[robot1125]

I only get to the range every few weeks , so I normally leave my mags
unloaded, and load 'em up there. But from a home defense perspective, I
can't ask the bad guys to hold on a sec while I load one, so I'd like to keep
some ready to go.

My concern is how long I can leave the mag springs compressed before it
affects reliability and performance.

What is your standard operating procedure?

-Robot

 

[huntershooter]

My "bedside" 1911 has been loaded, "cocked & locked" for several years. Spring fatigue results from use of the magazine (loading/unloading), not prolonged compression (unlaess you try to stuff 8 rds. into a 7 rd. mag). I read an article (I think it was Jeff Cooper) where a magazine, loaded and stored for 40+ yrs., ran without a hitch.

 

[CowBoyWay]

I keep all my mags loaded all the time. This includes three EDCs and an M4. As said before, it's the cycling of the mags that wear out the springs not the compression.

This question is asked often. You might do a search and you will find hundreds of threads with the same question. Cheers, Cyril.

 

[dsk]

Quality 7-round 1911 magazines don't seem to suffer from the effects of spring fatigue, unlike many double-stack mags. Some 8-rounders might be vulnerable however, as they often use thinner springs.

 

[ColtM1911A1]

All magazines I own for handgun are kept topped-off. Some rifles also (AR15, FAL, etc.) are also kept loaded at all times...

 

[squirrelsniper]

My procedure...
1. Load magazines.
2. Leave magazines loaded until I decide to shoot the ammo that they're holding.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

This procedure applies to all my semi-auto handguns, whether 1911 or Glock or whatever else I have at a given time.

Edited to add... FWIW, I use CMC PowerMags in both 8rd and 10rd versions for my 1911s.

 

[BillD]

Well I don't leave ALL my mags topped off all the time.

I keep half a dozen loaded for each of the pistols and AR.

don't know that I need 30 or 40 loaded pistol mags. :biglaugh:

 

[facilitator]

I keep several SD/HD 47D 8 rounders loaded all the time. When I go to the range, I change out the SD rounds for target ammo. When I'm done I make sure that I rotate mags to re-load the SD rounds.

 

[Slider]

My carry mags stay loaded all the time & I have never had a problem with spring fatigue.

 

[98_1LE]

My self-defense pistols are kept loaded all the time.

I recently shot AK mags that I loaded in about 1996; they and the ammo performed perfectly.

 

[msjdgman]

My bedside 1911 is kept loaded and 3 spare 7 round mags are loaded all the time. My backup 1911 in a different room is unloaded with 3 8 round mags close by and full. And my .44 mag is in yet another location with a full cylinder of 1650 fps JHP`s. I don`t shoot that much, so I have yet to have a concern over mag/spring fatigue issues.

 

[Kalash47]

Spring fatigue only comes from loading and unloading.Beig compressed only will not cause spring fatigue.
You can leave your mag loaded for years and they'll still function fine.
I go to the range with loaded mags.I go to shoot,not load magazines.I can do that watching a football game.

 

[GRPfan]

This is one of those recurring topics that comes up regularly. I am not a metallurgy expert, nor do I play one on TV. But in all these threads I've seen in the past, the real metal experts and engineers say not to worry about it.

There are also a smattering of particularly anal-retentive non-experts who unload them when not in use for a time, test them, buy new ones on a regular schedule.

I go with the experts and leave 'em loaded all the time. In twenty years, never had a bad spring.

 

[kingairpilot]

A buddy recently brought over a 1930's era Colt commercial Government Model that his wife's step-father had carried in Europe in WW II. It reportedly sat in a footlocker since the end of the war in it's original holster. We put 22 rounds of steel cased ammo through it (yep, there was one in the chamber) without a hitch. Those 3 mags had been loaded for the better part of 60 years. There where 4 boxes of ammo with the pistol, a web belt, mag pouch, cleaning kit, and holster too.

I've got no idea as to the actual story, just what was related to me. It was a beat up gun to be sure, probable 60% of finish left but the stories it might tell...

Long story short, Leave The Mags Loaded.

ka

 

[doc watson]

I own about 10 mags keep them loaded all the time, with different loads, that way depending on the type of shooting I am going to do, I can just change mags. Never had a problem, if I do, I throw it away and buy another. The 5oth anniversary edition of the Gun Digest had an article by Bob Bell, in which he had a friend fire a loaded mag that had been that way since world war II and it functioned fine. So I quit worrying about it.