Loading magazines to maximum capicity

[Kevin]

I’ve read several places where they say if you load 15 rounds in a 15 round capacity magazine, it might cause feeding issues. Or 17 rounds in a 17 round capacity magazine.

First IF it happens will those feeding issues be through the entire magazine? Or just the first round or two?

Second: are the problems usually with high capacity magazines? Or will an 8 round 1911 magazine exhibit the same issues?

I’ve not yet had this happen with any 10 round 22lr magazine, but am curious if some of the newer 15 and 17 round pistols I’ve bought recently could have this “problem.”

 

[kmoore]

That's all depends on the magazine, many older guns with mag springs be it flat or round. They could and would take a set. I will venture to say modern day semi auto firearms, that problem is gone. I will say it sure is with Glocks. On AR pmags I fill them up and leave them for years. Tested them and they still work 100%. As a dept firearms instructor Glock said fil them. We wanted cops to empty, rotate mags and fire off ammo each year. Some never did, I cannot remember any mag issuses. At about the 10 year mark we installed new springs in all dept Glocks. All of the springs were still full length when removed. The GI AR mags that was not the case old mags came out with some that had set shorter than allowed. Others can comment on different guns, I don;t have hands on proof of others.

 

[RoninPA]

Man, you've got some questions today don't you ? :). I wonder who "they" are and what "they" base their theory on? If that were the case, wouldn't a 5 round magazine have problems with all 5 rounds being inserted? Or a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 25, 30, 50 round magazine? High capacity magazines might be tougher to load that last round or two but that is probably because of the new spring. That spring will loosen a bit with use and loading gets a bit easier. I'd rather have a bit tighter spring initially than a loose one. It was explained to me that a magazine spring loses its ability to move the ammo up, down, sideways the more it is loaded and unloaded over the years.

Now, my opinion only; if a fully loaded 15/17 round magazine is regularly causing feeding issues, then maybe the magazine wasn't designed correctly for that particular firearm- hmmm

 

[contender]

I see a lot of USPSA competition shooters who use high capacity handgun magazines, as well as the PCC rifle shooters. They want as many rounds as they can in a legal length magazine to often avoid a time costing reload.
Quality magazines or add on extensions work quite well. But again,, pushing the limits of any mechanical object can often lead to failures.
I have a Sig 320,, that has the extra capacity base pads, and the last round is "tight" when loading the magazines. Yet,, no issues feeding or shooting it.

 

[DeletedMember275]

I have always loaded all of my personal-use magazines to full capacity - be it M16, AR-15, M14, 1911, Glock, Browning Hi-Power, or whatever. Any mags that won't feed fully loaded are quickly replaced with ones that will.

 

[Mobuck]

I/we seldom load AR mags to capacity. Just makes the load/unload sequence easier while hunting. Maybe load a 10 rounder full if I don't tote a spare while hunting. Twenties get 16-18 and no use for 30's in hunting. For other purposes, the 30's get 28 rounds.
Old habit: top round is ALWAYS on the right. Tactile assurance of a chambered round: insert magazine, drop/rack bolt, bump forward assist twice, remove mag, visually/tactilely ensure top round is now on left.

 

[GunnyGene]

I had some initial feeding issues with fully loaded BX 15rnd .22 Magnum magazines in my RPR. First 2 or 3 rnds would jam up and not chamber. Seems to have cleared up after a couple hundred rounds, and letting them sit fully loaded for a couple months.

 

[blume357]

I've heard that M-16s had this problem when first introduced in Vietnam... I will say that back when I was shooting my Mini 30 and tried some aftermarket magazines they would not cycle the rounds if fully loaded. I've never had a problem with any of my pistols or rifles with fully loaded factory magazines.... and life is too short to buy cheap aftermarket magazines.... cheap guns... cheap food... cheap cigars.... well you see where I'm going....

 

[KIR]

My son advised me to load all the magazines I had with only 28 rds. instead of the usual 30. They were for an AR. He spent 20 yrs. in an Army EOD unit in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. When I gave him my Sig Patrol 516 because it was too heavy for me ( I am olde) I also gave him half of my mags. I got a lighter S&W M&P 15. I only spent 4 yrs in the AF carrying an M2 carbine and a 1911. He came home with all his fingers and toes (thankfully) like his mama wanted, so I think he knew better than me.

 

[XP100]

I will do some testing of mags loaded fully when I go fishing for my AR's and hi cap mags that were lost in a boating incident and report back here.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I had original Glock 19 mags, first generation, that said "Law Enforcement Only" on them. Back from my old govt days. I used them for years with no problems. Then after 20 yrs, literally, they started to not feed the last round reliably?? Yes, the last round? the answer was of course a tac reload , dropping the mag etc. Tap, Rack ,Bang. So I marked them all as "practice" mags and continued to use them on the range. Two years ago I called Glock and told them I had these and they agreed to replace them for free. I sent them in and they sent me new mags. My point is that mags can work great for years, decades even, or not. You just never know, so all you can do is keep track of them and when you see a "glitch" try and determine why. You could rebuild them, with new springs and even updated followers, or just replace them. Glock has changed the follower in its mags several times. I only use relatively new mags and fresh ammo in anything I carry. Just old habits.

