Magazine Springs
- Thread starter Jeffly
- Start date
Have at least two spare magazines. Four is better. Keep one in or near the pistol and one or two loaded magazines ready for a fast reload if you need it. Number your magazines and rotate them once a month so that no one magazine is loaded for a long time. I usually do this ayt the first of the month when I pay my monthly bills. I have magazines that I have used this way for many years and they all continue to work well.
Keep in mind that if a spring is properly designed for its intended use, then the life of the spring is depended upon the number of cycles it goes through, i.e. compression and uncompression. Although it must be noted that if a spring is either stretched or compressed more than what it was designed for, then you will have a shortage of life...
This is a topic that has been covered in this forum multiple times with the discussion getting pretty hot & heavy at times (do a search to see what was said in the past) with everyone expressing their particular views on the subject. This is what I do ...
First, I have nine magazines per gun and they are divided into three sets of three's. The first set is a virgin set and (except for verification in the beginning that they feed properly) remain untouched. The second set is loaded in the winter & summer while the third set stays loaded in the spring & fall. So, I have three mags (per gun) loaded at all times.
Second, I do not load the magazines to full capacity. You did not make mention which S&W pistol you were making reference to but this is what I do with mine:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI> 3913TSW (mag. capacity=7) loaded with 6 rounds
<LI> 4013TSW (mag. capacity=9) loaded with 8 rounds
<LI> 4006 (mag. capacity=11) loaded with 9 rounds
<LI> 5906 (mag. capacity=15) loaded with 12 rounds</UL>Some people may laugh at this and say that a quality magazine is meant to be loaded to full capacity and will tell stories that they've kept their magazines loaded for years and they functioned flawlessly but by putting less bullets in, you take a lot of the stress off the spring and you have a better chance of it not failing on you when you might need it the most and I can tell you from personal experience that I had a Para-Ordanance P14-45 mag fail on me when I had it loaded to full capacity for almost a year. Fortnuately, it happened at the range and not when my life depended on it.
It's true that sometimes that one extra bullet could mean the difference between life and death but if the magazine fails on you, you're not going to have any bullets. I would rather have 12 rounds out of a possible 15 that I know that I can depend on than not have any because the spring goes bad.
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
[This message has been edited by FUD (edited June 12, 2000).]
First, I have nine magazines per gun and they are divided into three sets of three's. The first set is a virgin set and (except for verification in the beginning that they feed properly) remain untouched. The second set is loaded in the winter & summer while the third set stays loaded in the spring & fall. So, I have three mags (per gun) loaded at all times.
Second, I do not load the magazines to full capacity. You did not make mention which S&W pistol you were making reference to but this is what I do with mine:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI> 3913TSW (mag. capacity=7) loaded with 6 rounds
<LI> 4013TSW (mag. capacity=9) loaded with 8 rounds
<LI> 4006 (mag. capacity=11) loaded with 9 rounds
<LI> 5906 (mag. capacity=15) loaded with 12 rounds</UL>Some people may laugh at this and say that a quality magazine is meant to be loaded to full capacity and will tell stories that they've kept their magazines loaded for years and they functioned flawlessly but by putting less bullets in, you take a lot of the stress off the spring and you have a better chance of it not failing on you when you might need it the most and I can tell you from personal experience that I had a Para-Ordanance P14-45 mag fail on me when I had it loaded to full capacity for almost a year. Fortnuately, it happened at the range and not when my life depended on it.
It's true that sometimes that one extra bullet could mean the difference between life and death but if the magazine fails on you, you're not going to have any bullets. I would rather have 12 rounds out of a possible 15 that I know that I can depend on than not have any because the spring goes bad.
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
[This message has been edited by FUD (edited June 12, 2000).]
Jeffly, I have a 3913TSW on my hip right now (along with two spare mags). There's one round in the chamber and 6 rounds (7-1) in each of the magazines. On 6/21 (the start of summer) I will empty these three mags out and load up another three. I've been doing this with the 3913TSW for a little over a year and so far the gun has worked flawlessly. I've done the same thing with models that I have owned for a decade (or more) and they have also worked fine. As I mentioned, the one time that I didn't do this (with a P14-45), I had a mag fail on me. Hope this has been of help to you. Regards,
FUD
Share what you know, learn what you don't.
FUD
Share what you know, learn what you don't.