How Long Can You Leave Magazines Loaded?
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2022
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How long can you leave magazines loaded? Metal? Polymer? Steel lined? The answer is simpler than you might think...
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It depends on price, when ammo is high it will stay in mags much longer than when the price is down
Best comment lmao
Ahhhh RIGHT🤣🤣 10/10 comment
Or when ammo is high you have a lot of empty mags because you have nothing to load them with.
So damn true
Well done!🤣
"How Long Can You Leave Magazines Loaded?"
Forever. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk
thanks for saving me a few words.
😆😆😆😆
I feel like they should only be loaded when anticipating use, just to limit "wear & tear", but I'll finish the video anyway 💯
American Rifleman did an article on .45 Auto Mags loaded since WW2 that were worked fine in the mid 80;s.
My father and I loaded up some 15 round M1 Carbine mags some time between 1979 and 81. I just shot off those 5 mags about a week ago after inheriting the gun. I wanted to test them and make room for fresh ammo. Each worked flawlessly after 43 years loaded and stored in a bedroom closet. I have had a few AK mags loaded for over 15 years and they scored a 100% too.
Thank you for this reply because I didn't feel like unloading all that
I used to carry a handgun when I was a probation officer. Left the mags loaded for about 30 years, locked in the closet. They all fired flawlessly. (was not ever left in the garage though - so pretty consistent temps and humidity for 30 ish years)
Honest question. What happened when you reloaded those mags and shot again? Thank you in advance.
@@jnph1979 Not sure if you're asking me or the original poster about the AR magazines. But mine work fine. The gun and mags were bought used around 1985. Still run flawlessly. 9mm
What I have read about the spings in magazines is that their lifespan is measured in how many times they are loaded and unloaded - so, compressed and released. Compressing one time (loading) and leaving compressed even for a long time is still only one time compressing.
@TeranRealtor that's good to know. 👍
My Dad was a metallurgist and mocked me for not leaving my mags loaded.
It’s all about spring cycling…
Great video and channel!
Thank you.
Spring cycling AKA fatigue life.
It’s like the opposite of what so many people think!
ONLY PROBLEM COMES FROM REAL CHEAP OR REAL DIIRTY MAGS.
Talked to a metallurgist about this years ago. A spring can be compressed almost indefinitely without losing it’s spring rebound. It’s the act of compressing and relieving that wears it out….IF the spring uses the correct alloy AND was properly heat treated. Often, that’s the failure point.
I don't believe that a metallurgist would say something like that, because it isn't true, not entirely anyway. Music Wire springs are particularly subject to a time-dependent stress relaxation at room temperature, as well as elevated temperatures. The spring is losing free length as it stays compressed. The number of complete cycles that a magazine spring can be expected to see is so low as to be completely trivial. Fatigue is not what causes a magazine spring to wear out.
17-7 stainless, which is the material that most AR-15 mag springs are made of, is an alloy that has outstanding room-temp and elevated-temp stress relaxation characteritics. I expect a 17-7 magazine spring to exert a force within design parameters indefinitely when left fully-loaded. Can't say the same for the plastic magazine body, which is in tension (I have no idea, really, the stresses on it might be completely trivial).
There are plenty of magazine and other springs in other weapons that are made from music wire. The alloying elements and alloy content is too low to give it anything resembling enviable long-term storage characteristics.
@@hunterbidensaidslesion1356 dude,this is social media. I stopped reading after 10 words
Exactly.
@@hunterbidensaidslesion1356 Music strings are under tension. Mag springs are under compression.
Totally correct
In 2020 I found a long lost range bag that I thought I lost back on 2001. The 5 AK mags that were in it were loaded with 29 rounds in each and had been loaded for 19 years. They ran fine when I shot them. No problems whatsoever.
@XTHE12THMONKEYX John Lovell will give you all the reasons about that ;-)
Full 29 is jus fine lol!
Those particular mags would always misfeed on the first round with 30 in it. 29 rounds for some reason didn't give me any issues. They're manufactured back in the 90's.
@@farhan.naushad John Lovell was referring specifically to AR15 magazines, which often require significantly more effort to seat on a closed bolt when loaded with 30 rounds versus downloading one round. AK magazines load a different way that kind of makes it a non-issue unless you have a problem like the OP's, where the magazine malfunctioned when fully loaded.
But, what about the springs?
