I carry for my job and at a recent range the instructor informed us to download our mags occasionally due to wearing out the spring. I know I've heard that's an urban legend so I told him that and he didn't like it!! Anyway...this question has been answered before but no one cited any references. If I'm going to argue my case I need some type of concrete reference, not just someone's opinion. Thanks in advance.
2007-08-09 18:09:47 · 11 answers · asked by Groundhogg 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Basically I'm getting similiar answers to an identical question 6 months ago. I would like to see evidence of either side. I would assume some manufacturer or military has done a study on this. I'm sure everyone has an opinion and/or exp. to back up answers, but that doesn't help me when discussing this issue with an instructor. And for the record this is a Glock .45 G.A.P. Thanks for hte answers so far.
2007-08-09 19:03:08 · update #1
A steel spring has no 'memory'. It doesn't decide it wants to stay compressed because it's been compressed over a long period of time. A spring WILL lose strength if it has been pushed past it's design limits or operated through very many cycles of compression and release through a process called metal fatigue. People are actually wearing their magazines out slightly faster by loading and unloading them to give the springs a vacation.
I have 8-10 mags for my M1911A1 a few dozen for my M-1 Carbine and four each for my AK and AR-15, none of which have ever failed to function due to a weak spring, and several of them are upwards of fifty years old. The only magazines I've seen fail to feed have bent feed lips or dented (sometimes almost imperceptibly) sides that bind on the spring, follower or ammunition.
I also have quite a bit of experience with springs in other applications and can tell you it's NOT being under a constant load that weakens the spring but the number of compression and release cycles or some sort of abuse.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_163_27/ai_99130369
2007-08-10 01:42:56 · answer #1 · answered by gunplumber_462 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Does keeping a magazine fully loaded all the time wear the spring out faster than if I unload it occasionally?
I carry for my job and at a recent range the instructor informed us to download our mags occasionally due to wearing out the spring. I know I've heard that's an urban legend so I told him that and he didn't like it!! Anyway...this question has been answered before but no one cited any...
2015-08-16 16:43:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
This was a major concern with the military using the new m-16's in Nam. Rifle men starting loading 16 rounds into a 20 round magazine due to the bad springs.
It can happen to any gun out there.
Best advice is rotate your magazines and don't leave them fully loaded if you don't have to. Per say over your weekend or if your not carrying for a while.
2007-08-09 20:16:18 · answer #3 · answered by shdwkat2099 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get several extra magazines, and rotate the loaded magazines monthly.
Magazine springs taking a set is NOT AN URBAN LEGEND!!! IT HAPPENED TO ME!!!
About 12 years ago, I went to the shooting range with a friend. It was the first time I'd been able to go in about 6 months.
I drew my Colt Stainless Officers' ACP and shot the target. When I pulled the trigger again, nothing happened. After waiting a minute in case of hangfire, I opened the slide and the chamber was empty. I cycled the slide three or four times and the top round in the magazine was just not popping up enough to be caught by the slide. I nearly puked.
Two weeks earlier, my wife and I had gone down to Jackson, and four gangbangers thought we looked like victims. When I drew that .45 and they looked down the barrel, they suddenly remembered an urgent appointment on the other side of town and hauled buggy out of there. The pistol had been loaded with the magazine that failed to feed. If I'd been forced to shoot, I could well have been killed.
That is not the end of the story. Of the six magazines I had with me, FIVE of the springs had taken a set.
The following Monday, I ordered Chip McCormick Shooting Star Added Capacity Springs for all my magazines. I have never fully loaded a magazine since them. Thanks to the added capacity of the McCormick springs, I can still have seven rounds in my standard magazines and six in the Officers' ACP magazines and still not have the springs fully compressed.
Since that time, I've rarely carried a semi-automatic pistol for defense.
Sure I've been told by folks that they had magazines that had been loaded 50 years and still worked perfectly. Good for them, but my magazines took a set. Don't push your luck, rotate those magazines!!!
And you owe the instructor an apology.
Doc
2007-08-09 18:24:15 · answer #4 · answered by Doc Hudson 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
It has been said that if you keep the spring compressed with a full load for a long period , that it would retain some of that compression. I have seen no such evidence. I served in the Corps for ten years and have been an avid firearms collector since I was old enough to buy. Don't worry. Sorry I can't be anymore definitive.
2007-08-09 18:18:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the age of the magazine. If you have a 1911 and have mags made in the 60's then yes the metals then were different than the metals now. If you have a Glock no worries. Put one round in the magazine and see if the tension holds it in place that is the test..
2007-08-09 18:41:19 · answer #6 · answered by Reston 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
a spring is a metal with a particular density and volume in it, also,it has its oun tried and tested resistance,
But it is advisable to keep the magazine clean and empty to mentain the life of the spring in it.
Also while filling it never fill with its given capacity but with 1 or 2 cartriges less.
Also at theshooting range it is advisable to follow and adhere to the rule of the range and the instructions given by the trainer.
Only then you can become a good shooter to win the olympics.
2007-08-09 19:15:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
That is an urban legend. Keeping a magazine loaded will not sinificantly reduce the life of the spring.
2007-08-09 18:13:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
That's what the army's told me, although I've heard that the damage takes anywhere between 3 days and 6 months. Simple physics tells you that if you keep the spring compressed constantly, you'll ruin it at some point.
2007-08-09 18:14:34 · answer #9 · answered by DOOM 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Many years ago, this was true. Modern springs, however, don't suffer from this. Better steel, better springs.
2007-08-10 14:29:49 · answer #10 · answered by tyrsson58 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