do you carry +1 ?

How do u come up with 7 is better than 11? Why not 6? Or 5? Nothings foolproof ya know....not even the gun itself. I mean it would really be ideal to just carry one in the chamber and no clip...after each round is fired lock back the slide and chamber another round. It will sure cut down all ftfs and ftes !
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Wait a sec, I didn't say "it's better to carry less" and this is definitely not going into the "how many rounds do you carry?" war. I simply said when the spring is warped or stressed, it would feed the first few rounds easily, but may slack on the last few and cause a possible stove-pipe. I didn't say that fully loaded mags definitely cause this problem, I just said WARPED SPRINGS could cause problems, not that topped off mags would... I understand the constant flexing causes metal fatigue within the spring, I just simply said I carry less than the full capacity and I said I didn't know if it mattered much either way... I said it sounded good in theory - I didn't say fully compressed springs weaken the spring... I figured I might get some heat for the post though...:rolleyes:

that is certainly one theory. Another theory is that strong compression will cause the springs to fail. As for those loaded mags, yes, some have been found to work jsut fine. Other have been found to not work at all. Way too much variation in spring design, metal quality, etc. to make broad blanket statements.
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This is what I was always told by my father and grandfather (My dad most likely picked it up from his dad). My grandfather was a Marine and my dad was a gun nut, so I've obliviously picked up a lot from these two. I believe the statement above to be correct; there's such a wide spread material list used in components, not only in firearms, that you cannot always use general statements that'll work across the bored... I've seen some mags fail, and I've seen a heck of a lot more mags perform.

I'm still 100% sure that warped springs can causes problems, but I’m still saying I don't know if fully loaded mags cause those problems, it's just what i've been brought up hearing. I do carry less than the max, but by choice. If I fully loaded all the time and the mags "somehow" stopped working correctly due to the spring, I'd just buy a new one... I'm not counting pennies over here...

Simply put, I carry less than maximum capacity...
 
Always.

One may not have the presence of mind to chamber a round if they're suddenly startled with an attack and their response is running purely on instinct. Whoops! You've just introduced an unloaded gun into a gun fight. That could end tragically. It's much more sensible to have the gun charged and ready to go.
 
For those of you who may have missed the point of this thread:

The issue here isn't whether or not to chamber, but whether its worthwhile to load the extra bullet back into the mag afterwards.
 
Not only do I carry mine chambered AND topped off I stow them in the locker that way too!!!:eek: I keep my carry guns loaded, all the time. When I pick one up I want it ready to go.
Other guns that I seldom shoot are stored empty.
 
I have mags that were loaded in the early fifties at West Point, I have tried 5 of those mags, and they all worked fine. The rounds went bang,the mags fed fine and the slides all locked back on cue.

Think about it, when was the last time you heard about car springs failing or sagging? and how many cycles do they go thru in a mile, never mind a car's life. Same with cheap wire springs in a ball point?
 
I carry an XD45 and almost never top it off. 13 rounds with the full size mag are just fine, and 10 with the compact mags are probably still enough. I usually have spare magazines close by anyway, and they are actually usually downloaded by 1 for easier seating.

I like to be able to unload the gun if I need to and have a place to put the round from the chamber.
 
For those of you who may have missed the point of this thread:

The issue here isn't whether or not to chamber, but whether its worthwhile to load the extra bullet back into the mag afterwards.
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Yup. I carry all the ammo that I can conveniently. Which means that the mags are topped off. It's cheap insurance that you have all the rounds that you may reasonably need at your disposal.

Then again, the only time I have to "load the extra bullet" back in is after cleaning. My firearms are always charged and fully loaded unless they're on the bench, including my HD shotgun.
 
22-Mag is correct about the springs, so you may as well accept it. It's a fact of physics.
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More than physics is involved, as spring manufacturers themselves will tell you. The manufacturers cannot agree on what causes fatigue, it seems rather presumptious for others to declare the debate over and done with. In fact, machinists list numerous causes of possible spring failure including both repeated compression and extended compression.
On another note, no springs as bad as you are talking about would even be used in a gun or magazine.
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And yet we have seen it on more than one occasion. I've never had a Glock mag fail me, I've had a couple of 1911 mags go down without any extended cycling. I've seen shotgun mag springs lose their set without any large amount of cycling but a lot of sitting around loaded.
 
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Never. I carry what fits in the magazine. I go to a lot of gun shows and you have to unload and lock your carry firearms. Without anywhere to go, a +1 would be sliding around in my pocket rather than going back in the magazine like it does now. To each his own.

And I find it fantastic for those that say that no matter how many rounds you have, that extra one is the one you're going to need. Right.:rolleyes:
 
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And I find it fantastic for those that say that no matter how many rounds you have, that extra one is the one you're going to need. Right.
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Maybe you're right but it's gonna suck for you if that one time you need just one more round it isn't there. But hey, to each his own, right?:rolleyes:
 
And I find it fantastic for those that say that no matter how many rounds you have, that extra one is the one you're going to need. Right.
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What I find surreal is that someone doesn't understand this fundamental principle: It is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Do I think that the extra round is the one that I'll need in a fight? Probably not. Between the 7 in the mag and 7 in the spare, I'll most likely have enough to fight or make an covered retreat. But -- there's always that chance, however remote, that the 15th round is the one that is critical. It is a little extra insurance, and one that is cheap and trivially simple to implement. It comes at little cost in weight, bulk or reliability. I mean, why WOULDN'T you carry that extra round, assuming that you are carrying with 1 in the pipe? Why go out of your way to handicap yourself? That's what I find puzzling.
 
"Oh, pardon me Mr. Robber/Rapist/Murderer, allow me some extra time after my draw to rack my slide. Thank you sir."

If you are carrying for defensive purposes you must expect the unexpected. That means accepting the possibility that you will have but a split second to draw and fire under non-ideal conditions. You may not even have two free hands. So what is the point of carrying without a round in the chamber of a semi-auto if it is being carried for self-defense?

If you're that worried about spring-set on magazines (a non-issue IMHO -- it's repeated cycling of the spring that fatigues the spring metal), insert mag, rack slide to chamber a round and then go around with your magazine -1 but your chamber LOADED AND READY FOR ACTION.
 
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This thread is about topping off the magazine after making a condition one pistol...not carrying a condition three pistol.
 
Creature, you are right -- I didn't read carefully.:o Mea Culpa.

Yes, I top-off the mag after stripping one into the chamber. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. The weight of that one bullet won't kill me, but not having that weight might get me killed.
 
More than physics is involved, as spring manufacturers themselves will tell you. The manufacturers cannot agree on what causes fatigue, it seems rather presumptious for others to declare the debate over and done with. In fact, machinists list numerous casues of spring failure incluiding both repeated compression and extended compression.
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My HD mags get new ammo in them about once a year and my carry mags about every 6 months.

The springs in my range mags sure seem to lose tension much sooner than the mags i keep loaded up for extended periods of time.The carry mags also seem to lose tension slightly faster than the mags used for HD.

This tells me that cycling wears out springs much quicker than keeping them compressed.
 
ive had m4/m16 mag springs fail, both from over-usage, and just sitting for a
year full of blanks.

ive got over 18000rds thru my 4 xd mags and all springs are still strong.

like stated above i often have to unload my cary pistol, if ive got that +1 in there its just gonna be loose in my pocket and ill end up loosing it.
 
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