Springs

[5of7]

Guys, I am a lot more into revolvers than I am semi autos, but I do have 3 semi autos, one of which I keep loaded in the nightstand. I wonder sometimes about the spring in the magazine being compressed for long periods of time.

So, My question to you is this; what exactly is the skinny on magazine springs and keeping them compressed for extended periods of time? And I would define "extended" in this case to be 1 year or so.

Anybody done a study on this that any of you know about? 8)

 

[welder]

My understanding is that springs wear more during use, loading/unloading and not through extended compression. And at that, any wear is minimal. I researched this topic when I got my first Glock and it's virtually a non-issue according to just about everyone as far as I could tell.
There are stories of 1911 magazines found in grandpa's drawer fully loaded since just after the war that perform perfectly 50, 60 years later.
I do have a little experiment going: I have a G19 mag that I have kept fully loaded from day one (summer 98) that I occasionally take out and empty. It has never hiccuped once.
YMMV

 

[JohnKSa]

Take it to the range every so often to make sure it still works--you should be practicing with a self-defense gun on a regular basis anyway, so this should be no extra work. If, during this regular practice you notice that the springs have weakened enough to cause problems then replace the springs--either with factory parts or with good quality aftermarket springs.

If they weaken again, then replace the springs again.

Now you have two options.

Option 1: After 2 replacement cycles, you should have a pretty good idea how long the springs last. Replace them on a regular basis before they weaken so much that they cause problems.

Option 2: Consider underloading the magazine by a round or two in the future. It's the last little bit of compression that is hardest on a spring. If you don't want to replace the springs regularly, the odds are that the reduced compression will keep the springs from weakening in the future.

 

[5of7]

Thanks fellas.... 8)