Keeping bullets in a magazine for long periods of time? Good or bad?

[Chris60119]

I've herd it's bad. I've herd it dosen't matter, and I've herd what wears the spring out the quickest. Is the constant loading and unloading of the magazine..I would think having the spring compressed all the time would be the worst.

[m1a_scoutguy]

I've herd it's bad. I've herd it dosen't matter, and I've herd what wears the spring out the quickest. Is the constant loading and unloading of the magazine..I would think having the spring compressed all the time would be the worst.

Load them up & leave em !!! It is the Working of the spring that wears them out.

[Chris60119]

Load them up & leave em !!! It is the Working of the spring that wears them out.

Awesome!! I'll get a few extra mags and throw some HP's in there and let em sit!!

[John_Wayne777]

It depends on the spring. Some magazines with weak springs (like Wilson 8 round 1911 mags) will take a set if you leave them loaded for extended periods of time.

Leaving a spring compressed for extended periods of time does have some impact on the spring, but cycling the springs a lot will certainly have a noticeable impact on the spring. For most magazines for most duty grade pistols, leaving them loaded won't harm the magazine's reliability.

[m1a_scoutguy]

It depends on the spring. Some magazines with weak springs (like Wilson 8 round 1911 mags) will take a set if you leave them loaded for extended periods of time.

Leaving a spring compressed for extended periods of time does have some impact on the spring, but cycling the springs a lot will certainly have a noticeable impact on the spring. For most magazines for most duty grade pistols, leaving them loaded won't harm the magazine's reliability.

Good point on certian mags !! I would say,,depending on the mags,,,just rotate them after a few months. Shoot them every so often,,reload and put away .

[Chris60119]

Good point on certian mags !! I would say,,depending on the mags,,,just rotate them after a few months. Shoot them every so often,,reload and put away .

That dosen't sound to hard to do...

[glockkid88]

Its not only the springs that wear out. I know that with glock mags you have to worry about the mag body swelling, especially if you load them to capacity. I download carry mags by at least one and cycle them out each month which is a good time to disassemble my range mags and clean them. Fact is mags are like tires. We all put off buying new until theyre on their last legs. Its tough to buy new mags when that money could go towards cool new shit! Its something that I have struggled with since I started shooting.

[JBecker 72]

Ive left Glock 19 mags loaded for months on end and they still function 100%.
same goes for Pmags.

[Heidevolk]

Magpul says the little cap that comes with Pmags is so you can store them for long periods of time & take the pressure off the feed lips - so you should be GTG

[spdldr]

How many of you who leave magazines fully loaded for an extended period would store your carbine with the bolt locked back? I suspect not too many. Same for leaving the hammer cocked.

Why keep your mags loaded unless you need to?

Dave

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