[Charley]

1. Is it a good idea to keep your mags loaded at all times? Does it help to break them in, or is it harmful to the magazine over time?

2. I have a friend who strongly recommended that I should never load a full magazine (10). He said it would break the spring, and that I should only use 9 at any time. Is this true, or is it safe to fully load a mag?

[WonderNine]

What they say is that leaving your magazines loaded by itself is not harmful, it's the action of loading and unloading that causes wear on the spring and causes it to lose its "memory". I had an email conversation with someone from Wolff springs about this just a few weeks ago.

Yes, it's safe to fully load a magazine. If the magazine was designed to hold ten, why would it break if you put ten in? I have all of my magazines loaded right now, except for a few new ones that I've never used. The 13 rounders are loaded with 13, 15 with 15, and all of my 17 rounders are loaded with 17. I've never had a problem with any of them, even the cheap ones. Remember also, springs are cheap and easily replaced when they start to get weak.

[10-Ring]

I have my house gun loaded to its full capacity. I do rotate my mags just to prevent any premature wear.

[BluesBear]

Jeff Cooper told the story of leaving his wife his Colt Super38 automatic with several fully loaded magazines (9 rounds each) when he went to war in WWII. He stated that when he returned 4 years later they were just fine and he used them for many more years.

Anyone who tells you not to load your magazines fully is not your friend. Sounds like a politician to me.

[1911Tuner]

In 1991, I became involved with a commercial Colt 1911(not A-1)
that had been left in Condition One since the death of its owner.
I cleared the chamber to have a look down the bore, but didn't touch anything else. I reloaded the chamber, took the pistol out back and
fired it. 7 rounds went bang, and the pistol locked the slide when it
was empty. The kicker was that the owner had died in 1929.

True story...and Col. Cooper reported it in his column about a year ago.

Cheers!
Tuner

[Route 66]

Also be careful if you buy used mags like I did a couple of weeks ago at a gunshow. The mag I bought for my S&W model 39-2 seemed fine until I got home and found it a bit on the weak side......it won't hold open the slide after the last round. Can anyone recommend a good and reliable source of springs?

[modifiedbrowning]

check out www.gunsprings.com. Wolff has springs for quite few pistols.