Should we Store semi-autos without mags inserted?

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Fremmer

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Just a random thought:

If one stores a semi-auto handgun, should it be stored with no magazine inserted for any particular reason, or is this something not to worry about? And I'm talking about semis with and without a mag safety.
 
Pretty much moot. Though I store my semiautos in one safe and the mags in another. But that's more for storage issues than anything else.
 
I'd never store the gun without a mag. Things stored separately can get lost or misplaced. Keeping at least one magazine in the gun ensures that as long as I have the gun I have a mag to go with it.
 
Can't think of a reason why I wouldn't store a semi-auto without a mag in it. As long as it's there might as well be left in the gun rather than in some other place that I might end up forgeting where I put it.
 
A gun is useless without a mag so I see no reason to store a gun without a mag. Since you should be storing your guns in a safe what good reason could you have for not keeping the mag with the gun?
 
Heck, a semi-auto is MEANT to store a magazine. You have the perfect, form-fitted storage device already. Why go booger things up by putting them somewhere else?
 
If I don't keep a semi loaded for SD I store it without a mag. That way I can clear it without it going to slide lock.

Storing a magazine in an empty gun is strictly a preference issue, there is nothing inherently smart or dumb about it.
 
I only store the loaded ones with the magazine in them but that's a preference issue. I keep the magazines for a given unloaded pistol in the box that pistol came in and the magazines for the loaded pistols in a Spec Ops brand magazine pouch that I picked up used at a surplus store for like two bucks
 
Keeping you semi auto with the magazine out of it is like driving around with your spare tire in your garage. What good is it if you don't use it as intended?
 
Inside my safe I store the semi-auto pistols--with no magazine in the well--in a vertical rack. The magazines for each are on shelves just below or to the side of that. Most of the mags in the safe are empty. I don't have so many pistols that it's hard to keep track of which mags go with which pistol.

I have no definitively "right" reasons for storing pistols with empty mag wells. It does make verifying that they are clear one step easier. It also saves time and possible confusion when I pack my range bag. I usually pre-load magazines with the rounds I'm going to shoot. If I had one in the well, I'd have to drop it to load it, or I'd be loading mags and think, is there one in the gun? Knowing that I stored the gun without a mag means all the empties are right where I need them to prep for range days.

The only ones with a magazine in the well are those that are loaded, and they are not in the safe.
 
As an example S&W semiautomatic pistols with the magazine disconnect one may store with a loaded chamber and the magazine removed. This method of use was noted by Massad Ayoob's writings.
 
I only keep mags in loaded guns in the "loaded" safe, otherwise I do not leave mags in unloaded guns. Those mags are left in my "pile-o-range-mags" in my gun stuff closet.

It doesn't matter either way, I prefer to keep my range mags separate because it's just simpler. They're all in one place rather than some in the guns and some in the closet, I'm certainly not going to lose all my mags...
 
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Well.....you are going to have to remove it to load it anyway.

If we store guns unloaded, and proper unloading is to first remove the magazine, why is it then safe to put one back in?

I don't think it matters very much, do what you want to, but I have never lost a magazine because it was stored seperately, nor regretted keeping them seperate for any reason.
 
If I had an auto pistol for which I owned just one mag I'd probably keep it in the gun. That would obviously be some kind of collectors item/safe queen that I had no real use for, so not mixing up and misplacing that one lonely mag would be the only concern I'd have.

Otherwise, the piles of mags stay with the carry or match gear for that gun.
 
There is absolutely no reason not to leave a magazine in the gun. The spring in the mag catch is barely compressed with the mag inserted. Barely. Leaving the magazine fully loaded over time can cause problems with some magazines (double stack high capacity).
 
Store my pistols chambered with a full mag in them. Each gun with mags are in their own case. (After market, of course) If anything ever happens, no matter which case I grab, I don't have to worry about whether it's loaded or not.
 
Do what makes the most sense in your situation. Don't worry about it . The gun will be OK .:banghead:
 
I keep my CCW locked and loaded at all times, holstered, and in the safe. For my other pistols, I keep the chamber empty with a full magazine inserted. That way if I get a case of fat fingers and manage to put a finger on the trigger, there isn't anything in the chamber that goes boom
 
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