The 1996 50th Anniversary edition of Gun Digest had an article in it where the author had been a WW2 vet. During his service he had acquired a 1911 that came with 2 mags, one he used all the time while the other one was loaded in 1945 and never ended up getting used so for 50 years it sat fully loaded with 7 rounds. He decided to finally shoot it and all 7 rounds fed flawlessly so when properly stored a magazine can last quite a long time.
We received this question quite often as well, which is exactly what prompted our video on the topic! Great video Eric.
Self promotion on someone else's channel is tacky, just sayin.
1 year late man@@dustinh4175
My dad had an AR mag he found that had been loaded since the 90s and we shot it a year or so ago and it ran fine.
LOL
Metal or poly mag?
@@miragetime2241 90s probably metal I bet.
@@tonysudano778 Metal mags back then. Only Metal. Heavy Metal. The right way.
@@grimtooth2336 well aluminum
I know a guy at my local range who found loaded M14 mags from the late 50’s in his humid Maine barn. All 120 rounds fired like they were brand new, no malfunctions.
Shout out Maine lmao
There’s a video on yt here where a guy pulled out 10+ year old mags who were loaded and they all ran perfectly fine ( Steelies is what he had , unsure about the Pmags )
@@OneSlowCbr I got Pmags loaded in my bug out vest for almost 3 years now!!!
@@OneSlowCbr aluminum ones are dodgy, but yeah steel ones that have just a drop of oil rubbed on the spring and brushed on the body last forever. I have like 3 steel old school Colt 5.56 mags I’ve had loaded for close to 5ish years, not in a safe, just somewhere in my closet in Michigan, no rust at all, springs seem fine. I might just go fire one to see how they work now that you mention it, I forgot about it lmao
@@randomwrestlingthemes524 I personally love my Pmags in my personal opinion they look better and feed a little better
Answer = As long as you want
Thank you
Thank you Eric for bringing common sense AND science to this topic. It's so refreshing to see someone with the experience that you obviously have and knowledge of the issue presented with your unique style and likeabllity. Thanks for your service to America also.
For as long as you want. The spring is not affected until you start loading and reloading the mag. Had mine loaded with 29 rounds for over 10 years, all run great!
Why not 30 rounds?
Same here I have 30 rounds
They work great
If you leave a magazine loaded long enough the spring will lose its "memory." How long? Depends on the spring. I know this from personal experience. I have left magazines loaded for extended periods of time (a few years) without ever doing anything else to them and when I did get around to using the magazine the spring did not function correctly. They are just springs. They are not magic.
@bp516 29 rounds make it easier to seat the magazine with a closed bolt.
@@bp516 Probably had one in the chamber.
Shot a magazine that had been loaded since the 90s and it shot fine
Great....so forever sounds good to me
Good enough for me thanks
Come on now why did you just now shoot it after 30 plus years I don't believe that statement at all I do believe you can leave them loaded which I do
Magazines don't shoot .....
@@IrnMaiden304 no shit really!! I didn't know that but you still have to shoot them when you put them in the firearm
I’ve never had a serious mag issue after leaving mags loaded for over a year or 2. But like he said in the video its a good idea to check them every so often. I normally try to unload them once a year. I also have about 6 or so mags I keep in the original packaging.
The ONLY issue I have ever experienced appeared as a mag issue, but is really a shell issue. Leaving plastic shotgun shells loaded into 5+ round mags for long periods has caused me issues feeding those shells, but that was because they had clearly started to deform due to the pressure.
If only the US government weren't subjugating the people of the US, I could probably afford brass 12ga shells like our grand dad's grand dads did in WWI for wet trench warfare.
Very well done. I love your video because you include the science behind your answer and help people to understand when and how to make certain decisions. Excellent!
Effectively forever as long as they're stored right. Shooter's Bible did a test back in the 90s with 1911 mags that had been loaded sometime during WW1. Both the mags and ammo worked great. Some cheap polymer magazines can bulge or get damaged.
It's not surprising. Unloading (or firing) and then loading again repeatedly decreases the life of springs due to the back and forth bending of metal. Springs under stationary compression do not wear out
Funny. All 12 of my Wilson Combat 8 rounders went bad after a year downloaded to 7 rounds each. But those bimetallic old-school M1911 (not M1911A1) mags lasted over 70 years... I call bullshit though.
@@mattmarzula I don't understand. Bull about which part?
