Leaving rounds in magizines?

P

p3ordie

New member
I have a Beretta 96 with two 10 round magazines. My question is how much damage does it do leaving the magazines loaded for days sometimes weeks. If anything goes wrong I can't see trying to load the magazine in the middle of the night when I need it most. I'm sure its bad on the mag spring. What does everybody else do?

Thanks,
Mark
 
I rotate my magazines.I keep 2 loaded always and 3 empty.Every month I switch them around.
 
Constant compression, within the design parameters of the spring, causes less deterioration of the spring than excercising it by loading and unloading.

Sam
 
I leave all my mags loaded with my defense rounds of choice all the time. The only time they're unloaded is for a trip to the range.

I don't worry about it.
 
Keep them either loaded or unloaded and stored away. Do not keep switching them that will wear out the springs eventually. On the pistols and rifles I use the most I keep the mags loaded and shoot them at least once a week or at the most every other week. On these mags I replace the springs once a year. Cheap insurance IMHO plus you need the practice, I know I do.;)
 
You pose a very interesting question and C R Sams comment is what I believe to be true.

I read a story of a batch of WWII .45 mags, loaded, being discovered in storage and of the documented firing of all of the mags to determine the effect of storing the mags loaded for many years. Turns out only a handful of the mags would not feed out of many thousand that worked fine.

An engineer once told me that cycling a spring wears it out but that leaving a spring compressed for an extended period of time should not affect the quality of the spring.

I believe that the change your mags advice comes from people that shoot a lot and who consequently wear their springs out as a result of cycling them.
 
Mine stay constantly loaded. Only difference is I keep 2 less than what the mag capacity is. Just my preference. If I need those 2 extra rounds in a gunfight, I'm in trouble anyways!

Semper Fi-

jjc
 
I discovered my great grandfather's WWI era 1911 frozen in a glacier with a loaded magazine last year. I just used the gun to kill two of Mullah Omar's lieutenants in Afghanistan and it functioned perfectly, despite the scorching heat and omnipresent sand.

I think this settles that debate once and for all.

Mike, International Man of Mystery

PS Ok, ok. I'm kidding. But I WAS in the Selous Scouts. Or was that the Boy Scouts? I can't remember. Anyway, this question crops up about once a week. The short answer is No One Knows, But it Doesn't Seem to Matter, so Don't Worry About It. The long answer is, well, longer. ;)
 
Yeah, this subject comes up from time to time.

I've always held that if the steel of the spring is indeed "spring steel", "wearing it out" will take many more cycles than any of us will ever impose. Further, if it is not compressed beyond the yield strength of the steel, remaining compressed in a loaded magazine should not affect it.

We had one fellow post here who is a metallurgist by profession. He supported my view. My own "claim to fame" is some six semester hours of metallurgy while in Engineering school...

Consider for a moment an automobile valve spring, or the return spring in a brake or clutch master cylinder. All these springs go through many, many cycles; for the valve springs it's in the millions. And a parked V8 always has at least two valves fully opened...

Art
 
I keep...

two loaded for my carry weapon and don't rotate. Never caused me a problem. Back in the old days, spring steel could develop a "memory". Not so much of a concern these days.
 
I keep all my magazines loaded and I read that only constant cycling would wear out the springs. So keep them either loaded all the time until needed or do not load them at all. Btw, how mags and what kind do you all have? I got 8 CMC Shooting Star 8 rd .45, 6 Wilson 8rd .45, 7 Colt 7rd .45, 4 15rd Beretta 9mm, and 2 10rd Beretta 9mm. :)
 
Good analogy Art. Auto valve spring with 2,000 hours on the engine fully cycles each spring 120,000,000 times.

Plus all the time parked and compressed.

Good springs last. Design and materiels make the difference.

Sam
 
I used to cycle mags every three months or so.

I stopped doing it. However, it`s due more to laziness than the responses here. :D

Fortunatly, I shoot often enough to geve them a good workout.
 
I keep my Beretta 96 duty magazines loaded with Gold Dots, and the only time I cycle them is twice a year for qualification. I've never had a problem. I use different magazines for practice, because I don't like to scratch up the carry ammo by constantly stripping and then reloading them.
P.S. I don't top off the mag in the gun, FWIW.
 
If they are not "already worn out" it won't do anything at all...The only way to fatigue them is through use or misuse...like heating them or eating them...
 
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