Leaving magazines loaded for extended periods of time

[brownie0486]

Keeping the rounds in the same position in the magazine for months on end may lead to the rounds flattening out somewhat where two rounds touch.

If your brass is actually doing this, I suggest you use different ammo. I've never seen it in 35 years of using semi autos of various calibers.

Of course, when they are loaded one down, this would not ever be an issue.

Brownie

 

[Wesker]

^^^^

It actually would because the spring tension is no different if you had one bullet in the mag or almost full.

I should have said some brass is really soft. The problems you have experienced may have simply been from tight and new mags that needed to be loosened up a bit. Metal will slowly and uniformly conform to a constant shape and size. I suggest you try a few mags fully loaded and some mags with your -1 style for a while and tell us what you find.

Think of it like this: if you say keeping a spring compressed for x amount of time will reduce it's ability to return to it's uncompressed state, then by the same logic it'd be like keeping a spring uncompressed for x amount of time would make it lose it's coil and become a straight piece of metal.

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

Robin...Sounds like your pistols need tunin'.

That said...When I lock and load a 1911, I insert a topped-off 7-round magazine, slingshot the slide, bump it, and and engage the safety. If I can't handle the problem with 7, I probably can't handle it with 8. Spare magazines are carried topped off. No 8-round magazines in my plans...at all.

Flat spots in brass? Never seen it happen. If the brass is so soft that it'll deform under 10 or 11 pounds of pressure...even long-term constant pressure, it would likely blow under 20,000 pounds psi when it fired.
Brass alloys used in cartridge cases is springier than you'd think.

 

[brownie0486]

1911Tuner;

I wasn't explicit enough, I meant the 8 rounders the gamers [ I mentioned the comp part ayway ] used were always unreliable at feeding them all ], not the seven rounders [ which I used exclusively in matches topped off like yours ]. My 7 rounders are always reliable in the 1911's.

Usually it was the 2nd or 3rd round that got them mucked up with the 8 rounders and sometimes I'd win a relay just on that fact alone

That fact led me to load one less in all the mags in all the guns over the years. They may not have a problem fully loaded, but my g17 gets 16+1, not 17+1 and the g36 gets 5+1, not 6+1, the g26 gets 11+1, instead of 12+1 all the time.

Brownie

 

[chonny]

I've always heard about the loss of integrity of the mag spring due to storage but all this recent information and facts to back it up being ballyhoo sure is good news.

FNP9 is right addressing IDshooter's reply. I'm hoping ID incorrectly remembered his youth because supporting a car with jack stands on the axle contributes nothing other than the flat-spotted tires. Just what kind of race cars were these anyway? Ever win anything?

 

[progunner1957]

Cheesybacon,

I have used both Wilson 47D and Chip McCormick 8rd. Powermags and would recommend either - they seem to be of equal quality and reliability.

You can get the McCormick Powermags at www.midwayusa.com for $18.99 each - best price I've seen on any of the top shelf 1911 mags (type in item # 783-573 in their search box).

I load my 8rd. mags with 8 rounds, but change them out every 2 or 3 weeks "just in case."

 

[Cheeseybacon]

Wow, I believe I unknowingly unleashed a small war here.

Anywho, that's for the input folks, I do appreciate everyone's insight. I feel better about leaving my magazine loaded all the time, although I must admit it probably is a good idea to pull it out, empty the magazine (the fun way), and fill it up again every once in a while.

I ordered a Wilson mag last night and am going to pick up a McCormick mag at the local gun store store today to see which runs best. Hopefully these will help my .45 jam less too.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

For what its worth, I had a Sig Sauer P220 with a loaded mag (one less than full) in my nightstand for 15+ years (yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't have let it sit that long). Took it out, ammo shot, mag worked, and it is back in the nightstand, thank you very much.

 

[Mad Magyar]

This discussion reminds me of when in the service and being transferred to a new post on how many of us fought over which bunk had the best, non-sagging springs... The losers wound up whining to the Supply Sgt...
Anyhow, having changed out firing pin springs (often overlooked), recoil springs, and mag springs; I'm telling you they fail over time....

 

[Working Man]

As a test I have left 2 HK 12 rnd and 2 HK 10 rnd (.45) fully loaded for almost
a year (I have several of each) with out any problems upon firing. I wanted to
go a full year but went to the range with some friends and wanted as many
preloaded rnds available as possible.

 

[brownie0486]

Anyhow, having changed out firing pin springs (often overlooked), recoil springs, and mag springs; I'm telling you they fail over time..

