leaving mags loaded hurt spring?
i have ak mags and 9mm mags. i load them durring the week and shoot them on the weekends. winter is coming to vermont now, can i leave them loaded or should i unload them so the springs don't wear out. or can i leave them half loaded, example a 30 round mag leave in 15, or is that just dumb.
p.s. i have alot of mags
first rule of northern militia is that we don't talk about northern militia.
p.s. i have alot of mags
first rule of northern militia is that we don't talk about northern militia.
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I have several guns that have clips.I'm not an expert but they've always told me never leave the clip full.I have a 9mm that the spring in the clip indead did weaken so much that I had to replace it.So I learnt my lesson.I never leave more than half the clip loaded.Some of them cost too much to replace.Maybe some one whom is more an expert will reply.
SOME TIMES YOU HAVE TO STAND ALONE TO PROVE THAT YOU CAN STAND0 -
I've been leaving mags loaded for years and have never had a problem , mind you thru most of these are 22LR, i do have a few 9mm, 40 and 45 that i keep loaded at all times , an empty mags doesn't do you any good if you need that gun right now [^] I would say if you are worried about it just keep 1 or 2 loaded and changed out their springs every now and then 0 -
Typically what I have done over the years is rotate magazines now and then. I'll load up a few mags for my favorite carry gun and about once a month I'll swap mags out, unload the ones I was carrying and load the ammo into a fresh magazine and set the now unloaded ones back in the gunsafe. The next month I swap them back out again. I've never had any magazine problems doing this. 
of our country.0 -
www.deltaforce.com has AR15/M16 5.56 30-45 round Thermold mags that you can load up with only 30 rounds which leaves little or no tension on the spring and follower. Leave the mag in the rifle and if you suddenly need it, slap the bottom of the mag to compress it into the 30 round mode and it is ready to party.
Item #TMS3045 for $49.95. Kinda pricy for a AR15 mag, but it would save you from having to worry about mag spring weakening over time as you could leave this mag loaded forever and it would still be ready to go almost instantly.
Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"0 -
thanks guys, i think i will unload all, but a few i will keep packed for the JUST IN CASE reason. man this is going to suck, i've got like 75 mags and no boxes. guess i will have to use ziplock bags.
thanks again and thank god that i have a wife that can load mags quick if the bababooey hits the fan.
first rule of northern militia is that we don't talk about northern militia.0 -
75 loaded mags for your AR-15? Waiting on the 2nd coming of allah or something? [:D] of our country.0 -
from a local dealer, ive hear stories of guys who have had AR magazines loaded for 6-7 years, picked them up took em to he range and fired perfect. From what I've been told Magazines wear comes from compression cycles, loading it and unloading it.... loading it and unloading it 4 hours later is no different than loading and unloading 4 years later 0 -
just leave it half way loaded 0 -
I too have had mags loaded for years with no trouble. This is one of the oldest debates with lots of sides. I also had read that it is about the compression cycle. They also make some new "no memory" springs that are expensive but they claim you can leave them loaded for a long time. I read in Glocks magizine that when they were doing they "100,000 rd test" with a G17 that they had to replace the mag springs about 25,000 rds. After that they only loaded 15 in a 17 rd mag and they were still going strong over 50,000 rds later.
John0 -
thanks again and half the mags are for my ak collection/chinese. the reason why i have so many is that i hate loading mags at the range. i load them durring the week and blast on the weekends and i share with other ak47 or beretta 92 or sig 226 or tec 9 friends. we the northern militia buy ammo in bulk, cheaper that way. like i said winter is coming our range is out door 5 feet of snow and 20 degrees(not yet) is not my kind of shooting. i will leave a few mags of each loaded and every other month change them out. that is what i'm doing now, can't go back my fingers and thumbs are killing me.
first rule of northern militia is that we don't talk about northern militia.0 -
NM,
Get yourself a Lula Loader for the AK, http://www.maglula.com/
makes loading and unloading much easier. I can load a 30rd mag in about 20 seconds with my Lula. I have a couple 30rd AK mags loaded with 20 to 25 rounds each for the last year or so with no problems as of yet. I also would recommend you invest in a 75rd Chinese wind up drum. I have 75rds ready to go right now under no spring tension. The Chinese drums are getting harder to find and run about $100 to $125 ea, I bought mine for $125 last summer.
WTSHTF all I need to do is turn my nob 7 times and I ready to roll. [:p]
Handguns that l leave loaded are loaded down by 1 round. I will usually shoot them every so often so they never are left permenently loaded.
Last Edit: If you buy a drum make sure it's a rear opening drum, there are a bunch of Romanian drums out there for less dollars but are not wind ups.
I'll see if I can't find some pics.
Not the best pic of my drum but you can see the nob/key on the front of it.
Here's a Chinese Drum.
Pic stolen from http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/chinesedrum.htm
There are loading instructions on that page too.
Regards,0 -
A spring properly designed,made of proper material and properly heat treated will last indefinitely. HOw about the valve springs in cars? Every time you shut down some of the springs are under full compression. Every time you start up each spring is cycled hundreds of times per minute. Some decades old still operate with the originals. Cars do have valve spring problems but very seldom. Same with guns. I leave my mags one round short of full. Strain in greatest at full compression. Pages could be written on springs and still leave a lot untold. 0 -
someone go load a 30rd ar mag and look this thread up in 7 years and let us know how things go [:p] at any rate, if you have an AR and hate reloading buy a beta CMAG... 100rounds higher standards than NATO milspec, garuanteed to work in any environment and can be loaded and stored indefinately 0
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