How long can you leave Springfield Xd mags loaded before the mag springs...

tkdguy · Jan 27, 2017

begin to fail? I've thought of leaving my XD fully loaded in the house for long term security, but wonder how long the fully loaded mags can handle the load before they fail?

Alexx1401 · Jan 27, 2017

tkdguy said:
begin to fail? I've thought of leaving my XD fully loaded in the house for long term security, but wonder how long the fully loaded mags can handle the load before they fail?

Past the time you will live.

This always causes some people to get butt hurt but. If a spring is made right keeping it compressed does nothing. It is the working them that wears them out. Now if it's defective it can and will fail no matter what. I have some mags that are older than I am that have been loaded that long. They work great.

BDA.45 · Jan 27, 2017

Yeah what he said. I'll post a couple pics tomorrow of thoroughly used springs and compressed and new....mine are are from an XDM...BTW all my "used" springs function flawlessly.....haven't had to switch em out yet... Been about 4 years and umpteen thousand rounds....

Switchblade666 · Jan 28, 2017

I've had mags loaded for my XD.45 for over a year and they functioned just fine. These were my backup mags for around the house.

B3dlam · Jan 28, 2017

Modern springs are not worn out by being left compressed they are worn out by being exercised (Compressed and decompressed) You will actually do less harm to your mags leaving them loaded then frequently loading and unloading them.

Swedish K · Jan 28, 2017

A friend had his grandfather's 1911 mags that had been locked away loaded in his foot locker he brought home from the military. He fired one mag full without a problem after they had been sitting over 50 years. The rest are still in that locker and I'd trust them now.

MrElectric03 · Jan 28, 2017

Kept three mags loaded with mine for 5 years, still flawless.

TonyArena · Jan 28, 2017

FYI: Metal under tension is actually no different than metal not under tension. It may not sound intuitive, but metal does not care if it's compressed or not. The condition you're referring to is called "Metal fatigue", but the good news is that you would have to load and unload your magazines every day for years until you came close to a spring failing. In short, metal fatigue only happens when a spring is constantly being compressed and decompressed.
Lastly, anyone who says you should unload your magazines after a day of shooting, is probably just jealous of what you're shooting ;-)

13BWayToBe · Feb 3, 2017

O, O, O! Something I can actually help with.

I own an XD9sc and a XD40. Both of which I've had mags loaded one in the chamber for almost 8 consecutive months. Sometimes out of curiosity I will unload the mag and give the bullets a press into the mag to test "bouncyness" all seems well!
Before they were sitting and I shot more often, my defensive load sat in the same mag for well over a year. I shot those rounds error free after that year or so and even some other ammo, and no problems.
I've noticed if you use Springfields manufactured magazines they are quite well made. If you disassemble it compared to a "third party" mag the spring even looks surprisingly of better quality than the "third party" mag.

It seems that the concensus is correct and these magazines are meant to keep ammo in them indefinitely.
Hope this helps!

Certaindeaf · Feb 3, 2017

MrMillspecer · Feb 3, 2017

19284 hours 56 minutes 16 seconds

A long long time and mag springs are cheap . Keep em ready !

Member 5605 · Mar 3, 2017

Mine haven't. If they were going to they would have already.

I measured:
12 round 40's. Same magazine, same everything except one is for full size and one is extended for compact (has X-tension grip).

New gun spring: 5-11/16" long, kept unloaded. And gun was bought this fall I think?
Old gun, magazine is kept loaded: 5-11/16" long. 6 year old magazine?
Has rust at bottom where plate slides on its that old.