@@mattmarzula Pretty sure you were using those mags, the 1911 mags were never unloaded all these years.
@@brucebelvin2058 ehhhhhh for all practical purposes in this specific instance you are correct however there is still wear from constant pressure. This was actually an air rifle but basically I accidentally left it cocked for like 6 months and when I went to use it again I noticed my chronograph showing like 5-8% reduced fps, took me so long to figure it out but ya that spring was permanently deformed. Now it does matter way more with air guns as having the valve open for a fraction of a second longer makes alot of difference and i do have a g26 in my center console that's been there for even longer and I'm confident it will go bang if I need it to go bang but I wouldn't go as far as saying it has no effect.
I was talking about this with my dad and he made a great point "you dont jack your car up when you aren't driving it" it's the compression and decompression that's wearing them out.
Wow thats an excellent comparison 👏
Except not driving your car can jack it up. Dead battery, tire rot, fluid breakdown, moisture buildup in the fluids, etc. Not the best comparison of leaving things alone for long periods of time.
Your car takes bullets?
@@ryanespinoza7297 i think he just referring to the springs on the shocks specifically, comparing the mag spring to the shock spring
@@ryanespinoza7297 He's specifically talking about the suspension. Barring significant rust or outright abuse, the springs will often far outlive the automobile.
Thermold used to make some magazines where you could unlatch an inner portion from the outer shell and that would allow the spring to expand and decompress for storage which is actually a brilliant solution. It made them easier to load to capacity too. And at least when the springs were new you could get some additional capacity and they were even marketed as being 30/45 rounders.
One exception that should be mentioned is magazine fed shotguns.
I used to own a saiga 12 and while it wasn’t a problem with the magazine, shotgun shells that were allowed to sit in the mag for more than a few weeks would begin to compress and deform causing feeding issues.
wtf
Yeah that’s why in my pump action I just keep one in the chamber loaded, with the shell holder on the side for reloading and extra ammo on its case it sits next to for deployment. If I need to be silent I have an all steel Taurus Judge in my nightstand drawer.
Edit: MAGAZINE TUBES ARE NO DIFFERENT (for pump shotties)
You keep one in the chamber of your shotgun???? I don't think shotguns are drop safe so be careful with that
@@maymayman0 I know it’s not drop safe, don’t worry it’s propped up so it can’t fall unless I drop it. Thank you friend
Interesting. I own a Kalashnikov USA KS12TFS and I have never experienced that.
I will keep an eye out for it. I keep a loaded mag in it at all times.
I have owned it for 4 years, and I have never had any type of failure with it running Federal Slugs.
I found a long lost trebuchet from the middle ages in my barn with a flaming boulder still in it. It continues to run fine with zero malfunctions.
pics or it didnt happen
I inherited my great great great great great grandfather's uncle's 12th century arbalest with a bolt "chambered' and the 4900 lb force windlass cocked...
I took it to the range yesterday and accidentally discharged it into the range master's neck.
So.... it still worked!!!
I have a rock from the Pleistocene.
Works fine…
😎
@@michaelgarrow3239 what kind of pressure was it stored under? Bah dum bump 🥁
Good find! 😂
Hey Eric, I served in the early/mid 80's, I decided to do my own curiosity test about 1984 so, here's what I did. I loaded 5 GI 20 rounders with 55 gr hardball with the intent to shoot one every ten years. 94 fed, fired and functioned fine, so did 2004 and 2014. Good lord willing, I'll let ya'll know the results in 2 years and 2034. I expect they'll do just fine. BTW, the mags were roughly 8 years old when I loaded them in 84. Should be interesting.
That's commitment! Did you make any video? If not you should. A lot of people would find it interesting watch you use those 30+ year old loaded mags and what's your opinion on them. If it fires the same or you feel any difference. I think that would be nice.
Very cool!
@@LOSTTEMPLAR No sir, no video. Honestly, I never thought about it, I figured I might be the only guy around that might be interested in such. When I shoot the next mag in 2024, I'll do just that, thanks for the idea. So far there has been no noticeable difference, they still have good tension and have fed just fine. I use a few of these older mags all the time, they still have the aluminum followers and the original springs. I don't thrash them, they're for easy range use but it's interesting to me just how long they can be used. I remember when these old aluminum 20 rd mags were considered fairly disposable. As long as the body and feed lips are GTG, I'll just replace springs and followers as needed, they might outlive me. I do also use more modern mags but I like old things that still work...Like me.
