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Magazines left loaded

5K views 74 replies 43 participants last post by  GasHouseGlocker 
#1 ·
Does leaving mags loaded for long periods weaken springs?
I always heard it didn't.
Then I read a new to me "Jack Reacher" series paperback today & it mentioned it did. :)
Have several for my 23 that have been full for a couple of years. Shot some yesterday & no problems at all.
TIA
 
#35 ·
In the 70's I was going through a trunk my grandmother had. I found a Colt 1908 380 with a loaded magazine and several other magazines in a box. I asked my grandmother about it and she said my grandfather left it for her when he left at the beginning of WWII, just in case California was invaded. The magazines had been loaded over 30 years.

She let me take it to the range and every magazine worked perfectly.

I cleaned and oiled the pistol and returned it to her.
 
#42 ·
I had a similar story with a P.O.S. Raven .25 pistol of my grandfather's. After decades of being loaded, but never cleaned, used, or anything productive, it worked like a charm.

The most surprising thing was that I was able to shoot it really well at 10 yards.

I'll never carry it, or depend on it for anything, but it is special to me in ways I cannot even understand, let alone explain.
 
#37 ·
Never had a problem getting a base plate off. Old or new, insert the Glock tool till it bottoms out, lever the base plate off. No vise, channel locks, nothing else. Oh, and I'm 65 with a little arthritis in my hands.
 
#38 ·
Jesus... then I must have had some seriously stiff baseplates. I literally had to crank two of them in a vice to get the little tabs to compress enough to get them to move. The other three (I changed 5 of them to Vickers floor plates) still required a properly adjusted pair of pliers.

I didn't recall that they were that difficult the last time I did it, but it was probably 10 years ago since I changed any out previously.
The vice is the problem.

It compresses the mag evenly. The channel locks, at the correct setting, can compress the centers (of the sides) only, so that the tabs are moved, but the corners of the mag body are not stressed.

If that is the key, then I guess I was just lucky. I was afraid that a vice would crush the clip. Oops! I mean the magazine!
 
#39 ·
The vice is the problem.

It compresses the mag evenly. The channel locks at the correct setting can compress only the centers (of the sides), so that the tabs are moved, but the edges are not stressed.

If that is the key, then I guess I was just lucky. I was afraid that a vice would crush the clip. Oops! I mean the magazine!
I put two little pieces of leather on either side of the mag where the tabs are so it depressed it at the right spots.
 
#52 ·
Frankly I've always felt that Glock uses good spring material for the mags. I've had a few over the decades that I replaced just because I felt they were getting weak even though they were functioning perfect still. I keep alot of loaded mags with me when I'm working. One in my 17, one on my belt, one in a tote in the front of the car, one in a tote in the back seat, and usually 2 more in the trunk in an active shooter bag. 2 of those have been loaded for 8 and a half years now, cycled out at qualifications at a minimum once per year and then reloaded, and I'm sure used as extra practice mags occasionally. Depending on my planned practice I use just spare to all mags I have short of 2 I'll leave loaded with duty ammo. Those old mags still function perfect as of right now although now that you have me thinking about it I sort of want to replace the springs "just in case".
 
#56 ·
I've had Glock mags and Pmags loaded for like 6+ years?
No issues so far.
I've had several mags (AR and Glock) loaded for several years and the ones I've used have been 100%.
For me unloaded magazine are worthless. All my magazines for all my semi auto guns are loaded and ready to go and I have quite a few magazines.
 
#54 ·
In my range bag are six OEM G19 mags, I have put 30,000+ rounds through three of them and they show no signs of going bad. Each is loaded at the range with 15 rounds. Load, rinse, repeat, every week for two years. I will replace the springs in a couple months though

I have had the same three carry mags that have been loaded with 15 rounds since July of 2014 when i got the pistol, one in the gun and two on the belt. Shot the carry ammo five times out of them. None show any signs of degradation.
Same here.. No degradation. I always max load my G19 mags for carry and range. Never had a problem.
 
