Do mag springs really wear out if kept fully loaded?

T

TCW

New member
This question also applies to shotguns. I'd like to take full advantage of capacity, but don't want to wear out my mags. I've heard that you should keep it loaded with one round under capacity to reduce wear on the spring.

What do you think?

Thanks
 
I don't know about shotgun magazine tube springs but I would not worry about pistol magazine springs. I was given a couple of 1911 magazines that had been loaded for a good number of years and they worked fine and still do. No spring changes made either.
 
While I don't know the answer to your question from personal experience I have heard numerous stories of .45 1911 mags and usgi ar15/m16 mags being kept fully loaded for twenty plus years and then being lost and found. In those cases I have heard of them, once being found, being totally functional and reliable. Also, I've been told that it's not keeping them loaded that causes the spring to wear it's the constant working of the spring that makes them wear(for example: loading and unloading by hand or by constant shooting).
 
I have heard both sides of this arguement and there are good points to each side. If a magazine is to be stored loaded for any length of time, I will load the magazines one round short of max capacity. I will rotate them every month or two as well. But that's me. As far as wearing out springs, I think a place called Wolff Springs sells new magazine springs if you are concerned about damage due to spring compression.
 
From what I've heard, magazine springs should last indefinitely. Unfortunately this is not the case for recoil springs, but then mag springs don't take same kind of compression and abuse.

Still, I wouldn't care if the worlds most famous metallurgist told me I could keep my weapon loaded a hundred years and it wouldn't affect it- for my personal peace of mind I swap out at least once a month.

I wouldn't worry about your shotgun being loaded continually. If leaving out a shell makes you feel more confident, then by all means do it. You can always get an extended magazine tube if you want the extra round plus a few more back.

Good Shooting
RED
 
A well designed spring will never deform plastically (that is, permanently) in the application for which it was designed. That being said, I would hope that my factory mags have well designed springs, but I still load mine at least one short. I don't carry concealed, however, or I would check the uncompressed length of the spring and load them to max. I'd then periodically check to see if the free length of the spring had changed. At home, I think 8 rounds in my 10 round .40 needs to see me through what ever happens!

Maybe I need to just do the free length test and see what happens ... it would be interesting. Does Wolff make springs for a USP40C?

Saands
 
I would think shooting the things puts more stress on the spring than keeping then loaded. If you leave a cheap junk mag loaded for a week it will not run, but it would not work right if only loaded for 5 minuites is beside the point? The springs are under stress even when emptey. Its just a non-issue unless you have a bum mag to start with. Should I unload all my Garand spring clips so they will not lose their tension? How about my tube feed Mauser that has probably spent 112 years of its 113 years of life set into the empty mode. Is the mag spring in a extended set mode? Coil springs in vehicle suspensions are under a lot of tension but has anyone seen one go bad because it sat for 10 or 20 years? I guess I need to get off of the rant mode but NO, mag springs do not go bad if loaded and stored unless they are POSs to start with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top