do you guys download -1 your magazines?

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I keep 1-2 of my 9mm glock mags loaded up at all times...i know this is a recurring subject, but in your experience...does loading the mag to full capacity and leaving it as such for weeks-months on end affect longevity/function over time more than if id load it to only 14 rounds?
What has your experience led you to believe? Thanks
 
I load them to what they are made to hold. Leaving magazines loaded does not hurt the springs. They wear out from compression/decompression cycles over time
 
It really depends on the compression rate of the spring, which varies from mag to mag (maufacturer) and gun to gun. Some are heavily compressed and difficult to seat on a closed bolt or slide. I download those by 1 round. If they seat easily or have extra room when the last round is loaded to depress the spring a little further, I don't.
 
I don't download rounds in a magazine. It's the constant loading and unloading of rounds that weakens the spring.
 
A properly designed magazine can be left fully loaded for its entire service life and be in the same condition as if it was left unloaded the same amount of time. An improperly designed magazine may overextend the spring when fully loaded, bending the spring, but that would be specific to that design.

I keep most of my magazines full unless actively shooting them. They have lasted fine so far.
 
I download my Glock duty pistols 1 round, and my ARs 2 rounds. I find the higher spring pressure from the stack of tightly loaded rounds can make the first cartridge difficult for the bolt to strip from the magazine. My ARs and Glocks run more smoothly downloaded a round, and it could make a difference in less than optimal conditions. YMMV
 
I keep the mag in the gun fully loaded. Spares are downloaded by one for faster reloads.
 
Personally the only magazine I have ever done that with was with a Glock 22 with new magazine springs. They were just to stiff at first to get the last one in. A few weeks of use and no more problem. Actually it was more than just getting the bullet in too. It was so tight when you did put it in, it made it harder to rack the slide. I saw no reason to force the last one in until it loosened up a bit.
 
Nope.

I left a spring-piston Daisy "SoftAir" pistol cocked for over twenty years. Found it stashed away and it still worked as nicely as it did when new (1986-ish.) No spring fatigue that I can detect.
 
Every mag I have is fully topped off. No reason not to and it slows me down at the range if I don't!
 
It depends on the magazine. Some guns/magazines will not feed the 1st round of a fully loaded magazine 100% of the time. AR's do this quite often. Many magazines simply will not fit in the magwell fully loaded with the bolt forward. On those -1 or 2 is a good idea. My AR mags are all -2 just to be safe. Some work fine fully loaded, others not, so it is just easier to keep them all the same.

Leaving magazines loaded does not hurt the springs. They wear out from compression/decompression cycles over time
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Generally speaking true. But in an effort to cram as many rounds as possible into a magazine some springs are being pushed right to, and sometimes beyond, the design limits. A 1911 magazine is a good example. The old 7 round mags will probably never have an issue fully loaded for 100 years. Some of the 8 round magazines have shown that they will wear out from being fully loaded for an extended time. There have been issues with some other magazines cramming 16-17 rounds into a space originally intended for 15.
 
^+1. Depends on the mag. Colt 8 round mags, I use like 7 rounders with an automatic +1. That last round is in there so tight, it's hard to get the mag in the gun with the slide closed. In fact, it was impossible when they were new, even slamming the butt against my bench. I also have some KCI G19 mags where the last round is tight. It takes a thumb-o-steel to get the 15th cartridge in there, and it still wasn't a problem with factory ammo. But cast reloads tend to be a little bigger. The last round didn't even fit, normally; it stuck up far enough to flex the mag lips out, and this caused malfunctions over time. I bent the mag lips back and download those by 1, now. So I agree with jmr40. Just cuz the mag is labelled as "X" rounds doesn't mean it's a good idea to load that many in every scenario.

On the flip side, I would load 'em all the way, unless I had some reason otherwise. If they fail, then you'll know in the future. And then you can buy new springs. That's what your credit card is for, right? :) But you can't fail them before you try! If you are paranoid because this is your only "SD gun" then buy a couple extra mags and set them aside as backup. You can't find out how reliable your gun is by babying it. Even having had malfunctions in my KCI mags, I trust them 100%, now that I know and have run thousands of rounds through them. I also had to change out the garbage springs in them, and I'm glad to have found out sooner rather than babying them and finding out later.

Specifically, I have 7+ authentic G19 mags that I generally keep fully loaded between range trips. Been years, and I have yet to have the first problem.
 
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Yes. 1 round in my issue Glock 22. 2 rounds in my 30 round AR mags. Easier to seat if I am are reloading an already chambered gun. Not an issue if the slides locked back.
 
Nope.

It the gun don't work with full mag +1 in the chamber, get it fixed, unless its for range use only. At the range I rarely do the +1 loading after the initial break-in and confidence building sessions. but I never take less that fully loaded mags to the range with me. Some will sit for months loaded on a shelf waiting for their turn at the range :)

For range favorites, I like to have enough mags to have 50-200 rounds loaded up ready to go -- stuffing them in A/C comfort sure beats standing on the firing line stuffing them in our 95+ heat. The pain of buying that many mags only hurts once, our summers hurt for ~8 months :)
 
I have several guns that I have had issues with when I fully load the mags. Since the vast majority of my firearms are range toys I generally do not fully load the mags for guns that have caused me issues. I have an AR-15 and a 1911 that have given me issues in the past as well as more than one .22 semi. It could be that just one magazine causes the issue but, as I said, these are range toys so giving up that one round isn't a big deal.
For my EDC guns I always keep full mags. If I have issues with a gun it isn't going to be an EDC.
 
Guns like my Glock 31, 16 shot .357 SIG, I don't worry f they are loaded to the max or not, but with such as my Colt Combat Commander, with only 7 or 8 round mags, yea I do load to the max.

Deaf
 
Nope.

I have a couple AR Magpul 40 rd mags that don't like to go in on a closed bolt, simple enough to remedy.
 
Generally speaking, springs fatigue when they compress/decompress, not when they are stored compressed.
 
The M16 download instructions came from experienced service members who found too many troops trying to insert a full magazine against a locked bolt. They aren't supposed to do that, it's not procedure, but when things get busy, the bolt can be knocked off the holdback, and a reload is coming anyway.

When you load it in the green zone at departure, it's not that big a deal. Do it right. The few times mine hasn't wanted to fully lock was from riding the charging handle. Others have experienced the action spring getting fatigued from a high number of cycles and it won't chamber the first round because it's weak and shortened up. Armorers have no way to replace it by round count, they just get to guess, and with parts in short supply incountry, it's easier to download one and get by.

It's a bandaid solution for a lack of force, which any P938 owner can attest is a problem. Those magazines are tough to handload, an Uplula or other is necessary to get the last round in. They are thumb abusive.
 
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