Doing the Lord's work!
Awesome test🙌🏽 Very informative. Stay blessed.
An answer to a question I've had for years! And as I was watching you go through the details, I remembered my old Winchester 190 .22 semi-auto with it's long spring in the tube that would go over 14 LR. rounds in the holding chamber under the barrel!
Depends on the quality of the mag, we had hk steel mags that where permanently loaded for years (apart from monthly cleaning and maintenance) polymer mags particularly in hot weather where rotated not just because of feed lip issues but the bodies bulged (magpul e mag) and there where issues with spines separating
as someone who literally "designed" and fabricated springs for a living, (car suspension, guns, pens, you name it) i can give my professional opinion.
There is a thing called "endurance limit" and that is defined as the stress level below which the material can be cycled indefinitely without failure.
IF and i mean IF the magazine spring was designed so that being completely loaded/unloaded did not exceed the stress level at which the metal starts to fatigue, then theoretically it could be left loaded for years, and be cycled countless times. (think about valve springs in an engine)
That being said,a load that exceeds the endurance limit will start to restructure the spring. Stretching it will also really degrade the structure of the spring and should be really avoided. It will give a dead spring a tiny bit more life though if that's really all you have.
TLDR: a Steel spring (if designed right) can theoretically outlast even the rifling in the barrel or parts of the action. You want to keep the magazine spring below tension limit though SO WHEN YOU KEEP IT LOADED FOR MONTHS, TAKE OUT A ROUND OR 2 TO KEEP IT UNDER ENDURANCE LIMIT. Also a really cheap magazine will probably not have the best spring, and will degrade much faster. So buy a good mag
This is a great post. The main worry then becomes the individual magazine and whether or not they were engineered properly.
Because of this, when I store my mags I just err on the side of caution and down-load them to 28 or 29.
I had never actually thought about valve springs before. Literally billions of compression/decompressions in the lifetime of a car!
Ya which is why stretching a magazines spring is one of the worst things you can do for it.
@FPScanada unrelated but is it better to leave my car on jack stands so I can put my wheels in the garage to prevent weather crack or better to leave it on the car regularly grounded?
That's exactly what I do keep 2 out
@@chrissaint-victor1606 concrete sucks oil out of the tire . The ground does not. I know this because I keep my camper on rubber mats on a concrete slab concrete will literally suck all the oil out of a tire and create bumps as well
They had us perform "magazine maintenance" in Mosul every few weeks. Which was emptying the mags, pulling the spring, and stretching them out. Then pack it all back up. Good intentions I'm sure, but I feel they accelerated the expiration date of the mags we had. Great video. Thank you for the content you produce.
I did that and it seems to have made the feeding problems worse. I had double feeds and one round somehow popped backwards getting stuck between the frame and the bolt. It took pliers to get it out.
@@rwdchannel2901 Yeah, stretching spring steel work hardens it, and by becoming more hard the metal becomes more brittle, more easy to break. Elastic vs plastic deformation, if you stay within elastic deformation the metal remains in the exact same atomic structure, when you go into plastic deformation the grain structure of the metal changes.
My buddies captain while stationed in Iraq used to have everyone stretch their mag springs during pmcs too.. Even the ones they were newly issued.. Quick way to ruin a good magazine, and this pigeon religion of spring stretching is still being passed around in the military unfortunately.. All it does is ruin the springs temper and causes a cycle of having to continue to stretch them everytime you load them to keep them working. A proper mag spring will last tens of thousands of compressions/decompressions. It'll take a "set" in the first few times it's loaded (where the spring gets a little shorter) but this is normally taken into account on any quality magazine, which is also why they're harder to load at first.
Well unless you got sand and dirt in those mags, I don't see the point in mag maintenance. But I guess if you were on the battlefield for months you never know what crud can sneak in there
Ugh. Why do people do this stuff? Terrible idea.
This Vid just showed up on my feed. Glad I checked it out! Great info! Thank you.
EXCELLENT INFO.... we've been wondering also!
My wife and I haven't purchased our weapons yet but, I've had this question "nagging me" in the back of my mind for a long long time.
Thanks for the great feedback.
Amen
Retired, Veteran
Shot multiple mags from my Grandpa's old 1945 M1, loaded in the early 70's. Worked perfectly.
