Probably been beat to death, but
Tom
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 08:22 (2566 days ago)
should a 1911 .45 magazine be "rested" or can they remain loaded for long periods with no negative effects. Currently using the factory magazines from Ruger and I have one Chip McCormick Power Mag. I only keep the McCormick magazine loaded and in the gun.
It is often asked. Not Gary , but I think it probably does
SPB
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 09:33 (2566 days ago) @ Tom
not hurt them. Have read Gary’s comments, talked to engineers and manufacturers and it all seems to indicate that springs of the newer materials don’t take a set. YMMV
I am sure I mentioned this before but I will bore
Gary Reeder
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 10:03 (2566 days ago) @ SPB
you with it again. When I was working at the radio station across from Ft. Campbell, I hunted and shot with several of the fellows in the 101st. They would call over to the radio station and ask when did I get off the air. I told them around 10 AM. They would tell me to meet them at gate 14 in the back of the post and we would go shooting. We often would go to one of the big Quonset huts where they kept arms and ammo. There would be cases and cases of AR-15 magazines packed full of magazines and they were all loaded. I noticed some had dates on them a year or two past that current date. I asked one of the armorers who was a good friend if that mattered that they had been loaded full well over a year past and he said it never had. He said when the magazines got to Viet Nam the guys there needed them right now, not an hour later after they loaded all of them.
Quite often one of the guys I shot and hunted with on post would check out a couple of M-16s and a case or 2 of ammo and we would go out to one of the ranges and shoot all afternoon and I don't ever remember any of the magazines having feeding problems.
So the gist of this long diatribe is no, I don't think being loaded full for a long time hurts the effectiveness of the magazines. Spring steel is just that, and it "never" loses it's spring tension.
Consider valve springs in your car engine
Jim Taylor
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 10:10 (2566 days ago) @ Gary Reeder
In 100,000 miles of driving they will cycle billions of times. I don't recall of ever hearing of any losing their 'spring'.
JEFF COOPER SETTLED THIS A LONG TIME AGO
JT
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 09:38 (2566 days ago) @ Tom
WITH HE WENT OFF TO WAR AND LEFT MAGAZINES AT HOME LOADED--NO PROBLEMS. TODAY'S MAGAZINES ARE PROBABLY EVEN BETTER.
Leavings Magazines Loaded
Burban
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 12:27 (2566 days ago) @ Tom
This was just discussed on "Shooting Illustrated".
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/8/12/how-long-can-your-keep-your-maga...
The bottom line from the article comes from its first sentence:
"
Even when kept fully compressed, a magazine spring will retain its energy long past the operational life of the ammunition.
"
I have had one go bad
Bryant
[subject]
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 21:02 (2566 days ago) @ Tom
In all the years I have had one magazine go bad, it was for a Ruger 10-22. One day after hunting rabbits I tossed this still loaded mag onto my bench, but somehow it fell behind the bench. 15 or 16 years later I was doing some deep cleaning and low and behold I found this mag. I took it out to the range and it wouldn't work at all. Was the spring sprung? Was it just dirty? Was it just mad at me for loosing it? I have no idea, all I know it that it worked when I lost it and it didn't when I found it. Of course this doesn't apply to a 1911 mag, or any other stick mag for that matter, but it is the one mag that I have had fail that was left loaded for an extended period of time.