Time Question

rinao272 · Post by **rinao272** » February 7th, 2006, 3:42 pm

Question;

How long can you leave a mag loaded without damage to the spring?

Thanks

nimble1 · Post by **nimble1** » February 7th, 2006, 4:43 pm

You will get a number of answers but there are reports of 1911 45 mags that have been loaded for over 20 years with no problem. I have two mags for most of my defense guns and both stay loaded all the time. I have an Astra A75 9m/m that I use to carry and it now stays int he nightstand. Both mags have been loaded for years with no problem. I now carry the P-64 and plan on having the mags loaded all the time. Its not a worry for me.
Hope this helps you.

abwehr · Post by **abwehr** » February 8th, 2006, 8:33 am

I think "nimble1" gave a great answer and I can't dispute anything he stated. But I usually change loaded magazines about once every 30-40 days. By doing this, I never worry about the spring tension. It only takes a couple of minutes to change the rounds in a mag anyway.

talon · Post by **talon** » February 12th, 2006, 12:47 pm

Hello rinao272,

I've never come across any mags that ceased functioning properly, due to spring set (long term storage). However that doesn't mean it doesn't occur.

As part of my housekeeping duties I've always rotated (change out) my mags every couple of months when I wipe down my firearms.

Peace,
Tal~

herrmannek · Post by **herrmannek** » February 12th, 2006, 7:02 pm

In theory properly made springs wear mainly(only) when working: compres/decompress.. leaving them compresed or not compresed don't do harm to them, But of course for the sake of the obsessive-compulsive disorder checking them once in a while don't do harm to them either...

himmel · Post by **himmel** » February 14th, 2006, 1:25 pm

Let me ask a similar question re the hammer spring--If you carry "cocked and locked' for--well, for essentially all the time, will it impair the hammer function?

herrmannek · Post by **herrmannek** » February 14th, 2006, 7:21 pm

You can't have p64 cocked and locked because of in safety integrated decocker.. for other things if mechanism is designed properly(I think thats a rule for almost all firearms) and spring isn't pressed over its limits(it can happen if someone have put inapropierate replacment spring) it should not make any harm... Also springs weaken a lot when they are new, and after few\few tens(I'm not an engineer) working cycles they became more and more stable at the desired level, thats why you often can see new mags fail, their springs are just to strong initialy... Hope engineers will correct me if I'm wrong...

abwehr · Post by **abwehr** » February 15th, 2006, 7:40 am

herrmannek,

Great post about "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" and the Springs. I have to admit, I am not Compulsive, but I do have tendencys with mechincal things, LOL!

Here is me.....OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive drive to perform a particular task or set of tasks, compulsions commonly termed rituals.

Yea, I call my self "Particular" with my firearms, but I do slip sometime and don't do what I preach. Great post and I got a good laugh at myself.

autom8r · Post by **autom8r** » February 22nd, 2006, 1:27 am

Rule of thumb...... If a well designed spring is compressed to less than 1/3rd (.333) of it's original length it will fail prematurely, but this is in high-cyclic designs as in automotive valve springs (OEM valve springs with a hot rod swap high lift cam) and industrial spring-return air cylinder springs that get bazillions of cycles. We compress our mag springs to around 1/5th of it's original length for a few hundred cycles at most.

My educated guess is .... No sweat....

Dave

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