Posted: 5/10/2010 1:06:15 PM EDT
| I own a g17 fourth gen and use it as my primary home defense weapon. I keep my gun ready to be used with a loaded mag next to it in my desk drawer. My question is how long can I keep a loaded mag without risking damage to the mag. I will also state I only use glock brand mags. Any info on this is greatly welcomed I currently only keep a mag loaded for one month and then rotate to another mag. |
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I've had a G27 that I've had since the mid 90's. I've had the one magazine loaded pretty much since I've had the gun. The only time it has been unloaded is when I'm shooting it or cleaning it. Keep it loaded, you won't have any problems for years or perhaps decades! |
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Ah ok thats great to know I had heard somewhere that the spring can wear out if you leave them to long glad to know that I might not have to keep change mags every month Its the cycling of rounds in and out of the mag that wears the spring out. Load it up and leave it that way, and it will last forever. |
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Ah ok thats great to know I had heard somewhere that the spring can wear out if you leave them to long glad to know that I might not have to keep change mags every month Its the cycling of rounds in and out of the mag that wears the spring out. Load it up and leave it that way, and it will last forever. I know this is the convention wisdom on gun forums (that it's the cycling that reduces spring pressure, not constant long term compression) and that some people have anecdotal evidence to support this assumption but I just don't buy it. As my screen name might indicate, for a while I was really into highend precision airguns, many of which are spring powered. One of the biggest no-no's taught was to not leave a spring powered airgun "cocked" (i.e. spring compressed) because even a few minutes of that can measurable lower a springs effectiveness. This is not some wives tale passed around with anecdotal evidence given as proof. This is something guys like Jim Maccari (who is know as the "Spring Guy" because he is nationally (internationally?) known as one of the leading experts in spring technology) have spend countless time researching and testing. When a guy like Jim Maccari says that leaving a spring compressed causes damage to the spring, then that's gospel as far as I'm concerned. Now in the case of a loaded mag, does it cause enough damage over time to effect a magazines performance? Anecdotal evidence would point to no but I try not to test that theory myself. I keep as few mags loaded as needed and those mags are constantly swapped out so that no one mag is ever left fully loaded more then 6 months or so. |
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Quoted: Your car springs are under constant tension. They don't wear out just sitting there. It is the cycling of the spring that causes wear. Good call. There is ample evidence to support this. We've had engineers and metalurgists on ARFCOM state just that, that springs don't wear from simply being compressed, but from multiple cycles of compression. |
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Only thing is, I shoot my CHL ammo (3 mags) every 6 months - give or take. Shouldn't make all that much difference with Glock mags. They're quite resilient.  Not sure exactly what you mean. I don't do it for the mag's sake, I do it to rotate my CHL ammo. |
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Only thing is, I shoot my CHL ammo (3 mags) every 6 months - give or take. Shouldn't make all that much difference with Glock mags. They're quite resilient. Not sure exactly what you mean. I don't do it for the mag's sake, I do it to rotate my CHL ammo. I mean you're not wearing out those mags by cycling them that infrequently. I'm assuming that's why you posted, as this thread pertains to mag wear issues?
Just tryin' ta help, good sir. 
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I'm with ya.
You know, I'm pretty tired, and my original post wasn't exactly clear. What I should have said is something like: You can leave the mags loaded for as long as you want without damage, but I think you should rotate the ammo every so often. I shoot my CHL ammo about every 6 months.
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I'm with ya. You know, I'm pretty tired, and my original post wasn't exactly clear. What I should have said is something like: You can leave the mags loaded for as long as you want without damage, but I think you should rotate the ammo every so often. I shoot my CHL ammo about every 6 months.
Makes sense ta me, my friend.
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Your car springs are under constant tension. They don't wear out just sitting there. It is the cycling of the spring that causes wear. Wrong - I know for a fact that one of the things that will need to be replaced on a car left sitting for years is the springs and shocks |