Will keeping a fully loaded mag REALLY wear out the spring?

[Bill DeShivs]

Walt,
I'm assuming your post was directed to me?
The Rorbaugh compresses it's spring to it's elastic limit, apparently.

[Walt Sherrill]

Originally Posted by Bill Deshivs

I'm assuming your post was directed to me?
The Rorbaugh compresses it's spring to it's elastic limit, apparently.

Not to you Bill, but to Skans (in response #72).

You and I seem to disagree a lot less than we used to, on the subject of springs. I think we've both gotten better at expressing ourselves in these discussions...

Yes. It would appear that the Rorhbaugh R9 is an example of one of those guns where the springs are used differently than was once the case -- making them a renewable (expendable) resource. Some of the 3"-3.5" 1911s also have relatively short-lived recoil springs.

I think it's clear that many of the older guns were built with more "reserve" power left in the springs than is the case nowadays with some of the newer designs -- where almost the same performance is achieved with smaller guns as in the larger ones. There's no such thing as a free lunch, so to speak.

And, as you have noted, not all mag springs are created equal, with regard to quality materials and construction.

[Bill DeShivs]

Something else to think about-
In the "old days" springs were only available mail-order through the manufacturer. They had to last, as replacing them was not as easy as today.

[JohnKSa]

I used to try to keep track of which mags/brands appeared to have more issues with magazine springs, and it seems that is is more common among the continental european brands. My speculation was that the paradigm in that area for defensive/law enforcement/military weapons is that the user does very basic maintenance on them and an armorer does a check annually (or at least at specified periodic intervals) and replaces any parts that need replacing.

In other words, a european gun maker/designer might not concern himself with the long-term life of a magazine spring because the normal concept of operations in his mind would have a qualified person looking over the gun at intervals and replacing recoil springs, magazine springs (or magazines) and any other "normal wear" items in the gun that needed attention.