Keeping Magazines Loaded

BrassMonkey · Post by **BrassMonkey** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:42 pm

How often does everyone unload their magazines at home? And yes, the most fun way is to pull the trigger :-)

Texasdoc · Post by **Texasdoc** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:48 pm

I unload weekly and refresh my ammo monthy the fun way that is .

300shooter

Smokewagon · Post by **Smokewagon** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:49 pm

Unload 'em weekly at the range. The fun way.

BrassMonkey · Post by **BrassMonkey** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:56 pm

Do you give the springs a rest before fillin em up again?

jimlongley · Post by **jimlongley** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:20 pm

When I shot IDPA regularly I rotated my mags, three loaded for carry and six "resting" and being cleaned.

BTW, how many of you actually clean your mags once in a while? I clean at least three of mine each time I shoot, as part of my rotation.

Not shooting IDPA for a while now, so I have to establish a new routine.

Post by **Skiprr** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:59 pm

jimlongley wrote:BTW, how many of you actually clean your mags once in a while?

I clean mine every 300-500 rounds, or if they hit the dirt during shooting. I generally do the lazy man's routine of soaking them in Cylinder & Slide's "Dunk Kit," swish 'em a round, drip dry a bit, then blow 'em out with compressed air. If they get particularly dirty or I drop them in sand or grit, then they get disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. I also use a Dremel to number the baseplates of each mag so that if I have repeated problems I can better determine which magazine(s) were in use at the time.

Venus Pax · Post by **Venus Pax** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:02 pm

Do springs on mags really need a rest? I've never thought about that. I always keep all mags filled to capacity.

jbirds1210 · Post by **jbirds1210** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:08 pm

I keep 8 mags in my IDPA bag....I clean them regularly and have replaced the springs once. I do not play with the same mags I carry for personal defense. I also keep plenty of spares wrapped up and ready for their turn.

The common belief that I subscribe to is that the flexing of springs is what causes them to wear. Leaving them completely loaded/unloaded does not hurt or wear on them a bit. Lots of stories of old Vietnam era M16 mags still working just fine after being loaded for 30 years.

FWIW- I have never heard of a spring needing rest.....but I have been fooled in the past.

GlockenHammer · Post by **GlockenHammer** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:08 pm

I clean my game mags when they begin to fail to lock back the slide. That means they've got enough crud that the follower isn't pushing up that last millimeter or so.

I typically unload the mags after my games and put the ammo back in the boxes so I can see how many rounds I've fired and I keep my ammo locked up to avoid letting any fall into the hands of curious children that might do something stupid with them (like I remember doing as a child).

Venus Pax wrote:Do springs on mags really need a rest? I've never thought about that. I always keep all mags filled to capacity.

This is almost a religious debate with little scientific data that I'm aware of. I don't concern myself with it.

Smokewagon · Post by **Smokewagon** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:12 pm

I never rest them. I think they were made to be loaded. I have an old 10 shot .22 semi-auto pistol that the mags have been continuously loaded since 1975, except of course when used and reloaded.

jimlongley · Post by **jimlongley** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:18 pm

Skiprr wrote:
jimlongley wrote:BTW, how many of you actually clean your mags once in a while?
I clean mine every 300-500 rounds, or if they hit the dirt during shooting. I generally do the lazy man's routine of soaking them in Cylinder & Slide's "Dunk Kit," swish 'em a round, drip dry a bit, then blow 'em out with compressed air. If they get particularly dirty or I drop them in sand or grit, then they get disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. I also use a Dremel to number the baseplates of each mag so that if I have repeated problems I can better determine which magazine(s) were in use at the time.

Shooting IDPA my mags usually hit the ground a lot.

Mine are numbered with a scribe and I usually disassemble them at cleaning time. I keep rebuild kits on hand and compare the springs with one of the new ones, if they appear to be in bad shape, I change them, same for followers. Of course that was when I was doing a lot of IDPA, I would expect the level of usage now to make such frequent checks unnecessary.

Since I disassemble several at a time I number the bodies of the mags.

nitrogen · Post by **nitrogen** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:20 pm

Loading and unloading mags is what wears the springs out.

I have one mag that's my "carry" mag that gets unloaded (the fun way) about every 6-9 months. the other mags are range mags and get used frequrently.

tomneal · Post by **tomneal** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:26 pm

I checked with a NASA Engineer and now I leave my magazines loaded until I get to the range and unload them the fun way.

I have read about WWII .45 magazines stored loaded in a gunsafe for 50 years. Both the Magazines and the ammo functioned flawlessly when unloaded the fun way at the range.

I shoot USPSA / IPSC nearly every weekend.
I clean any dirty magazine when I pick it up but I don't unload them except on a stage.

I do cycle my ammo so the oldest gets shot first.

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:42 pm

I checked monthly because I unload my PD ammo when I go to the range.
Reload the PD ammo when finished. Otherwise I dont unload as some do to "rest the springs." The dont need it.

308nato · Post by **308nato** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:45 pm

I empty mine weekly the fun way and clean them after about 3 or 400
rds but after each range time just do a external wipe down.
I just got 2 more 14 rd mags that must be tested tomorrow.

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Keeping Magazines Loaded

Frequency of unloading magazines

Keeping Magazines Loaded

NASA