bullets in mag ????

[astars450]

was wondering if its ok to leave them in the mags for long periods of time without weaking the spring in the mag?

[repubconserv]

was wondering if its ok to leave them in the mags for long periods of time without weaking the spring in the mag?

Yes. It is the cycling of the spring (loading and unloading) that causes the spring to weaken. Leave it fully loaded, it will be fine for a very long time

[Springfield45]

I charge $5 a magazine to unload them. Call my secretary to make a appointment.

[retiredAFcop]

Pretty sure it depends on the age and material used in the spring.

There used to be a lot of reports of magazine springs losing tension when compressed for long periods (i.e. years). But many older magazine springs also rust. Possibly a combination of compression plus rust caused the problems?

It seems like newer springs are made out of metals that are more resilient.

At least this is the case with AR mags, according to my old boss - who had been a military armorer and dealt with such problems for close to 30 years.

[ar15barrels]

was wondering if its ok to leave them in the mags for long periods of time without weaking the spring in the mag?

Springs wear out from being compressed and released, not from resting in a compressed state.
It would wear them more to unload the mags when you are done and then load them again the next time you go shooting than it would to just leave them loaded.

[JDay]

Not a problem. Some people constantly load/unload their magazines and do not realize they are decreasing the life of them by doing so.

[Foebia]

Hmm spring compression counter... Whats that ronco guys name again? Popeel...?

[astroboy]

Yes. It is the cycling of the spring (loading and unloading) that causes the spring to weaken. Leave it fully loaded, it will be fine for a very long time

Springs wear out from being compressed and released, not from resting in a compressed state.
It would wear them more to unload the mags when you are done and then load them again the next time you go shooting than it would to just leave them loaded.

Yup, yup!

[Bainter1212]

I leave my mags loaded, however there is one caveat - the constant upward pressure on metal feed lips *can* slightly bend those lips over time, causing double feeds. I have two mags for a Remington 740 that are like this. My uncle left them loaded for decades.
A solution to this is to wrap a rubber band around the mag lengthwise, so that it puts a little bit of downward pressure on the top round, taking stress off of the feed lips.