Good video 👍
I've always left mags near full for very long periods of time. Never had any issues. Just pulled out some old GI mags with magpul followers and some Gen 2 Pmags that I loaded 8 years ago. All shot great. I still have 7 or 8 mags that have been loaded for about 8 years. I have no worries about their reliability. Don't try this with TULA! I did, and they rusted up bad after only 2 years. ( a little sanding and they all still shot). Mags were fine.
Thanks for this video! Always wondered as I keep mine loaded pretty much at all times, even in the safe
I’m new to firearms, so thank you, your video was very helpful. May God bless you, sir!
I have magazines from 1911’s that have been compressed now for about 30+ years. I have rifle mags that have been loaded for 15-20 years until I finally rotate through them at the range. I’ve been doing this slow cycle now for four decades. The springs last a lifetime just “sitting” there compressed.
Thanks for the info. I'll be keeping my mags loaded now.
Springs wear when they go up and down up and down…. Loaded to empty loaded to empty…
That's what I thought. I've had glock mags sit loaded for 10 years and they work fine.
I have kept some Glock mags loaded for years now and I've been concerned if that will be an issue, but after reading these comments I'm reaffirmed that it is not an issue.
lmao same
I shot my 1991 31 year old (.40 Glock 23 cal) magazine three months ago. Factory mag from Glock (13 rnds) and had no hickups. That's right 31 years later. I was 24 then and now 55.
As long as your mag is well lubed, left in a low humidity and dark environment. She can outlive your lifetime and still function.
Desert Storm US ARMY VET comment.
I understand the problem. You need to shoot more often. 😂
@@grimtooth2336 I've never lubed any Glock mags and never had any issues
@@grimtooth2336 hopefully you only use dry powder lube. Dont oil mags
I grew up in California in the Bay Area so videos like this are pretty nice to have and learn from. A lot of people kinda shit on others for lacking the knowledge they grew up learning and now have an understanding by default that a lot of other people don’t, so I appreciate you making these videos.
Thanks for making this video - this has been a question I've had for a long time. Good Info
I always heard springs lose tension after repeated cycles of being compressed and decompressed but not really so much just from staying compressed. You could probably leave then for a lifetime if the spring was lubricated well and didnt rust
Yes ,I didn't know that until just recently.
Feed lips are the biggest concern for long term storage
@@yupyup4209 i would worry more about the ammo than the magazine. Humidity will ruin your bullets. I used to swap the spare mag i kept in my car every few weeks and use the ammo that had been sitting in the car at the range when i replaced it with freshies.
Andrew Conrad did a video a couple days ago where he checked some P-mags (I think they was P-Mags) that had been left fully loaded for five years and they worked just fine, he did some drills with them and they worked perfectly. I suggest folks to check out that video it shows that they do in fact hold for a long time.
Can confirm, I had two metal Ruger pistol magazines that were loaded for... not quite a decade, but many, many years.
they both work like a charm still now that I've started shooting again (and so did the ammo)
I have my old service pistol magazines loaded as they have been for 31 years and they have always worked great!
Great points, Eric! I’ve had duty mags loaded for 15+ years uncycled and they still work fine when actually used. Definitely used that cap provided by Magpul.
I did for 13 months with some cheep AR military mags, they still worked fine. The only mag failure I have ever had was with an old metal Beretta mag. What happened was the bottom of the mag started to separate from the spring tension, which lead to a feeding issue.
Yep, our M16 20-round mags were loaded and stayed that way for months at a time... dragged `em through dirt, water and mud just to be sure... admittedly we routinely only loaded 18 rounds in a 20 round mag, but never had an issue that I recall... eventually converted to a 12ga shotgun (Savage/Stevens 77E), but nothing to do with the reliability of the M16 or any gadgets...
You're the best !! Thank you for all the much needed info 🙏
Thanks I have been thinking about replacing the springs in my 1942 M1 carbine, glad you mentioned Wolfgunsprings🇺🇸👍🏼
Personal experience here. I found 7 of my P-mags after a move that have been loaded for around 8-9 years. Loaded with some ammo that was cheap from Walmart too. Stuff fireballed like mad. Took them with me about 4 months ago to the range and decided to dump them all and then reload and shoot about 300 rounds that day. ALL functioned perfect. AR was a build I did my self, not an off the shelf build. Not a single hiccup or failure or any type. Loaded them, stash them, use them when needed. They will work.