Yup, you are right. My 1982 SA 45 gov mags [ 6 of them ] finally had to have new springs just last year, after 40-50K+ rds through them

I've adjusted the feed lips an ungodly number of times though Put some extra power springs in them, new followers and they shoot better than new.

6 mags [ all were used regularly in plate shoots, pin matches, and local IPSC games ] divided by 40K conservatively works out to each mag having been fully loaded and shot something like 952 times.

I've got a few dozen new mags that have never been taken out of their wrappers as well. I better start worrying about whether I'll have enough to last another quarter of a century huh?

Brownie

 

[swampgator]

Gator...That was a 1921 Commercial Colt that laid in an attic in Condition One from the day its owner died in 1929 until my step-father inherited it at his aunt's death in 1991. He died in his sleep, and his wife found the gun in the nightstand. She wrapped it in a diaper...put in a hat box...and stored it in the attic. Her surviving sister gave it to my step-father the day of the funeral, saying that he was the only family member who would have an interest in it, since Aunt Emma had outlived all her sons, and her sister was a spinster. The gun has been willed to me.

Okay, it's official, I'm getting old. I guess I can't quote things strictly from memory.

Although I did get the jist of the story right. And what a "too cool" story it is!

 

[1911 guy]

Usually fine with extended laoding.

Quality mags, as others have said, are usually fine with staying loaded (compressed) for extended periods of time. I say usually because i have several mags from the same manufacturer, one of which has been replaced due to spring weakening after being loaded for about a year. It was my "nightstand" mag and didn't see much range use. The other, identical, magazines were also loaded and are doing fine still. So, sometimes bad things happen outside the norm. Leave it loaded, just check periodically.

 

[JohnKSa]

Can leaving a spring compressed cause it to weaken?

http://www.funsupply.com/airguns/cocktest.html

Note that ALL of the springs weakened. Note that the weakening was EASILY measured. Note that the weakening progressed the longer the springs were left compressed. Note that the weakening was caused by leaving the springs compressed, NOT by cycling them.

These are very high quality springs made of excellent materials which have been specially treated to minimize wear & breakage and to maximize spring life. These springs are the power sources of airguns worth several hundred dollars--they are just about as good as they can be. It's also worth noting that they are compressed past what would normally be considered the design limit of the spring in order to maximize power and minimize cocking effort and overall airgun size. That is a key factor.

Wolff has a good writeup on their website covering this topic and it agrees with the results of the above tests.

An IDEAL spring that is not compressed past its normal design limits will not be weakened by being left compressed. Change the quality and/or the compression depth and the rest of the statement changes too.

So, the answer is that it depends on the quality and design of the magazine.

The practical answer is to check your mags frequently. If you note one type weakening from being left fully loaded, replace the springs and underload that type by a round or two in the future.

 

[SalTx]

FWIW, Over several years, working with and qualifying with fellow officers who couldn't care less about their weapons, the only time I've seen problems with magazines was bullets loaded backwards ( i don't know how that happened) and my own, where I had accidentally picked up someone elses, who had obviously CUT the spring. I guess trying to feed another round in the magazine. And I've seen magazines literally rusting with what appeared to be MELTED hard candy inside them.

 

[ma deuce]

Try this

A private developer in Las Vegas has designed and patented a magazine using magnets instead of a spring, so you can load it all the way to full capacity and leave it that way forever. Since there is no spring, you dont have to worry about the # of cycles or compression issues either. If you have any questions, the Email is:

[email protected]

 

[JohnKSa]

You dug up a 2 year old thread over on TheFiringLine to post this. This thread is 3 years old.

How many other forums have you hit tonight?

 

[Atroxus]

I don't want to come off as a smart-ass here, but why would you leave a magazine sitting loaded for years? Why would you not use that magazine and those rounds when you practice at the range? I leave my mags loaded (sometimes) for weeks at a time, but when I go to the range, depending on the age of the cartridges in the mags, I either shoot them up, or remove them, use the magazines with my practice loads, then reload them. Besides guaranteeing I can hit what I aim at with my chosen defense loads, I also guarantee the magazines will work when I need them to.

Dunno about you, by my defense ammo is expensive. No way I could afford to go shooting regularly if I was shooting gold dots for practice. I fired about 100 rounds of it when I chose it as my defense ammo to make sure I would not have any feed problems, but for target practice I just ue ammo with similar bullet weight.

 

[joe_security]

A friend had (2) used factory 15 round P226 9mm mags that would not lock the slide back when the last round when out of the gun. Wolf 5% extra power springs installed, problem solved. He told me he cant make this gun jam, regardless of ammo type, rapid fire, shooting with one hand, etc. He remains very happy with this Sig, purchased new in 2000, MIM parts and all.