Mags Loaded to Full Capacity

[BradenM4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4f8v_sJg8

[thanker92]

AR and M16 mags I always load down 1 .... all others full load....as I was taught in 1968.

[LittleRedToyota]

my two cents...

i download glock mags by 1 and AR mags by 2.

there are several issues to consider...imho, the one that really matters is number 3 in the list below:

1. does leaving them loaded cause the spring to "set" or weaken?

springs do not take a set or weaken from being compressed as long as they are not compressed past their elastic limit. they weaken from being cycled. so, as long as a magazine does not cause the spring to be compressed beyond its elastic limit when fully loaded, leaving them fully loaded should not reduce the reliability of the magazine.

2. the first round can be harder to strip from a fully loaded mag than the rest. in theory, this can cause the gun to fail-to-feed when loading the first round from a fully loaded mag.

in my experience, this is a complete non-issue with glocks. i have seen it be an issue with some ARs. however, i think if an AR is set up, maintained, and lubed properly, this is not generally an issue.

3. fully loaded mags are harder to seat reliably under stress.

this is a real issue, imho. i have seen it happen too many times. both glock and especially AR mags are harder to seat against a closed slide/bolt than downloaded mags. keeping them downloaded makes them easier to seat and, thus, provides more margin for error when reloading with the slide/bolt closed under stress.

it's easy to do perfect reloads on the static range. get your hands covered in sweat, get your heart rate going, add someone smacking you in the back as you are doing it, add some time pressure, etc. though and things start to not always go perfectly. and that stress is nothing compared to the stress of a real gun fight.

so, personally, i like to download to give myself a little extra room for error when it comes to seating the mag on reloads.

of course, i carry a glock 17, so i am only going from 17 to 16 rounds in my spare mag. if i carried a gun that could only hold 7 or 8 in the spare mag, i might not be willing to give up that extra round to gain that margin for error.

[ungawa]

Yeah, this issue has to be considered firearm and magazine specific. Nothing magic happens when you load a mag to capacity. The manufacturer may have chosen any level of spring compression at that limit.

[biggs88]

My mags are fully loaded.

Use of the mag (i.e. cycling rounds in and out) causes mag spring wear.

Mag springs do not and will not wear out from being left loaded.

[ddefazio]

You forgot one in the chamber and mags fully loaded

[DaveM55]

I download pistol mags by 1 and AR mags by 2.

Today I took an AR15 magazine that has been charged with 28 rounds for the last five years sitting in my safe.

It shot just fine with no malfunctions.


LittleRedToyota covered everything I could think of especially #3.

[tdyoung58]

AR mags by 2.

Back when I fisrt shot and learned about AR's was taught to never laod to capacity with 20 and 30 round magazines.

Still don't but I'm sure that they've come a long way since the mid 70's

I use a Stoner 10 round magazine at the range anyways, usually only load 5, it's the AR Diet by Dr. Stoner

[The Unknown 1087]

My one glock 19 magazine has been loaded and in the gun for over a year.

I will buy more carry ammo this summer, and extra magazines for my G19 and G26 and I'll be set.

[BradenM4]

Very interesting answers guys, ok first of all this is exactly what the o/p on GT was talking about some say don't load them to full, others saying load them to full.