#55 ·
About 10 years ago a gunwriter bought a surplus box of 45ACP magazines loaded since WWII (60 years ago). These magazines were stamped steel wartime mags and not carefully assembled pristine mags. Instead of unloading them by hand he decided to see if any of them would function. To his (everyones) surprise they all functioned 100% but the ammo was poor and all over the place and highly corrosive. He reloaded the mags and said they all functioned fine. If that's not proof that magazines left loaded are fine I don't know what would be.
 
#57 ·
I just read another Lee Child novel in which Jack Reacher indicated that the Glock 19 and the Glock 17 had the same ammunition capacity. I have noticed other firearms inconsistency in some of his other works. Mr Child is one of my favorite authors, however fiction authors in general, and Mr Child in particular should not be considered reliable sources of firearms information.
 
#58 ·
Being careful, and protecting the mag walls with a rag, my clips look perfect. Oh sugar! I meant to say magazines!
Yes, this is good info. I scarred up one of my mags by not padding the mag from the jaws of the pliers to squeeze the to release the plate.

Some guys say squeeze it with your hand. I either don't have that sort of hand strength any longer or just dont hold it just right.

Any regard, I use smoth jaw pliers now if I want to remove the mag late. Works great and after the first one, I learn my lesson not scarring up the polymer covering the mag.

BTW, I have built up a decent supply of mags (getting ready for politics in November. Sick of politicians that want to take away our rights BTW.

But, I levae most all my mags loaded all the time and have never had any issue from it. Over the long term, it "could" make a difference, but, I don't think so. Their quality springs. Quality always speaks louder than cheap.
 
#59 ·
I keep 3 mags loaded plus 2 empty mags in the range bag (for use at the range) for every pistol I own. That's at least 5 mags for every gun, and the range mags means keep me from having to unload carry mags to shoot at the range.

Any mags I have beyond that, I haven't even taken out of the package. They are simply extra, to be used if needed.
 
#60 ·
I seem to recall a post here that opined that the ammo itself would degrade (from spring pressure, vibration, and interaction with the other rounds) more than the springs themselves.
No real view on this; repeating what I read elsewhere.
BTW, I top off single stack Glocks, but don't add a round to the double stack guns.
Moon
 
#61 ·
Jesus... then I must have had some seriously stiff baseplates. I literally had to crank two of them in a vice to get the little tabs to compress enough to get them to move. The other three (I changed 5 of them to Vickers floor plates) still required a properly adjusted pair of pliers.

I didn't recall that they were that difficult the last time I did it, but it was probably 10 years ago since I changed any out previously.
You don't have to compress the mag sides, just push the glock tool all the way in and lever the baseplate off. Pops right off.
 
#62 ·
I tried that originally and the tool pushed into the plastic on the baseplate like it was trying to elongate the hole. I was getting concerned that I might break the tool, but using a steel punch would have definitely deformed the baseplate hole. I guess, for some reason, this batch of mags I had was just stiffer than normal.
 
#64 ·
Didn't do the pliers / compress method.

This method worked like a charm for me ... fast forward to minute 2:30

 
#67 ·
Turn4811 ... GREAT avatar pic.
 
#69 ·
I just read another Lee Child novel in which Jack Reacher indicated that the Glock 19 and the Glock 17 had the same ammunition capacity. I have noticed other firearms inconsistency in some of his other works. Mr Child is one of my favorite authors, however fiction authors in general, and Mr Child in particular should not be considered reliable sources of firearms information.
I don't consider him to be a firearms expert, have noticed many errors on his part.
But a great read. 5 books down & 15? to go.
What he said about mags just sparked something in my old brain & wanted to confirm what I always thought was right.
 
#70 ·
I left a 33 round mag fully loaded for several months just to test it out. Went out to the range and it fired every single round without issue and locked open on the last round.

I have 20+ year old magazines that came with the G26 I have, and I've left them loaded for long stretches of time as well without issue.

Never had an issue with a Glock factory mag ever
 
#75 ·
I've read that it may not be a good idea to leave the PMAGs for Glocks fully loaded. Not because it weakens spring tension but that it could flex or stretch the all polymer body of the PMAG. It's probably not a legitimate concern. I have 4 PMAGs for my Glocks and, though they are light weight and all polymer, they seem feel very solid and sturdy to me.
 
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