AR loaded mag life
Need current Army and police experience on actual time AR and Glock mags
can remain loaded and reliably function.
Also what percentage of capacity for longest life?
can remain loaded and reliably function.
Also what percentage of capacity for longest life?
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Springs wear out by being used. If they are compressed, there is no wear taking place.
I've shot a Ruger Mk II using mags that were left loaded for over 10 years w/ no issues. The mags have since seen lots of use, still no issues.0 -
All spring metal takes a "set" when compressed for long periods, no exceptions. The "amount" of time it would take would vary greatly due to numerous factors, therefore there's no finite answer to your question. Storage temp, amount of capacity used, environmental factors, etc.
There are also several different spring types used. I have had some high vel. rifle mags well over 10 years that cycled fine and a few pistol mags that wouldn't cycle the second round up into position after only 6 months.
For me, I never leave them over 6 months, but that's just me, no hard facts to back that up. I know of one person that had a loaded 1911 mag from 1927 in a firearm, green cases and all, fired them and they all cycled fine (I'm just glad I didn't know that before he started firing, cause I would have moved a few spots further away).0 -
I need actual Army practice with the AR and police practice with the Glock magazines.
Creep is a phenomenon taking place below the elastic limit in steel.
Why and to what extent has never been properly explained to me since
allowable bending and torsional stresses are a factor used in spring design calculations.
I need actuals for these specific guns.0 -
quote:Originally posted by geeguy
All spring metal takes a "set" when compressed for long periods, no exceptions.
That is a false statement. Spring steel will only set when stressed beyond its elastic limit. A fully loaded mag is not near that limit so the steel will be unaffected.Any FTF might occur due to corrosion but never due to metal fatigue or "set"0 -
I think the quick answer here is that its SOP for police and military to leave magazines UNLOADED when not on active duty so the question is effectively moot. Is there really some agency that expects to leave a loaded magazine on a shelf for ten years then hand it to someone going into harms way untested? Don't cops have to qualify with their duty weapon at least once a year?
Trying to answer the fundamental question, given the huge variety of AR magazines on the market over the years, plus unknowable conditions like degree of wear, loading, temperature, etc, nobody can possibly give you a comprehensive/documented answer to your question of exactly how long they'll last.
But the quick answer to that one is that so long as they're stored right, loaded magazines can probably stay that way longer than the rest of your natural lifespan and still function reliably.
As above, I've heard of a case where a guy found his grandfathers loaded WWI era 1911 pistol, then brought it to the range, and emptied the magazine without failure after 70+ years of storage.
I've heard of many other cases of people firing loaded guns that were in storage loaded for years to decades with no issue.
I'd also assume (without evidence) that a typical magazine will also last longer if underloaded to only 28 (rather than 30) rounds, since its that last bit of compression that really wears the springs the most. This is probably more true of older magazines that run "tight" with 30 rounds. Most of the newer ones have a little extra leeway in there and are probably fine with 30.
In reality, there is just no need to ever test this.
Again, how many years do you expect to leave your magazines loaded without running through some for practice or rotating the ammo out?
If you've got ten magazines, and run them through in rotation when occasionally practicing with your gun, none of them should ever sit loaded for more than a few years at most. EG, if you have ten magazines, and fire/rotate ONLY two magazines worth of ammo per year, none of them will ever go more than five years without being cycled.
If in addition to the pre-loaded ones, you also keep a few UNLOADED ones, they'll effectively last forever.
Lastly, its getting a bit off topic, but properly built mags that aren't abused can last a *LONG* time, even when used.
For example, the magazine from my 1964 High Standard .22 is original to the gun, and I've personally put over 10,000 rounds through it. I have no idea how many rounds were put through it before I got it, but it was probably a few more tens of thousands.
Meanwhile, this 50 year old magazine with untold tens of thousands of rounds through it works as well as the day I got it.0 -
The AR and Glock platforms have not been in existence enough years to give you a factual answer. At one time the US military DID have magazines for M1 Carbines that were stored- and issued- loaded, with a little rubber bonnet over the open end of the magazine.
Limiting factor was not the springs, but the shelf life of the ammo. No detectable measurement change on the springs after 15 years stored, loaded.
Until someone gets a working time machine, no real way to get an answer.0 -
quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
The AR and Glock platforms have not been in existence enough years to give you a factual answer.
the m16 was first issued in 63, so thats fifty years.
the glock was first seen in 82, so thats thirty one years.
if thats not long enough for you, then i have to agree with bts and ask just how long do you plan to keep these magazines loaded...
i have a friend who has a few ammo cans full of loaded 20rd ar mags. he bought them at a gun show years ago(early nineties, he's not sure exactly when). every so often we pull a few out to take to the range. they all function fine.0 -
Hi,
I've posted this before & here is my response to the question of magazine springs again. If the moderators want, they can delete this.
I think the fear about the magazine springs getting week after having a full load of cartridges in them for extended periods has been around since the US Military first started using the M-16 in Vietnam. The way the ammo system was supposed to work in the beginning of the M-16 experience was all ammo was supposed to be shipped pre-loaded in 20 round ALUMINUM magazines. This is a documented event. What was found was the feed lips on the aluminum magazines were bending outward from the constant upward pressure of the spring pushing on the cartridges during storage. The answer was to take two rounds out of the magazines, which "seemed" to cure the problem. This "cure" remained even after the ammo was shipped in stripper clips, not in magazines, negating the issue of the feed lips causing jams. This "cure" remains to this day in the minds of countless people. It is probably because of the hundreds of thousands US Troops who served in that theater of war having passed their knowledge on to the successive generations.
This problem of the springs getting week was not experienced before, mainly because the magazines prior to the M-16 were made of steel. The problem disappears with steel or polymer magazines. The Mag Pul magazines even issue a magazine cover which pushes the cartridges down (causing more pressure on the spring) which takes the pressure off of the magazine lips. You will notice that the Russian AK-47 family of weapons have monster steel magazines with thick feed lips, never a problem with that system.
I was in the Navy 1967 - 1971 with two years in Vietnam and 21 years in the Army. I have never had any failure to feed or extract that was caused by a faulty magazine spring.
Dirty weapons and/or magazines are another issue entirely.0 -
+ 1 with Golferboy426 > have been Bullseye Match shooting for over 40, years I carry 3 7 round 1911Magazines 2 with rubber bumpper base plates in case I drop . the third one same make but no bumpper That mag has stayed loaded for 40 years with me using it maybe one dozen times When I had range alibi or rare pistol problem . This magazine has never failed.. Now if you buy a LORCIN replace the Magazine once a day and pistol once a week. both are POS 0 -
Implicit in this post is to consider loading up mags for potential emergencies.
Personally, I've just kept a carry gun loaded.0
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