I've kept magazines loaded for years never had a problem the problem is when you need them loaded and you need your weapon ready to fire right now this second and all your magazines are unloaded for whatever reason that's the problem not the spring wearing out that is not a problem
This was a question that I struggled with when I was a first time gun owner. I knew the answer before I watched your video, but I'm glad to see someone who definitely knows what they are talking about address this issue again.
I had just had a customer trade in an old Beretta Jetfire he purchased in 1979, he told me that he loaded the magazine when he got it but never shot it even a single time, so the magazine has been loaded for 45 years. After a little a quick strip down and clean up, the magazine works flawlessely and the spring is still nice and tight.
I have done a lot of gunsmithing work, and this is just one of many examples Ive seen that spring USAGE wears out springs, NOT tension while held in storage.
Agency firearms lead instructor for decades. Once left an older 3 metal sided Glock 22 mag fully loaded for 10 years. Worked fine 10 years later. In comparison to Pmags AR mags even those older Glock mags had metal all the way up the lips. I also use the Pmag loaded clips and leave them loaded for months, they work fine after months being fully loaded.
A subtle yet important question and you provided excellent guidance on mag maintenance! Thanks!
Yes you can leave them loaded as long as they are in the same conditions you would keep your ammo
Well done and thank you . Great for shooters of all levels. If we know , great and if you didn't and you are new to this world shoot safe and follow the rules. Thank you for your service Vet.
I have some pmags that have been loaded for about 10 years. They run fine and have not split.
I always learn something from Eric. I clicked out of confirmation bias, as I have been telling people for years about spring wear in magazines. I did not know those "dust covers" were "feed lip protectors".
They are not. Talked to Magpul about it. They are just dust covers and the feed lips are designed with the strength to have it loaded indefinitely.
@@MattDonkin430 that also makes sense... that makes the most sense actually.
The new ones don't even come with the covers.
I appreciate your approach and presentation. I am relatively new to firearms and had been given bad info regarding magazines. Thanks for believing this subject worthy of a segment. I am now a subscriber, and will be checking out other segments!
Welcome to a vast group of people who simply want their God-given right to defend themselves and loved ones. Learn as much as you can as long as you can.
Thank you this answers a few questions I’ve had about magazines and guns.
Back during OIF/OEF we discovered our magazines might feed one or two before they stopped feeding completely. Our Life Support probably left those magazines loaded for 8 years and checked those magazines out to us aircrew and never knew that those springs were so badly damaged for who knows how long.
when my uncle, a world war 2 vet stationed in the European theater, passed away two decades ago his 45 1911 that he had and never turned in, he put it away loaded in a trunk with all his other souvenirs it was eventually given to my cousin and as she kept it in a box, having no desire to keep it she gave it to my brother. we took it out to the desert and it having been loaded and cocked since 1947, fired all 8 rounds after being stowed away for over 70 years., so yeah not every Magazine will serve up the same stamina yet there again....
Very helpful keep pumping out the info 👍🏽
Eric that is great information! I always toss those mag covers, but I won't be doing so from now on..
Good video, I've left PMAGs loaded for 5 to 7 years-- some with no top cover, and they ran just fine with no bulge. Even if something does happen with Poly mags, they're cheap/ easy enough to replace.
"They're cheap/easy enough to replace" for now.
What does the top cover actually do? I just got my first gun yesterday and two pmags should I keep the cover on them?
@@bradfarley3051 yea read my mind…those words will be a memory for to long
@@angeloc1340 The top cover removes all pressure from the feed lips, and instead applies it evenly to the front and back of the magazine. It also functions as a shock absorber for dropped magazines. This is the primary reason the cover is needed.
@@bradfarley3051 I guess I should have added that lol, best stock up now then huh.
The first poly mags I ever got, being Tapco mags, which aren't made anymore, I've left them loaded well over 10 years now. Burned through that 10 year old Wolf ammo with no issues (all 90 rnds), reloaded them and now they sit again till I come across them again.
Thanks guys, I learnt something very valuable today, I have a Glock 17 with 2 mags and I maintain them full in the daytime when I travel around but I alternatively leave one empty at night to let the spring "rest". But I only have 1 mag full when I need it the most, at night when an intruder can come into my house. Now because of this video I learnt that I don't have to do that. That's great to know!
