Loaded Magazines

[whichwatch]

Any opinions on how long it's recommended leaving a 1911 magazine loaded before swapping it out for another and relieving spring tension.
I know steel and springs have come a long way over the years. I hear of guys who never worry about it and they say they will function reliably years after being loaded, and some say to swap them out on a regular basis. Thoughts??

 

[wayned]

I always rotated mine monthly.

 

[s4s4u]

I hear of guys who never worry about it and they say they will function reliably years after being loaded

I am in this camp ^^^

That said, I do shoot them empty a few times a year. I just don't worry about keeping a "pitch count"

 

[GunnyGene]

I don't worry about it. How often do you "rest" the hundreds of big and little springs in your flashlights, ball point pens, cars, or house? Likely never, and don't even think about it. :wink:

 

[bnewberry]

My understanding is that it is the cycle of a spring from relaxed state to compressed state and back to relaxed that causes spring set more than keeping a spring compressed over time.

 

[eveled]

I keep all of mine loaded all the time.

 

[oldreliable45120]

Think of it this way. I'm former military. The mag in my Colt combat commander I carried in the gulf war is still loaded with military ball. I wouldn't think twice about using it. We had stacks of loaded mags in the armory and everyone worked fine. When the yugo hit the fan you grab your stuff and go. There wasn't a " time out " to load your mags then go fight.

 

[1911Tuner]

In the summer of 1991, my step father's aunt died at age 97. A pistol was found in her attic, and none of her kids or grandkids knew what to do with it. It had belonged to his uncle Will, who was a town constable in Courtney, NC, and a part time railroad detective who had died in his sleep of a massive stroke. Aunt Emma had apparently found the gun...wrapped it in a diaper and placed it in a hat box...and left it in the attic.

He went to get the gun, and called me to come have a look because it appeared to be loaded. When I got there, he was holding a fairly pristine commercial Colt Government Model, which was later determined to have been built in 1922. The pistol was cocked with the safety engaged. The magazine held six rounds.

I dropped the magazine and cleared the pistol. After a cursory check, I reloaded the loose round into the magazine, then into the chamber...and I stepped out back and fired it seven times to slidelock. It functioned perfectly.

The kicker? Uncle Will died a few weeks before Black Friday...in 1929.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I dropped the magazine and cleared the pistol. After a cursory check, I reloaded
the loose round into the magazine, then into the chamber...and I stepped
out back and fired it seven times to slidelock. It functioned perfectly.

The kicker? Uncle Will died a few weeks before Black Friday...in 1929.

Good deal. I have several 15 round mag's that are for the M1 Carbine
that were still in their original WW-II wrappers that when I tried them.
They would only partially work. At first I thought the rifle had problems,
but I noticed that everything worked perfectly when I used the brand new
30 round mag.

Disassembled them, replaced the springs and they are great.

As they say . . . . YMMV. :shock:

P.S. I like the 15s more than the 30. 8)

 

[Jeepnik]

I pretty much get to the range weekly. The first thing I do is use up the ammo in which ever handgun I'm currently carrying.

Since I seem to be fickle about what I carry my magazines, clips, speed loaders or speed strips get emptied and refilled on a catch as catch can basis.

That being said, I've never had any mag spring fail.

 

[gtxmonte]

Magazine springs are made of "spring steel". Compressed or extended has ZERO effect on spring life. Working the spring is what fatigues a spring

 

[1911Tuner]

Magazine springs are made of "spring steel". Compressed or extended has ZERO effect on spring life. Working the spring is what fatigues a spring

It depends a lot on how good the spring is to start with. Working the spring will cause it to fatigue faster, but leaving it compressed will eventually do it, too...but most of them will take decades.

 

[hittman]

Last year I bought a 40 year old Colt SP1. It came with 4 or 5 genuine Colt brand 20 round magazines ..... all loaded. The gentleman told me he loaded the mags some time in the 1980's and hadn't fired the gun since.

Those functioned fine for me and still do.

 

[DGW1949]

I'm certainly no expert, but I've found that some gun designs will tolerate a wider variance in mag-spring pressure than others. I'm perty-sure that that has to do with timing relative to exactly when/where the top round is sitting as the breach block (or bolt) moves into the position which is supposed to strip it from the magazine.

Examples of what I'm trying to say would be my "as issued" 1911A1 and BHP, both of which run equally well whether they are being fed from an old mag which has a relatively weak mag-spring, or from a shiny new mag with a noticeably stronger spring.
On the other hand, I know from experience that a weak clip-ejector spring will cause feeding issues in a an M1 Rifle due to the fact that the top round aint always where it's supposed to be WHEN it is supposed to be there. Same thing with my Mini-14, meaning that I've got an old factory 20-rd mag that got so "weak" over the years that it started giving me feed issues...UNTILL...I reduced the volume of the gun's gas system which in turn, reduced the speed of the op-rod/bolt, which in turn gave the weakened mag-spring plenty-enough time to move the top round into it's correct position.

Yeah, I'm perty-sure that it's all related to "time 'n distance", or as I like to put it...timing...and like I said, some gun designs seem to be more tolerant in that aspect than others. Hence the different experiences we see being related by folks with different guns.

Like I said though, I'm certainly no expert. All I know is what I know.

DGW

 

[pruger45]

What good is an empty magazine? I don't keep them all loaded but most of them are!

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

I don't worry about it. How often do you "rest" the hundreds of big and little springs in your flashlights, ball point pens, cars, or house? Likely never, and don't even think about it. :wink:

You mean you don't jack your car up to take the load off of the springs every night ???
Maybe you just replace the springs once a year like I do???