Magazine Fatigue

[SandstoneBuick]

Alright guys, I'm sorry if this has been done before, but I'm hearing conflicting things about wearing out magazine springs. I always used to hear that you should rotate your magazines to avoid keeping a spring compressed for too long. This was said to reduce fatigue. More recently, I read that it's not prolonged compression that fatigues a magazine spring, but rather repeated compression and decompression, as with frequent use of the weapon or repeated loading and unloading. So now I'm not sure what my strategy should be for my home defense weapons. I was rotating them once a month, but now I'm wondering if I'm causing the very fatigue I'm trying to avoid! Thoughts? Any authoritative studies or scientifically supported data?

[Lycanthrope]

Cycles kill quality springs....not staying compressed

A compressed spring will take a "set" and will shorten it's length to a degree as compared to when it was new. This is normal.

Lycankeep'emloadedthrope

[filgun11]

I have 3 magazines that's been loaded for 3 years now. Last weekend, I brought the gun to the range, and it performed perfectly. Every rounds chambered with no hiccups. Slide always locked open on last round.

[phill]

In the 70's we fired some .30 carbine ammo that had been loaded in the mags. since the late 40's or early 50's. It ran without a hitch.

[allglock]

In the case of the Glock magazine, it is from repeated loading and unloading. I always download by one round, and I haven't, changed a magazine spring in many years. The worst thing that will happen with a Glock magazine, is it won't lock the slide back after shooting the last round. I have been shooting Glocks since 1987, and that has been my experience.

[harold63]

I used to have mag spring phobia, myself, until I procured an Astra A-80 from my uncle that has been loaded for 24 years...the same magazine. Works fine and locks the slide back on empty, 10 out of 10 times.

Something I do of late is keep a dozen or so mag springs in my tool box for just in case. Cheap, easy to replace, and you're not killing yourself looking for a new mag (unless you run over it with your new 4X4).

[Emptymag]

You know, realistically, if you were to "rotate" mags once a month (or probably even once a week) I can't see a spring failing due to "overuse".

If a mag is truly so fragile that unloading and loading once a month, or so causes a "weak spring", there's a serious problem.

[Orive 8]

Everybody will have an OPINION on this issue. I have had the chance to talk to MANY different "knowledgeable" people on this issue, and the one thing that is common:

They all have an OPINION on this issue.

Me, I rotate my duty/carry guns on the 1st of each month, same for my wife. We have been doing so since we started carrying back in 1985. It works for us.

To the OP, make a decision on what sounds best to you after hearing everyone's OPINIONs on this issue.

Happy shooting.

[DaveM55]

I had two brand new aluminum mags charged with 30 rounds of 55gr FMJ X193 for the past seven years.

This past weekend I shot them both and they both fed perfectly.

After that I charged them to 30 rounds and they fed perfectly once again.

[SandstoneBuick]

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm glad to know magazine springs aren't as fragile as I feared. I never keep my lever action loaded because I'm afraid it wasn't designed to withstand prolonged stress on the tubular magazine spring, and because it's part of the gun, it's not as simple as swapping a magazine if something happens. I also thought about it with my handguns. Nice to hear that the design is sound.

While we're on the subject of keeping guns loaded, I heard recently in a description of a revolver that was for sale that it showed signs of having been loaded for a long time. What could that be? I can't think of what stress it would place on a revolver to be loaded for a long duration. Any thoughts?