Observation on 1911 mag spring life

[YVK]

I rebuild my 1911 mags every 2-3 years; usually replace springs, followers as necessary etc.
The last rebuild of my 10 mags was February 2008; by my count, I've approximately fired 3500 rounds through all 10 mags, so 350 from each, making it 40 to 50 cycles for each mag depending on capacity.
I can't help but notice how much shorter the old springs are comparing with new ones, even with this relatively modest use.
Is it what you get out of your 1911 mag springs too?

[rrpederson]

I rebuild my 1911 mags every 2-3 years; usually replace springs, followers as necessary etc.
The last rebuild of my 10 mags was February 2008; by my count, I've approximately fired 3500 rounds through all 10 mags, so 350 from each, making it 40 to 50 cycles for each mag depending on capacity.
I can't help but notice how much shorter the old springs are comparing with new ones, even with this relatively modest use.
Is it what you get out of your 1911 mag springs too?

I'm assuming that you are talking about short life of your springs and not the length. Do you store ammunition in your magazines? or is the only time the springs are compressed is when you go to the range? Even if that were the case, and you did store ammunition in your magazines, you should still get more time and use out of those springs. I have had the same Wilson magazines for at least three years now, some longer than that, and they still provide the same resistance as when I bought them. The other Colt magazines I have had in the past have lasted longer as well. I'm thinking there is something else going on. I haven't even heard of that short of a lifespan of any reputable company's magazines. I hope you find the reason for the problem.

Richie

[300WM]

I'm assuming that you are talking about short life of your springs and not the length. Do you store ammunition in your magazines? or is the only time the springs are compressed is when you go to the range? Even if that were the case, and you did store ammunition in your magazines, you should still get more time and use out of those springs. I have had the same Wilson magazines for at least three years now, some longer than that, and they still provide the same resistance as when I bought them. The other Colt magazines I have had in the past have lasted longer as well. I'm thinking there is something else going on. I haven't even heard of that short of a lifespan of any reputable company's magazines. I hope you find the reason for the problem.

Richie

Yes. It is discussed on another thread here, in detail. They should be lasting longer than that. No harm in changing them though, as it isn't a bank breaker. I might look for a different spring so I'm not doing it as much.

[Amp Mangum]

I usually replace the springs in my Wilson 47D mags once a year. I have a set I use for practice/matches and a set for carry. I have used Wolff springs in the past with good success but the last group of Wolff springs only lasted a couple of months worth of use and began to not lock the slide open when empty. I just bought new springs and followers direct from Wilson and they are much stouter than the Wolff springs. If your mags are Wilsons try Wilson springs and see if that helps.

[300WM]

This prompted me to look at my son's Taurus mags. He keeps one loaded full and one empty. He has not rotated from one mag to the other since February, and the springs are the same length.

[YVK]

I keep two of my magazines loaded, but the rest stay empty. I rotate loaded mags every 4-6 months or so.

As far as "service life", the problem here is a correlation of useful life of spring with spring's length. For example, all 7 rounders that I rebuilt continued to be fully reliable through both of my 1911s. The 8 and 9 rounders continued to be reliable through one, but not the other Colt (in fact, this rebuild was prompted by need to figure out if the gun is an issue, or mags have gone bad). 10 rounders gave hiccups with both, with various frequency.

Point I was trying to make that mag springs will change their properties, whether you like it or not; the real question is how important this finding is. The idea of preventative maintenace is to change springs before they cause problems - so, do we rely on the fact that most of my mags continued to be reliable, or do we get concerned that all of springs were at least 20% shorter than replacements? BTW, both old and new springs were Tripp's - they are some of the best quality out there.

[Sgt_Gold]

I've got about 10,000 rounds through four Novac magazines. I shoot BE, so I only load five rounds at a time. The spring on the left has seen about 2,500 rounds, 5 at a time, for 500 cycles. The middle spring was from a magazine that was loaded with sever rounds for about three years, and the right spring is from a new magazine. The difference in spring length is 6", 6.25", and 6.5". The springs I use in this particular 1911 are a 23# mainspring, and a 15# progressive recoil spring.

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/6677/005vo.jpg (http://img545.imageshack.us/i/005vo.jpg/)

[sff70]

I was disappointed with the springs in Wilson 47Ds. Got tired of replacing them annually.

No such problems with the springs in CMC PM's.