Imagine spelling learned learnt 😂 you shouldn't be a gun owner
Just found your channel, Excellent info that I always wondered about. Also great to see a Brother in Arms running a CZcams Channel:) Vietnam Veteran 1970-71. I liked and subscribed too. Lou
I have always been told that springs fail from being cycled, not left compressed. Think about how many barn found cars, motorcycles and piston engined aircraft have been found. In EVERY one of those, at least one valve has been open with the spring compressed for years. VERY rare to hear about a valve spring failure within the first 5 minutes of starting up a barn find.
Those valve springs are likely made of chrome-vanadium or chrome-silicon wire, steel alloys with much better stress-relaxation and creep resistance than music wire, and much lower operating stresses than weapon springs. They aren't comparable at all.
Quality magazines can be stored fully loaded 👍
Edit: Pmags and similar counts as quality magazines in my comment☝️
Good info! I simply load my AR and 30 round mags to 25. It is plenty rounds for a mag and takes the pressure way down on the spring over time
Trying new mags when a firearm starts malfunctioning is like restarting your computer when it starts acting funny....it often solves the problem!
Thanks for addressing this often asked question!
I remember someone doing a study on that. They found it was several years of being loaded without any appreciable loss of spring power.
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I have had many magazines of many types loaded anywhere from recently to 35 years ago, and they all work just fine. If you want to wear them out, use them rather than storing them loaded for long periods.
Really good info. Thanks
Thanks! This answered my question and then some. Didn't know you could replace the springs.
All my PMAGs stay loaded. They’ve never been bad on malfunctions, but one of them has gotten a little wider to where it wouldn’t drop free. Only one of them though
Spring steel has a specific “stretchiness” limit. If the steel never reaches that limit, it can effectively last an infinite number of cycles.
Eh. It's not infinite, but for our purposes, it counts.
Look up "duty cycles" in a machine design textbook and get back to us. Given all load parameters, and knowing the properties of the material in exhaustive detail, it is entirely possibly to make springs that would effectively last forever if kept away from the thermal and corrosive effects of fatigue. It's almost certainly cost prohibitive (weight and magazine companies' bottom lines, too). But it's definitely doable.
The OP was very close to spot on.
If the magazine has been designed properly, the magazine spring stress under a full load is still within the elastic limit of the stress/strain curve. It will last "forever".
But, LONG enough, and I mean REALLY long, probably longer than your lifetime, something called "creep" occurs, where deformation happens over time while being stressed less than the elastic limit. This is why you see bent telephone poles, canted toward the side holding the lines.
@@andrewjohnson6907 Creep is measurable at 10 years loaded. It is not enough to cause the magazine to cease to function reliably.
@@phil2082 springs do settle, for sure. But you're right, settling doesn't make them not work.
With that said, I loaned out an AR15 to someone for a while and they apparently stored it with the bolt locked open.
It needed a new buffer spring when I got it back.
Thank you for the information!
Makes sense, it’s like metal fatiguing a paper clip. You can bend it but the more you do, it’ll break.
It also depends on the individual magazine. I have two OEM mags for my Colt gov't model. One is a standard 7-rounder, the other is a goofy 8-rounder. Both are Colt magazines, but the 8-rounder is weak and almost wearing out after only two years of light use.
That's very true, not every magazine spring is made to the same standard. Some companies aren't great quality to begin with compared to others; Not to mention a shipment may be tempered incorrectly ect or the company outsourced to a lesser quality manufacturer of springs. But any quality mag made from good spring steel and tempered correctly ect should last thousands upon thousands of loadings/unloadings
FOREVER. You can leave them loaded for the rest of your human existance.
As long as they are kept in a good environment
Tanks for that I been wondering myself that cool beans my guy 👍🏽💯
THANKS BROTHERMAN, YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS SUBJECT IN FULL!!!!👍👍😊🤟🤘😍
Yep! Totally OK, as long as they're stored in a clean dry place, corrosion on the springs is the only thing that you have to worry about. The rumors started I believe in the Korean War, some magazine springs were made of poor quality steel and would lose tension after a dozen loading cycles and some soldiers believed that to be a standard thing with all magazines, which started the rumor. I've seen magazines found in safes that have been sitting there loaded for 60 years and still function like-new.
One of my first gun was a cheap pocket 380, bought used. The last round would jam often & I quickly figured out it was worn springs in the mags. After new mags cycling was great & rarely a misfire or jam. Good lesson to learn.
