Semi Auto Pistols - Magazine Memory -

[FJ40_owner]

What are your opinions on so called magazine memory? I have several semi automatic firearms that remain loaded year round. Should I unload them ocassionally and load up a different magazine and allow the other one to "rest.?"

Or is this theory all wet?

JB

[phrogg4evr]

I swap the mags every now and then, new springs are cheap, but having your mag goof up at an inopportune time is not the most desirable thing.

Couldn't hurt

[Trunk Monkey]

I wouldn't worry much about steel magazines, but I would polymer. I have some Mini 30 mags that are plastic, if they sit for much time with rounds in them they start to bulge a little.

[flintknapper]

Originally Posted by FJ40_owner

What are your opinions on so called magazine memory? I have several semi automatic firearms that remain loaded year round. Should I unload them ocassionally and load up a different magazine and allow the other one to "rest.?"

Or is this theory all wet?

JB

"Properly" manufactured springs do not "take a set" under static conditions.

Springs weaken gradually when they are "cycled"...but can be affected immediately if pushed over their design parameters (compressed or elongated too much).

There is really no such thing as "letting them rest".

[phrogg4evr]

Originally Posted by flintknapper

"Properly" manufactured springs

That's the key. I never worry about my Wilsons and factory magazines, but the USGI and aftermarket mags sometimes have crap springs, all depends on who did the manufacturing.

[2damslow]

ALL springs are subject to fatigue. Poorly made springs fatigue a little faster though.
I've had a glock mag that I have been using exclusively for quite a few years. I wanted to see how long until it began to fail, but it never did so I sorta lost track of it.
The only mags I've ever had problems with are my colt ar mags. They bind up badly, and when you shoot the rifle you can hear them twisting. I also used to have a Mac10 .45 auto that had plastic mags... until I dropped one on the ground in the cold. It cracked wide open and sprung 32 rounds of .45 everywhere.

I remember hearing a story about a stermgehwer rifle found in germany not too long ago. The rifle had been hidden away for decades until it was discovered during a home renovation. It still had full mags ready to go, and still worked with no apparent probelms.

Even if you doubt the quality of your springs you can buy replacements cheaply enough, and your supply of mags with last longer than you.

[Cookiemonster]

Buddy of mine who retired out of the Umatilla Army Depot in Eastern, OR as an EOD Major, use to tell me how they would take old 30-06, & 30cal clips along with .45cal magazines from as far back as WWII and shoot them off, when they weren't blowing them up along with old shells, rockets, mines, grenades etc... He said they never had any problems with springs or feeding as a result of the clip or mag.

Now a side note on the Umatilla Army Depot.

His job was supervision and destruction of the old conventional ammo & artillery shells that were stock piled there. This is the same facility that stores mustard & chlorine gas artillery shells from as far back as WWI & yes he said many had or were leaking.

Funny side note to that facility was another buddy of mine who was a Sheriff's Deputy (now OSP) was called upon to transport a couple of inebriated guys for the MP's down to Pendleton to the county jail. These two idiots had made it onto the base from the Irrigon side (Irrigon, OR) and were hunting the antelope. Unfortunately for them the antelope have special monitors on them, and when the animal went down the MP's went to investigate and found these two yahoos.

Turned out the base maintains a herd of antelope as part of their early warning system because the antelope typically covers a large area for grazing over the course of the day. If one drops dead they check on it to see if it was due to a chemical release from the K-Block area.

But to answer the question a loaded magazine should retain its spring.

[FJ40_owner]

So I'll summarise the responses to date and say that....my name brand factory mags should be OK?

[2damslow]

Yep.

[netwt12]

springs don't wear out from staying compressed. the wear from cycling. i've shot korean war aged magazines loaded and packaged since the 50's through my 1911 without a hiccup.

[dbarrett]

If you are still not convinced or still worried about it, don't fully load them. My home defence mags are all 10 and 15 rounders. I only load 5 hollow point rounds in each.

[Landpimp]

was given a Colt Woodsman made in 1939 last year, came with a mag which had been loaded back in the 1960's.......mag works 100%, ammo I tossed

[Stealthmimic]

Originally Posted by FJ40_owner

What are your opinions on so called magazine memory? I have several semi automatic firearms that remain loaded year round. Should I unload them ocassionally and load up a different magazine and allow the other one to "rest.?"

Or is this theory all wet?

JB

A lot of controversy on this subject. Magazines are meant to be "run". That is they are designed to store ammunition pending shooting. Just how long a magazine will hold ammo and still function is dependent on several factors generally covered by "manufacturing quality"; spring steel quality, design of the "follower", quality of steel used in the tubular frame, etc. I keep one or two mags loaded and handy, and one in my defense gun at all times (sort of pointless to have a gun if it isn't loaded and ready to run). That said, as a rule it is worth while de-tensioning the mag springs every few months and rotating them to ensure that the will run when the time is needed. Always keep ammo and fire arms physically apart when doing dry practice. Have NO distractions when re-loading and re-storing (ie., use your HEAD - the only true saftey feature around any gun) and for petesake, keep them away from children. Take a course from a certifed instructor on proper hand gun safety. California Native Son.

[lunyou]

I have three 25 round .22 magazines that haven't been cycled through in a long time. I have no doubts that I could run through all 25 as fast as I could pull the trigger barring a misfire b/c of cheap ammunition.....now my stock 10.22 mag hold 10 rounds and its "memory" is really bad. If you are not familiar with the 10/22 stock mag it is a rotary magazine designed to keep the mag flush with the bottom of the gun so I think the design allows for a fatigued mag.

lunyou

[nat88toy]

funny never had to worry about that of course mines belt fed