Magazine spring fatigue?

[joshb]

What's the general consensus on how long you can keep ,say, a 20 round AR magazine fully loaded before the spring is fatigued. Add pistol magazines, too.
Thanks.
Josh

 

[Dusty Stevens]

A good pistol mag like a wil-rog will last for 20yrs+ i do know that

 

[Rustytigwire]

Springs hold up cars for 20 years being beat mercilessly every day. Permanent deformation should not be an issue with mag springs.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Springs hold up cars for 20 years being beat mercilessly every day. Permanent deformation should not be an issue with mag springs.

But it is according to quality of wire

 

[Rustytigwire]

I agree completely.

 

[rsmithsr50]

springs 'WEAR' in use, not in storage.
yes sometime in the future way distant future they may sag and fatique,
but not soon. rust is another story

 

[Mauser06]

Latest I've read on the subject basically said the springs being worked (loaded and unloaded) does more wear to the spring than keeping it loaded will...went on to say that with modern metals and processes, normal use should yield very long life.


Only time I've had an issue had been extended shotgun tubes.


With AR mags, i still always leave 1 or 2 short. I've seen Pmags split...I didn't believe it. Guy had them loaded for about a year. I thought something looked strange and counted the rounds. He was actually shoving 2 or 3 extra in them that caused the split.

 

[GotRDid]

My Beretta 92FS Compact magazines have been fully loaded/unloaded through over 11K rounds through the first bbl, and another 3K rounds through the second bbl. since 1994. This was my Duty Pistol when we transitioned from revolvers to semi-autos, and I have kept them clean/dry lubed from day one. Have yet to have a mag related failure.
Now that I carry a Wilson Combat M1911A1, I keep the 5 mags that came with the gun, and 5 more in reserve loaded; zero issues.
GotRDid.

 

[rwj]

When fully loaded, mag springs will slowly suffer from compressive set and become shorter. The resulting loss of force may cause feeding issues. As noted above, it could take a very long time to become problematic. An old trick I used in IPSC competitions to maximize mag capacity was to cut coils from new springs until feeding failures started to occur with the last round. This overall spring length became a failure predictor. Replacement was indicated whenever a used spring’s length (modified and unmodified) was measured to be equal to, or less than, this value.

 

[D-4297]

Don't have a opinion on this , as I have enough mags to rotate them , on average , every six months or so . And I always only load 18 rounds in a 20 round mag , and 27 in a 30 . Also been my experience that leaving certain mags fully loaded for extended periods can cause feeding issues in the last 3 or 4 rounds . Some of my mags for the Com-Bloc weapons were made God knows when , cause I've had them for nearly fifty years . Glock mags get loaded light by two rounds , and rotated every couple of months . Old habits die hard .

 

[Rsadams]

Springs wear on cycles... I have a 1903 or is it 08 Colt .32 that was my grandfather's... Its had the magazine loaded for over 50 years before I inherited it.... The spring is still very strong because it didn't get cycled just compressed... It still works perfectly.. It's hard to argue with that....
On the other hand I have heard and it happened to me recently on a aluminum AR mag where the top spread wider and it basically ruined the mag from being loaded or at least that's what I blamed it on.... I normally use only P-mags that don't have that problem... As far as my pistol mags especially Glock I leave my carry mags loaded and always have with no problems... They still function as good as the ones I don't have loaded... And I meen loaded for years not days , weeks or months.... I actually use a spare mag so I don't even unload my carry mag when I practice at the range... Occasionally I will unload my carry mag and run some rounds through them just to make sure everything works as it should...

 

[dannyjbiggs]

What's the general consensus on how long you can keep ,say, a 20 round AR magazine fully loaded before the spring is fatigued. Add pistol magazines, too.
Thanks.
Josh

A hellofa long time. But, as a general practice, I monthly empty/reload to fresh magazines for all the pistols right after I cash the social security check , and load 'n forget my AR/M1a magazines at half full. I figure the wife can keep them at bay with the butcher knife, 'till I can get the rifles fully loaded.

Dan

 

[DirtySteve]

I have a magpul that is only a couple years old and now only feeds the top 10 rounds. I am a little disappointed. It was loaded 3 yrs ago.. I used it the first time last week..

I have had pistol mags loaded for many years and they work fine..

 

[nmkid]

I've wondered about such a question for a long time. Always thought, "what if I hear a thunk in the night and my girlfriend won't work because she's sat fully loaded for a few years"? The consensus seems to be that it would work just fine. But, why trust consensus when I can go down the street and buy a wheel gun?! Perfect excuse.

 

[Rsadams]

I have a magpul that is only a couple years old and now only feeds the top 10 rounds. I am a little disappointed. It was loaded 3 yrs ago.. I used it the first time last week..

I have had pistol mags loaded for many years and they work fine..

I would pull the mag apart and look for an obstruction.... If none is found I would contact Magpul.....

 

[Hengehold]

I am in the military and have seen issued mags for Beretta M9 reach failure. Last round or two in the mag will just fall out of the magazine as opposed to needing to be stripped out of the mag. This is not uncommon. These issue mags for regular range use have obviously been loaded/unloaded countless times rather than remained loaded for years as others have commented.

I can also say from experience that loading a 30rd AR mag with 30rds can lead to feeding failures on the first round or so. Consequently, when it really needs to count, I do not put more than 28 rds in a mag.
-TH