Going to put my covers on right now! Thanks
Thanks for the information.
I cycled my M4 and M9 mags once a week when I was deployed by unloading the magazine, stretching the spring out, and reloading the magazine the next day. I never experienced a magazine-related failure, or any failure, for that matter, when it mattered. There are better magazine springs than we had, especially for the M9, but no matter how good the spring, it's just common sense to make sure they continue to work.
Best comment on this feed brother real talk i never had a spring ware out on me period
From other posts here it sounds like stretching your spring out might cause more wear and tear. I am no expert so that's just a thought.
Not that it matters as most modern springs in the magazines will last longer than the guns they are feeding. But the loading and unloading was doing more harm than good.
I’m always learning something new! I never knew, that the plastic piece, that comes with the polymer mags, was used like that! I usually throw them out! This literally, blew my mind! Lol! Thanks again for bringing us some damn good content! Thank you and God bless!
You know what else will blow your mind? Look at your asshole in a mirror!! I’ll never be the same!!
Magpul stated they were t really designed for that and don't do much. That said, I keep em.on anyway because it does take the top round just slightly below the feed lips
Thanks for your valuable info.
Love this type of video, would love to see more in 2024 :)
I've kept a chest rig filled with mags of m855 since I bought my rifle two years ago. Shot through every mag last weekend - they all worked just fine.
A
Another thing to be aware of is that the higher the capacity of the magazine the stronger the spring the stronger the spring the more pressure on the feedlips therefore a higher capacity magazine if fully loaded will experience feed lip spread sooner.
How long do you think it would take for a 30 pmag to start seeing issues with the feed lips?
@@jonhudgins9059 if you use their snap-on dust cover indefinitely.
Thanks man. Has been in the back of my mind for awhile.
Thanks for the video. Relatively novice here. I never thought about the spring in the magazine lifespan over time.
I have left mags loaded for over a decade. Full capacity. Never a single issue.
Dude, I appreciate the knowledge you have about gunsmithing, and sharing it with us. This made me realize I wasted my college education on some boring stuff, and should have went to gunsmithing school.
Education is never wasted.
Great comment! Technical training is the backbone of America!
Thanks I needed this, cause I leave one In my Gym bag/bed side / truck at all times lol
Thanks for sharing this information , I have several different magazines and was wondering about this very thing , I also cycle them around every 6 months , thanks again , and especially for your service to our country ? 🇺🇸
Those little Magpul covers are best used when the mag is stored "fully loaded". When it is loaded full, the pressure against the feed lips is very high, so the cover prevents feed lip damage and keeps dirt out of a stored loaded magazine. If you leave the cover off of an empty mag, the pressure on the feed lips is not an issue, as it's almost nothing by comparison to a loaded mag.
magpul says covers just keep dirt out.
@Stuck ‘n’ Stoned ...Nah. It's mainly just meant to keep dirt out. It also helps when twice as much pressure is on the feed lips when loaded for long term storage, but that's sort of a side benefit.
@@Sageofthe16 That's what Magpul says, but when you put it on, it depresses the rounds just like IV8888 said. So whatever pressure was directly on the feed lips is now relieved.
Eric never implied that the covers must be used on empty mags. It’s wise to just keep the covers on the mags so you don’t lose them. That’s the main reason you snap them on to empty mags.
None of my magpul mags came with covers
Until you need them, that's how long.
Thx for the informative video. . . RIP Barry. . . ✌️
Thanks for your video, I found the answer I have been wondering about. I shoot a Walther PDP 4.5in and PDP Compact, about 10,000 rounds through the fullsize and 5,000 through the compact. I have range mags and carry mags with hollow points that I leave loaded. I was talking to the range master where I shoot and he said he empties his carry gun every nite and reloads in the morning, I will have to show him your video. Thanks again, just subscribed and look forward to more of your videos.
Loading and unloading mags is the thing that wears them the most over time. In compression a spring isn’t experiencing that much load. Somebody did a great video on this a while back that explained the physics of a simple spring, and that’s all it is.
Not sure why I wrote this since Eric did a great job explaining it.
@@mattmurphy7030 Yeah for sure, the spring is experiencing force under compression, just not as much as when compressing and decompressing it (of course it’s constantly under that load when a mag is loaded, so over time I’m sure it wears it to some degree).