chrome silicon vs. stainless mag springs (AR-15)

[MIL-DOT]

i know i should be asking these questions up the road at AR-15.com, but you can't join with an "anonymous" e-mail address like yahoo or hotmail. (sounds like playground BS to me !! )
anyway, i've ben researching the magazine situation, and am about sold on a case (10) of aluminum 30 rounders from CP, but can't get the real low-down on springs. CP's faq sheet says that the chrome-silicon springs will get a thin film of rust on them,that it's normal and won't affect performance. yet i've read that the military uses stainless springs, and CP sells the same mags with the stainless option for the same price,yet their faq page says stainless is adversely affected over time by the normal compression/decompression of normal use. so i'm wondering why they bother to sell them if,as they say, the chrome springs are better,and why does the military use stainless ?

 

[Gary G23]

Everything in life has pros and cons. Mag springs are no exception. CS springs will rust. SS will have a shorter life span if we are talking about compression cycles.
Personally I use SS because I don't like rust. A SS spring is good for about 500 compression cycles. After 500 cycles I just replace it with a new SS spring.
The majority of my mags are in storage anyway so SS is a far better choice for that.
The ideal setup would probably be SS springs in your storage mags and CS springs in the mags you use a lot. I have been using SS springs for a couple decades and haven't had any problems so I don't bother with that myself.

 

[SnakeEater]

The military uses stainless because of better rust resistance mainly. They aren't concerned about spring life because M16 mags are considered disposable, instead of replacing springs they replace the whole unit. If you're planning on subjecting your mags to a lot of wet environments than get stainless, otherwise the CS springs will provide a much longer life.

 

[Mannlicher]

I just don't see any practical difference in how the work, or how they last. Magazines are a lot more reliable than some folks give them credit for. I am still shooting some 30 year old 20 round Colt mags with original springs and followers.