Magazine Storage

[logansackett]

Is it harmfull to store magazines loaded, or should they be empty? M

[MinotBob]

I wouldn't store them more that 15-20 years loaded. But actually shoot more and Swap them out as you shoot. But no there is no need to worry about Magazine springs.

[docsoos]

Most all magazine springs will retain a "set" after many years of storage fully loaded. I see the same thing in industrial equipment that has a fully-compressed spring that has been kept in that position for years, unmoving.

There is new technology in springs for magazines, namely chrome-silicon steel springs, that will tolerate long set periods better than spring steel. Here is an example:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=21225 (http://LINKADDRESS)

I cannot personally vouch for the set properties of these mags, but they are reputed to be the best in the industry, and Brownell's is a first-class supplier of only the finest firearms parts and accessories. That I can vouch for.

I personally have had some mags that were fully-loaded for about 5 years, and when I finally got around to "unloading" them, I had no misfeeds/failure-to-fire problems, but as a rule, one should keep a few mags loaded for quick action, and the balance unloaded until quantities of mags are truly needed. These can be "swapped out" every year or so, that is, unload the compressed one, and load some fresh ones that have not been compressed for extended periods.

DocSoos

[CountryGuy]

I've heard and read more times than not it is not so much spring fatigue as it is the lips on the magazine tend to deform and creep over long term storage. This deformity is then what causes feed issues.

I've recently been stocking up on PMAG's for my AR and the thing I like and find interesting in their design is the dust cap that they come with. When this cap is in place it pushes the rounds down into the mag to take the load off of the feed lips. To me this gives some validity to the lip deformity issue.

[Teg]

At work we rotate our daily use magazines once a quarter, besides giving the spring a rest it gives you a chance to check the rounds for any visible problems and to make sure some knothead didn't lose a round and replace it with a piece of pencil (not really an issue with personal ammo of course). :)

[backlash]

Go to any gun board and you will find this topic debated to death.
I don't think the springs will weaken and if the mag lips deform I would also be surprised.
That's a new one on me but who knows.

[Oblio13]

Magazine springs will not take a set. You can leave them loaded for decades with no harm done.

It won't hurt the lips, either. When they eventually wear out it will be from friction. After many, many cycles, you'll notice them either getting sharp or cracking.

A few plastic magazines, like Orlites and Thermolds for AR's and M16's, will distort a bit if left loaded for long periods. You'll notice that they won't insert into your magazine well or drop free easily. The plastics have a memory, and they'll go back to normal after they've been unloaded.

[NHForester]

Magazine springs will not take a set. You can leave them loaded for decades with no harm done.

It won't hurt the lips, either. When they eventually wear out it will be from friction. After many, many cycles, you'll notice them either getting sharp or cracking.

A few plastic magazines, like Orlites and Thermolds for AR's and M16's, will distort a bit if left loaded for long periods. You'll notice that they won't insert into your magazine well or drop free easily. The plastics have a memory, and they'll go back to normal after they've been unloaded.
This! Magazines can be left loaded. Springs are worn out from use, not inactivity.

[BAM]

This! Magazines can be left loaded. Springs are worn out from use, not inactivity.

I agree also.

however, I have heard of some issues with some of the cheaper "extended" mags for the 10/22....but a lot of those have more issue than just springs.

[NotSoFast]

Springs wear our from use, not disuse. Just look at truck springs. The ones that are sagging are on trucks that have been used a lot -- or overloaded, which a magazine probably can't be.

[Slayr]

In these days and times I would think it might be more harmful for the mags not to be loaded. I keep most of my second round mags about 5 rounds short of full. May not make any difference but makes me feel good.

[333]

Peace,

Good thread thanks, the sticks for my preferred, close quarter home defense equipment, hold three boxes .45acp, and rotating them all in and out to give the springs time off was becoming tedious.......lol

I will do it once a year now.....

333

[stickbowhntr]

How frequntly do you disassemble and clean them? What do you lube them with?

[Echo2]

After speaking with a metallurgist....I was told that it really would make no difference with the newer quality spring steels that are out there today. If one has older mags...they may develop a set after many....many years of being loaded.

I asked how to avoid this.....he said "go shooting"....if you relax the spring once and then immediately retention....it keeps a set from forming in any spring.

He did say that springs will loose their properties upon massive use....and if there is a weak point in the material anywhere.....heavy use will show in that spot first.

I solve the issue by just trying to have more mags than I'll ever need...:)

[Stinger]

Common sense should tell anyone who's ever broken in a semi-auto pistol that magazine springs do, indeed, take a set. This set, however, will NOT adversely affect magazine performance. (Because the initial set that all magazine springs take is always factored in as an original design criterion.)

Look at Glock magazines! What could be more difficult to load to full capacity when the Glock is new? Standard advice is to load them up and let them sit for several days in order for what? In order for the springs to take their initial set.

Personally, I don't buy this recent myth that's been going around the internet that older magazine springs aren't as well made, or as resilient, as the modern springs used in today's pistols. A quality pistol from the 1930's is going to have magazine springs which are every bit as good as anything that's being used today; and, I've got guns in my safe to prove it.

It's true that repeated expansion and contraction is the primary cause of spring fatigue. Over time the spring will start to stretch out, increase in length, and loose strength. Leaving a magazine spring compressed for extended periods of time isn't going to hurt anything. In fact, I've already taken magazines out of the safe that have been compressed for decades and fired them off without a hitch.

Do I believe what I've just written? Three of my EDC self-defense magazines haven't been decompressed in three, or more, years. The ammo might have occasionally been changed; but, the spring was immediately compressed again and remains that way. (I'm looking at one as I type!)


ADDED: On the other hand: I have had trouble with AR/AK magazines that were kept loaded and fully compressed for an extended period of time. Exactly, 'Why' large AR and AK magazines do NOT seem to conform to the same general storage and use procedures as pistol magazines do remains a mystery to me.

So, after thinking about this I realized that I do keep stored AR/AK magazines, 'loaded down' by: one, two, or three rounds. Why these much larger magazine springs tend to weaken when kept fully loaded over extended periods of time continues to puzzle me? It might have something to do with the extraordinary length of these springs, or the (slight) curve around which they operate, as well as the comparatively thin wire they are made out of; but, like I said, I really don't know?

The only, 'downloaded' magazines I keep in the house, right now, are all 25 + round AR or AK magazines. After having had trouble with a few I, now, keep them loaded down by 2 or 3 rounds each. (Sorry I forgot to mention this; it was late, and I was posting while tired. No big deal really, though. It's, still, a lot of ammunition inside just one gun!)