 

[Garth69]

My son advised me to load all the magazines I had with only 28 rds. instead of the usual 30. They were for an AR. He spent 20 yrs. in an Army EOD unit in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. When I gave him my Sig Patrol 516 because it was too heavy for me ( I am olde) I also gave him half of my mags. I got a lighter S&W M&P 15. I only spent 4 yrs in the AF carrying an M2 carbine and a 1911. He came home with all his fingers and toes (thankfully) like his mama wanted, so I think he knew better than me.

thats what I do too.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

thats what I do too.

I have read this in may different publications etc. regarding whether an AR mag should be loaded full or not. I read a review Kyle Lamb had done. He has as much experience in real world combat as most, if not more. He said they loaded 30 rds.! He said in a fire fight they wanted as may rounds as possible and loading 30 was never a problem. Loading 29 was a problem because the top or first round was in a different position on the follower and sometimes would be an issue, so 30 rds it was! When I served I never used 30's only 20's and I loaded them full.

 

[Garth69]

I have read this in may different publications etc. regarding whether an AR mag should be loaded full or not. I read a review Kyle Lamb had done. He has as much experience in real world combat as most, if not more. He said they loaded 30 rds.! He said in a fire fight they wanted as may rounds as possible and loading 30 was never a problem. Loading 29 was a problem because the top or first round was in a different position on the follower and sometimes would be an issue, so 30 rds it was! When I served I never used 30's only 20's and I loaded them full.

I've had failure to feeds with fully loaded magazines. I short them a round and sometimes two. If a paper target attacks me I will make sure I kill it with 28 or 29 rounds.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I've had failure to feeds with fully loaded magazines. I short them a round and sometimes two. If a paper target attacks me I will make sure I kill it with 28 or 29 rounds.

I use 20's most of the time because they are easier to bench and load IMHO

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I've had failure to feeds with fully loaded magazines. I short them a round and sometimes two. If a paper target attacks me I will make sure I kill it with 28 or 29 rounds.

Regardless of what some one tells you or what you read, most people will trust their own experience first.

 

[krw]

I always ld 20rd AR mags w 18 rds. Also G19 mags w 14. Jus because

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

I still rotate my mags... Not because I have too... but because I am a nice guy, and I don't want anyone to feel left out...

 

[Pal Val]

In my basic training, 50 yrs ago, the small-arms instructor picked up an M14 magazine, loaded 20 rounds in it, locked and loaded, and fired all 20 with no glitches. He then turned around and asked us if we had heard the tale that one should only load 18 rounds in those magazines to avoid jams. Better than half the platoon raised their hands. The instructor told them they could forget that "bull."

Old wives' tales die hard...

 

[Bob Wright]

All of my guns have cylinders instead of magazines, so I can't relate to yout question.

Bob Wright

 

[Goldstar225]

Our M-16 magazines in use by Air Force Security Police were loaded with 28 rounds. Not for feed reliability but for storage purposes. As you're well aware spring tension increases as more rounds are stuffed in the magazines. Bear in mind that these magazines are issued with the assigned weapon daily and are kept loaded for years at a time. Even when loading 28 , on ocassion a floorplate would bend enough to get released from the retaining tabs. Not frequently but it did happen. Sometimes you could see the floorplate start to bow and take the magazine out of service before it spewed the rounds onto the floor.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Well I'm Old School. Not sure about the school but OLD certainly applies. I load my handgun mags fully. First one off the top goes up the tube. So far those are 100%, they feed. But I only use OEM mags.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Well I'm Old School. Not sure about the school but OLD certainly applies. I load my handgun mags fully. First one off the top goes up the tube. So far those are 100%, they feed. But I only use OEM mags.

I do the same.

 

[DeletedMember275]

Our M-16 magazines in use by Air Force Security Police were loaded with 28 rounds. Not for feed reliability but for storage purposes. As you're well aware spring tension increases as more rounds are stuffed in the magazines. Bear in mind that these magazines are issued with the assigned weapon daily and are kept loaded for years at a time. Even when loading 28 , on ocassion a floorplate would bend enough to get released from the retaining tabs. Not frequently but it did happen. Sometimes you could see the floorplate start to bow and take the magazine out of service before it spewed the rounds onto the floor.

When I was running a Security Forces armory in the sandbox, all of our M4 mags were loaded to capacity - 30 rounds. Same with all of our M9 mags - fully loaded with 15 rounds. We had precisely zero issues with magazines caused by being fully loaded during my time there (18 months). I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but it's usually after someone drops a loaded mag onto a concrete pad.

 

[Bigbore5]

Alot of this got started in the 1980's. The Special Operations community had some function problems with the factory magazine for the MP5 sub-gun. It would go into battery with a full rearward bolt pull on a fresh mag, but a full mag would stove pipe once in a while on reloading. Our simple solution was to just load 29. Functioned everytime.

Once we received a slightly redesigned version, it functioned perfectly, but we stuck to loading 29 for years due to the possibility of getting a first design magazine.

This never applied to any other weapons.