Spring Fatigue

G

gbclarkson

New member
I was looking at my Sig P229 in my safe and I thought that it would be a better nightstand option than a revolver. I have always worried about magazine spring fatigue, though. Does this happen? How long can an automatic stay loaded and static before the spring becomes too weak to reliably cycle? Has anyone personally experienced a failure because they left their magazines loaded for too long? If so, how long, what gun, etc.? Have you kept a magazine loaded for an extended period of time (years), taken it to the range, and shot without any problems? I always kept my M9 or M16 mags (at 28) constantly loaded during a 13-month deployment and never had a worry or a failure.
 
 
Last edited:
Well color me embarrassed!

Bill DeShivs is absolutely correct. I posted the links wrong and none of them worked.

I did kind of a bad thing and made corrections to my original post so the links should work now but when Bill DeShivs posted the links were bad. Thanks for catching my mistake.
 
GET THE POPCORN, HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!
I guess it's about due, this horse hasn't been beaten for the umpteenth time in a couple months!
 
Thank you, Dale, and sorry about the worms. As a fairly new member I am not sure what has already been threaded to death. Except for Taurus threads - those occur daily. In the future, I will search previous threads before posting.
 
Load'em up......leave'em loaded.

Your springs will be fine.

Springs will "fatigue" only from repeated and long use......not from just sitting loaded.

Relax. It will be ok.

:)
 
It's hard to make a coil spring straight... ;)

Do a search and enter "magazine springs" or "spring failure" -- but look for the newest entries.

In the most recent discussions, which included the comments of several engineers familiar with the materials being discussed, and a metallurgist or two, the participants offered many technical citations and sources to make their points.

They said that spring fatigue can be an issue if 1) the springs are worked a lot, or 2) the springs are stored in a compressed state, IF when stored in that compressed state, the springs are near their compression limit (called the "elastic limit.") It really depends on the gun's design, how the magazine works, the quality of the springs, and the designer's objectives.

For most guns it's not likely to be an issue. But, for some sub-compact guns or hi-cap guns, keeping the mags fully loaded may eventually lead to spring failure or weakening. but it'll take a while. JohnKSa, a staff member here, has posted some results of an ongoing test of mag springs kept compressed.

Wolff Springs recommends downloading hi-cap mags a round or two if they are to be stored for long periods -- but for most mags, that might not be necessary. For single-stack mags (like those in 1911s) it's likely to NEVER be a problem.

In the most recent discussions, the consensus was that for most hi-caps it's not likely to be a problem, but for some specific guns it COULD be -- hence, Wolff's "general" recommendation to download a round or two. (I've got some mags that will hold 18 rounds; I'd probably not keep those mags fully loaded, but I might do so with some of my 15-round mags if I felt it necessary.)

If you leave a slide locked back for long periods, it could be a problem for the recoil spring... as when most slides are locked open, the springs are about as compressed as they can be with some guns.

If you're really concerned, just shoot your weapons periodically to assure that they're working properly.
 
Last edited:
G B......Secure some extra springs and store them away for 'If & When' the current ones ever fail. Swap them out and truck on. 5 min. job.
Repeat as needed:
WILL
 
I love "spring fatigue/failure" threads! It gives me something to focus on and worry about completely unnecessarily!

Otherwise, my guns just continue to sit there in the safe, completely functional..and boring.
 
It's nothing to worry about,been keeping, handgun Mags AR Mags AK Mags loaded for years and have never found them to not feed.
I feel it's the cycling that really stress's all springs not a static load.
That's my thoughts and maybe I am wrong.:rolleyes:
 
GOOD quality magazines with GOOD quality springs should have no problem. I don't know about those "gun show specials" in the fake GI wrap for $3.95.

Jim
 
The best, most technical and complete discussion I've seen on this topic can be found on THE HIGH ROAD forum, under the topic named: How long can you keep magazine springs under tension? Search the semi-auto section and you'll find it.

Most of the participants of the discussion frequent both that forum and this one, and you'll see names there you know from discussions here. Several of the key participants are engineers working in related fields. I'd just post a link, but it's not considered good form to link to another site/forum.

This particular discussion is quite lengthy and offers many examples that both those with engineering /technical and non-technical LAY backgrounds can understand.

Most of us may spend years with handguns and never experience a spring failure; others are not so lucky. This discussion will show why.

A simple fact made clear in the cited discussion: coil springs ONLY break with overuse (a LOT of cycling), but the same or similar springs will lose their ability to do work properly far sooner. A coil spring that gets weak (be it a recoil spring or a magazine spring) typically gets replaced without much thought by the owner. Some in this discussion just buy new mags.

.
 
Last edited:
A comment for "stagpanther". I recently dragged out a box of Remington .22 LR RN that were over 45 years old. Took them to range and ran them thru my Anschutz target rifle, every one fired with excellent accuracy. BTW the label said 98 cents. I still have a box of .22 Short RN that I purchased in the mid-60s.

I discussed this subject with a couple of friends, we're all long time shooters in our 70s, the agreement was: if kept dry, good ammo should work ok indefinitely.
 
I play it on the safe side and rotate them at each time change (like yesterday). I have a number scribed into each magazine and go up to the next number when I change them out. I also leave a few rounds out except for my CC's magazine. I don't normally use these magazines for the range and just leave them loaded with my defensive rounds. The loaded magazines springs now don't get compressed and uncompressed while at the range for the next 6 months until they get changed out for the next number up or back to #1. Kind of like when I rotate my tires with the full size spare.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top