Keep your mags topped off?

theboss97338 · Apr 23, 2012

I have been wondering for a long time, should you keep your magazines loaded or un-loaded? I like the idea of keeping them load but I hear it was bad on the spring, what do you guys think?

Key-Hay · Apr 23, 2012

+1 on this. However I've sort of thought of Pmags as disposable.

RedneckRampage · Apr 23, 2012

I think that is old school thought. I've always kept every one of my mags full loaded and with good quality mags, I've never had an issue.

unklekippy · Apr 23, 2012

The integrity of the spring remains intact when it is stationary, fully loaded, empty, or anywhere in between. The "wear" comes from the loading and unloading of magazines. There are so many magazines around the world(dusty AK's in a forgotten Afghanistan bunker come to mind) that sit for years or even decades and work like they were new. If you are a serious shooter(in my opinion 10,000+rds./year) you may need to replace mags or springs every now and then. If you own one pistol for home defense, it should last a lifetime. Kip.

Burt Gummer · Apr 23, 2012

Any factory mag that isn't a cheap knockoff, loaded.

The problem with that is one of the ranges I go to insists on shooting only the ammo you buy from them the day you are there. That would mean emptying mags and reloading every time. Sucks.

unklekippy · Apr 23, 2012

I am in no way a proponent of cheap magazines, but the issues you will have in a cheap magazine are more likely to be with the follower or inconsistencies in manufacture. The spring itself, in general, should hold up for a very long time, whether you bought Wilson or the least expensive 1911 mag you could find. You should always buy quality, but even a cheap mag, fully loaded for 5 years and never touched, should work just fine.

Dinged · Apr 23, 2012

unklekippy said:
The integrity of the spring remains intact when it is stationary, fully loaded, empty, or anywhere in between. The "wear" comes from the loading and unloading of magazines. There are so many magazines around the world(dusty AK's in a forgotten Afghanistan bunker come to mind) that sit for years or even decades and work like they were new. If you are a serious shooter(in my opinion 10,000+rds./year) you may need to replace mags or springs every now and then. If you own one pistol for home defense, it should last a lifetime. Kip.

Basically what he said, whether the magazine is empty, or fully loaded doesn't really matter, springs retain their strength when fully compressed also. They lose their strength when it's being compressed and decompressed constantly. A fully magazine (say one sitting in the safe) will last longer than one being loaded and unloaded constantly (lots of range days). I found a couple AR magazines that have been left in my dad's attic for at least two decades that have been fully loaded, if not longer, they work just fine.

As for me, I keep my mags fully loaded at home, in a safe place of course.

mckenzb · Apr 24, 2012

This is a questions I've wondered for a while. +1 on the question and +2 on all the advice.

DoubleTapDrew · Apr 25, 2012

Initially they will take a "set" (which is good on mags that come with stiff springs like Glocks) but then it's compressing and decompressing them over (many many many) time that will wear them out eventually.
In AR-15s I usually download by 1 just because it's hard to seat a 30 round mag loaded to capacity on a closed bolt. Everything else gets loaded fully.

salmonriverjohn · Apr 25, 2012

There is nothing wrong with keeping your mags. topped off. This is an old wives tale that gets perpetuated on a regular basis. The spring steel that our units come with has no memory. I have several for my model 1911's that are over a half a century old,,, and I have never had an issue with any of them. The same goes for every other mag fed semi auto I own, and that's a bunch. Almost all are "at the ready" and full 24/7. Yes, constant compression and release over time will fatigue the bend points of the spring steel, but I cant ever remember one letting go. Not so much though for box Z style steel springs, Think model 70 wins. etc. here, in blind wells and hinged release types. I have over the years had a couple of these crack and go south. Just my "old not so shiny" two cents worth. John.

bikejunkie · Apr 25, 2012

I keep mine loaded minus 1 round- the round that's in the chamber- that way the spring is never fully compressed. Also when I have fully loaded mags in my pistol, the mag release is super stiff and hard to eject, whereas the mag ejects freely with 1 round less than capacity. So to sum up, with my Springfield XDm 9mm for example I keep the compact mags (with a 13rd capacity) loaded with 12 hollow points, and 1 in the chamber, and the long mags (19 rds) loaded with 18 hollowpoints each

salmonriverjohn · Apr 26, 2012

XManSV said:
After looking at some engineering articles on the subject it looks like wear is all from cycling and not from leaving compressed.

That's the beauty and bane of spring steel XMan

Allfat · Apr 26, 2012

XManSV said:
After looking at some engineering articles on the subject it looks like wear is all from cycling and not from leaving compressed.

That is true, as long as the design engineer did his job correctly, designing the spring to stay within its parameters. Also as long as the manufacturer did his job correctly manufacturing the spring.

A lot of things can go wrong between design and manufacture, believe me, I know. I am a mech. engineer.

So, to sum up, as long as the spring is designed to operate within its parameters and the spring is built to the correct specs, it should never be a problem to leave a mag loaded. Fatigue can and will happen to the steel and it will wear out eventually, but the time for that to happen depends on so many parameters it would be impossible to give an estimate, but it should be a long time if everything is designed and built correctly.

salmonriverjohn · Apr 26, 2012

Allfat said:
That is true, as long as the design engineer did his job correctly, designing the spring to stay within its parameters. Also as long as the manufacturer did his job correctly manufacturing the spring.

A lot of things can go wrong between design and manufacture, believe me, I know. I am a mech. engineer.

So, to sum up, as long as the spring is designed to operate within its parameters and the spring is built to the correct specs, it should never be a problem to leave a mag loaded. Fatigue can and will happen to the steel and it will wear out eventually, but the time for that to happen depends on so many parameters it would be impossible to give an estimate, but it should be a long time if everything is designed and built correctly.

And that my friends, is the rest of the story, thanks Allfat.