can occur with EXTREMELY low concentrations when in water, but yet is typically not experienced with these kind of systems when exposed to an airborne form. Basically years of science has shown that your magazines will not have any trouble feeding if you keep them loaded if you don't expose them to very high temperatures or mildly corrosive environments, primarily those that are very salty and humid (near the coast). You will experience mag failures if you cycle them out constantly, and the best way to preserve a magazine, loaded or unloaded, is to not load or unload it and leave it alone, bc the corrosion will cause a breakdown regardless of load condition and the required temperature exposure is unlikely to occur (for steels if I can remember the avg is around 800F-1000F, I can't really be sure, numbers are flying around in my head, I'll look it up when I'm done taking tests). Keep your mags loaded, they're either fine or fucked, either way. The only way to have good mags you can trust indefinitely is to keep some loaded in a cool, dry place.