Is it OK to leave my mags fully loaded?

[Pecos21]

For my nightstand gun, I leave both of my magazines fully loaded with 10 rounds of 9mm. Is this OK for the springs in the mag? Will it weaken them to an unreliable condition over time? If so, what should I do?

Thanks,

[vitesse9]

I've heard that leaving mags loaded will weaken the springs. But I wonder how long it would take. Certainly longer than a year or two.

Also, if you just think about it, cops seem to always have at least two spare mags on their belt. Do you think that they go home every night and unload two hicap mags so the springs don't get messed up? I doubt it. And, if a cop--who has a much higher chance of having to use his gun than I do-- doesn't worry too much about it, I don't either.

I leave my gun loaded most of the time, so the mag in the gun has to be loaded. As for the spare, well I just like to have an extra 15 around in the truck, in the nightstand or whatever. If this wears out my magazines faster, then so be it: I'll get new mags. My life is worth more than the cost of two new mags.

As for the fear that the springs will get damaged to the point where they don't work, I shoot a lot because I like to stay in practice. If my mags were getting unserviceable, I think I'd notice. Plus, because I shoot at least every-other-week, I give the springs a workout and keep them from being compressed all the time.

If you store your gun for long periods of time and don't shoot it, then maybe ever couple of weeks you might unload your mags and load them back up again to see how the springs feel. But, I doubt you'll do any lasting damage to your springs in between even sparse range sessions.

If anyone else has any specific info about spring damage, please share. But I've never heard of it being a problem.

[TiP99]

I always unload one round just to be safe. 14 rounds is plenty

[johndavid400]

I read in either my Sprinfield or Baby Eagle owners manual, that it won't hurt it at all to leave a mag loaded.... even if it started too, you would notice. If your mags start getting much much easier to load than they used to be, you can take a hint and buy some new springs. I seriously doubt that it would happen over a relatively short period of time, say 6-8 months, but it might if you just left them completely loaded for years at a time it might have some effect on the springs.

[U.F.O.]

I've read that mag springs wear out faster with actual use (i.e. expansion AND contraction) than just with the contraction alone that a fully loaded mag would undergo.

U.F.O.

[Fen]

ummm, if your springs are getting weak, stretch them. that will make them last a bit longer.

[mete]

If the spring is made properly it will not 'take a set' or wear out.

[Doerdie]

Metal springs wears from use, not from compaction. If you unload 'em every day they will wear out faster (ie: metal fatigue). I have never seen one worn out personnaly, heard they stretch 'em in the military sometimes (when new mags are not availiable).

[esldude]

Have seen reports, wish I remembered where, in which magazines left in storage loaded for 20+ years were pulled out and used in a 1911. They functioned fine for several mag's worth of ammo. I just don't see it hurting them.

Maybe there is more to it if you were talking 30 round AK47 mags or something. I really think it is just an old wives tale.

I have three Glock 17-round mags that have been loaded to capacity for more than 15 years. I do use them to rotate through the ammo at a minimum. And they get more use from time to time. There is no difference I can tell from when they were new.

[SSgt Aston]

I've seen it happen with the cheap M9 mags, but never mith the Beretta OEM ones. But that's only one of the problems with the aftermarket mags.

[Indy_SIG]

There is no more "wear" on a spring that is fully compressed with a full magazine than there is on a spring in an empty magazine.

The degradation comes from consistently expanding and contracting the spring. If you leave it fully loaded, it's not hurting the spring at all.

[John Ringo]

The answer to your question is "yes". Trust me on this.....

If you fully stack a magazine for an extended period of time the spring will conform to the compressed position and loose a little bit of its ability when it becomes uncompressed. Not to worry, you can stretch it out and it will recover. A spring is just a piece of metal wound into a coil. If you put a piece of metal into a position for an extended period of time it will take the shape of the position that it is accustomed to being in. A spring is nothing highly scientific. It's just a piece of metal.

My father kept two fully loaded magazines for his Glock 17 in a drawer for about two years. When I took him to the range the firearm would NOT lock the slide open after all of the shells had been expended. When the magazine was empty it did not have enough force to lock the slide open since the spring had been compressed for two years. But, he stretched the spring out and it was fine.

[IZinterrogator]

Once more, someone brings this up. I don't feel like typing my experience again, so I'll just quote myself:

When I got to Iraq, I was issued 45 rounds of 9mm ammo for my M9. I brought three magazines with me. I ordered 10 +5% Wolff springs and they got here in May. I replaced the original mags springs with the +5% springs. Last week I went on a night raid, so the afternoon prior I disassembled and inspected all of my magazines. As I was thumbing the rounds out of the mag, the rounds were not popping into position right away. I decided to replace the springs since I had seven more still in the package. When I compared the new springs to the ones that had been in the magazine, the used ones were two inches shorter than the new ones. The magazines had been fully loaded for a little over six months except while being cleaned. This was just my personal experience, YMMV. But I'm not going to keep mags fully loaded for long periods of time in my home anymore when I return.