magazine storage??

dalegribble

New member
how many people here store their magazines fully loaded? I'm talking handgun and rifle magazines. I am thinking about adding magazines to my inventory both rifle and pistol and would like to store them all loaded. I'm not talking for just the weekend but long term storage, possibly years. from 22 caliber rifle and pistol all the way through centerfire rifles and pistols. my plan is to rotate their use and going through my loaded and stored magazines for shooting practice and then reloading them again for storage. has anyone experienced any ill effects having the magazine springs under constant pressure for long periods of time? thanks.
 
Do you store your firearms loaded?

I must have a hundred magazines in the magazine locker, none of them are loaded. I do keep two stripper clips and and two magazines as the 'ready' load. If I think I need more than that in a hurry, I've been bushwhacked and deserve my fate.

I load 'em up either the day before a trip to the range or on site.

The carry piece is excepted, that's always loaded. I do swap out the magazines now and then, give the springs a rest.
 
dalegribble said:
I am thinking about adding magazines to my inventory both rifle and pistol and would like to store them all loaded. I'm not talking for just the weekend but long term storage, possibly years. from 22 caliber rifle and pistol all the way through centerfire rifles and pistols. my plan is to rotate their use and going through my loaded and stored magazines for shooting practice and then reloading them again for storage.
I'll warn you that this gets complicated quickly. I've found that one tends to accumulate a wide variety of different types and brands of ammo, and the main problem with this system is remembering what's in each magazine and how long it's been in there. This is particularly true for .22LR because most of the ammo looks more or less the same.

What happens when you drop by the LGS, and they have that new "Megazipper Wonder-Tip" ammo that got the glowing write-up in Guns 'n Stuff? You buy some, and you want to take it to the range, so you go to get a magazine, and... all of them are loaded already. OK, I'll empty one. What's in this one? Where's the box this ammo came from? Do I still HAVE the box? :confused: Dang, I'm gonna have to take this mag full of unidentifiable mystery ammo to the range, just to fire it in the general direction of a target in order to empty the thing.. :o

After a while, I gave up. Aside from my HD and CCW guns and the reloads for them- which are kept loaded in a separate quick-access location- I only load a couple of mags each for the handful of firearms that I actually take to the range frequently. Each loaded mag gets a sticker identifying the type of ammo in it. Overall, most of my mags are stored empty.
 
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has anyone experienced any ill effects having the magazine springs under constant pressure for long periods of time?
It has zero ill effects on a properly tempered spring. It is the back and forth flexing, not being under force, that causes a spring to fatigue.
 
Generally I keep them loaded, however I usually have one mag I keep empty simply to be able to use for testing ammo etc. Otherwise a silver sharpie marker works wonders to write on the mags with as to what it is loaded with. Wipes off easily with a squirt of brake cleaner on a cloth.
 
I don't keep many handgun magazines loaded, normally not more than a couple for a pistol. I do have a few loaded for my AR-15s, primarily to make sure I shoot up my older ammo first (not a problem with my handguns since I shoot them more). The AR mags are all loaded with M183-type ammo. I also have a number of empty AR-15 mags so that if I want to try the latest gee-whiz-bang loads, it's not a problem. :)
 
Some disagree with this, including the comment above from Armorer-at-law, but I have experience with some name-brand magazines for a name-brand pistol that lost spring strength and did not function as well after being stored loaded for several months. Some other magazines might function correctly after being stored loaded for years, but mine did not.
 
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Springs don't ware out from compression but they do from cycling the springs.


I read an article where a mag manufacturer stated mags can be stored (Properly) for many many years without any ill effects.

The springs from 20 year old loaded mags where tested to be in like new condition.
 
I store all my mag empty and in the safe. Home defense is a pump shotgun.

I do this so the springs do not get messed up. A spring always under stress will eventually fail and your mags will not feed all the ammo loaded in them.

Mel
 
Prioritize.

My house/carry gun is always loaded. Others for whatever purpose left fresh.

My latest mag purchase was a 17 rnd mag for my 92FS. The spring was so tight that I near shredded fingers trying to load it. A few weeks later after not firing a shot, I unloaded the mag and reloaded it. I did not measure the spring but I swear that mag was different. Easier to load, still positive but it had changed. I'm talking about a 40 dollar mag not a cheep mag.

I think most springs are affected from being kept compressed, but not to the point that they won't function correctly. I have also seen a difference in spring tension between new P-Mags of different age.

Keeps some fresh. Keep some broken in and loaded.

Look at it this way: If for some bizarre reason you didn't want the next round to feed, it probably would 99.999999 times out of ten. Or more.

-SS-
 
stick and box mags, i see no issue with. its a straight push on the magazine spring and well thats OK.

rotary magazines like the ruger 10-22. well they dont last long as far as reliabliilty of feeding goes with loaded storage.

bought a used 10-22. magazine was what came in the gun from factory. always loaded and shot empty, stored empty. it was perfect feeder and functioning. then i left it loaded with 10 rounds for 5 months. barely pushes rounds 9 and 10 up far enough for the bolt to grab them.

bought a new mag from ruger, in factory package. left it loaded for a year, same feed issue.
 
I keep a handful of mags loaded for my 'go to' guns, both long guns and handguns for a real SHTF situation. Also, loaded mags take up less room than empty mags + boxes of ammo... so part of my reasoning is space saving.

But I have plenty of unloaded mags too...

Given the value of mags, it's probably wise to keep your mags in a lockbox or secure storage box of some sort... crazy to think but at $20-50 each, these add up in price quickly!
 
The Ruger 10/22 mag comments are interesting. I hav owned a 10/22 for many years, have two standard mags for it (another one for my 77/22), and one 25 round Ruger mag, none of them have ever sat empty for more than a few minutes untill being reloaded and are always left loaded. The mags do get dirty and need to be cleaned occasionally but never had any issues with feeding due to spring tension. I may be the luckiest guy around but so far not a hint of a problem.
 
YES!

I always have a number, lately a large number, of AR and pistol magazines loaded, as an unloaded firearm is generally less useful than a hammer.

I have stored AR and Beretta 92 magazines fully loaded for as long as 5 years before, there is no damage done to the springs, and they still function flawlessly to this day.

I have worn out magazine springs, but only in the ones that got used regularly, when I used to shoot competitively, the magazines that wound up needing springs replaced were the ones that were loaded and then unloaded often.
 
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I have more mags than I want to count. Almost all of them are stored unloaded, except for the ones I keep ready obviously.

You ask 10 people about who keeps mags loaded or unloaded and what is best, and you'll get 10 different answers.

But, what does takes a toll on the mag springs is the cycling from loading / unloading the mags.
 
IMHO mag springs are just like any other coil spring.

For instance take a truck or car with coil springs and load it down to its full capacity and leave it for a year all loaded up.

What happens? The car will not return to the original ride height.

Same thing with the mag springs.

I do agree if you ask ten people this question you will get ten answers.

I also know that physics and metallurgy is a pretty constant thing in our galaxy.

Mel
 
Magazines are much more useful to me in a loaded state - so that is how I store them. Have been doing this for approximately 30 years without issues with only one exception - 10/22 mags are stored empty for reasons already mentioned.
 
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