Posted: 10/24/2008 10:16:36 PM EDT
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So I had a discussion last week about the topic of keeping magazines loaded or unloaded. I had to kind of raise an eyebrow when a buddy said he read in a book that it was a BAD thing to store magazines loaded. I actually borrowed the book. Lee Childs - "Without Fail." In the book the gun fails to fire because the gun was stored with a fully loaded magazine and the spring supposedly failed to function correctly. Personally, I keep a handgun in the nightstand fully loaded, magazine in the gun, along with one in the pipe. What say you ARFCOM? Loaded or unloaded? |
. All my Pmags are loaded and all my handguns are ready to rock including one in the chamber.
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This is another of those AGNTSA (Oh God, Not This Shit Again) subjects. It's been beaten to death. But it is still worth mentioning.
From an engineering standpoint, springs are weakened by WORKING them frequently. A mag that gets shot, reloaded, then shot, etc. will weaken much faster than a mag that is left unloaded, OR a mag that is left loaded. The reason is that when you are working a spring, microscopic cracks form, weakening the spring. Another reason a spring may fail is if it is moved beyond it's design limits. Doing so fatigues the metal; the spring will then no longer assume its original shape. If you have quality mags, you needn't worry about the springs fatiguing from being left loaded. |
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I keep several loaded for each gun that I may use for SD/PD/HD etc. , but I also keep several hundred un-loaded in reserve.
<img src="http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_big.gif" /> . I keep reading the loaded vs. unloaded threads over the years and I honestly don't know what the correct answer is. I have been doing a "test" on the first two mags I ever owned. They have been fully loaded ever since I got them in 1989, except while @ the range or swapping ammo for some other reason. They have atleast 1000 rounds through them and were still going strong last time I had that gun out (2007). I have multiple other mags for that gun, so I use them also, but these I keep loaded for this "test". They are HKP7 M13 mags BTW and are built like tanks, so this may not translate to every mag around. I have "worn out" a glock mag spring or two in my time, but they were loaded/unloaded many times over.<br /> <br /> FB |
| Load what you carry or don't have time to load in the worst case scenario. Leave everything else unloaded unless you like wearing down your springs switching ammo to/from the range. If you are experiencing this dilemma then the answer is that you need to buy a lot more mags. |
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meh....whatever....if I have some loaded I have some loaded....if I don't I don't. Right now I can say for certain that I have 3 mags for my 22LR loaded because I didn't get to shoot through them at my last range session. Pretty sure I've got a few P6 and P7 mags loaded, the 1911 mags are unloaded, I've got several AR mags loaded, my AK mags are unloaded, and the shotgun is in it's box from when I purchased it.... |
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To me...kind of ridiculous to have a gun for home defense (which is what all my guns are for) that doesn't have loaded mags. I can imagine trying to nervously/furiously load a mag while some criminal is breaking into my home. I figure you're so stressed out at that point that it would take forever.
So thus, I keep all my mags loaded and ready to rock and roll...well all except my one broken mag. |
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The only mags I keep loaded are a couple for my CCW and a few for my HD guns. The exception might be some partially loaded mags in my competition bag leftover from the last match.
I'm not paranoid enough to keep every mag I own loaded, plus it saves me from having to wonder what kind of ammo is in them. |
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Lee Child is an idiot.
His books are stupid. I have certain mags that I wouldn't trust if they were loaded for an extended period of time. HK AR mags and Checkmate Beretta mags. I say this because they work if they are loaded and then fired, but don't work if they are kept loaded for a few weeks and then fired. I don't trust either of those two mags with my life...all my other mags are kept loaded with no issues... |
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Of the 2 AMT .380 mags and the one Savage .22lr magnum, mags I have only one is loaded, and it's the AMT mag I keep next to the pistol. I don't have my CHP yet and I live in a quiet neighborhood not far from the police station so I don't feel the need to keep the second .380 mag loaded, and well...unless I am attacked by rabid squirrels there is really no need to keep the Savage mag loaded.
Just to keep my hands busy, I have unloaded the loaded mag since I originally loaded it and re-loaded it with new cartridges and it feels just as taught as it did the day it came home with me and the gun. If I were to do the same thing now, there would be no difference in the tension of the spring since I unloaded it the first time. I am also yet to have a feed problem with the magazine. 
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