[Ni3Frontier]

Hey all,
Forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question. I've got a bit of OCD when it comes to caring for my firearms

With my carry permit coming soon, it is making me think of many little things. Right now, I am wondering if I should unload my magazines when I am not carrying. Will keeping the magazine spring compressed affect its ability to feed over time?

 

[ASCI White]

I don't know about pistol mags as a whole, but M-16 mags did lose some of their ability if 30 rounds were always used. 28 rounds is the perfect number for the M-16 mag.

 

[BreakerMorant]

Sorry to hear about about the touch of OCD. It helps to think of guns as tools. You intend to use them, not merely look at them. If you carry them and use them they will start to wear. They will show visual signs of wear. It's okay. They're not ruined.

Regarding your magazine question, keeping a spring compressed will cause it to fatigue over an extended period of time. There are a few things you can do to reduce this. You could unload them every night as you mentioned, but I think that's sort of silly. The more often you load and unload, the more often you have a chance of something going wrong, simply because you are handling the gun more.

You can cycle your carry magazines (i.e. swapping them out every other month). Also, you can download the magazine. By that, I mean not carrying the full capacity of 16+1, 12+1, or 10+1 (pick the capacity description that fits).

The most compression on the spring comes from the last round if you're loading to the max. If you're using a ten round magazine and you chamber the first round, the gun has 10 rounds, but you're basically doing 9+1. This will cut down on the spring wear.

All that said, most of the guys I know who carry alternate mags and figure on replacing mag springs after a couple of years whether they need to or not.

YMMV

 

[Ni3Frontier]

ASCI White, BreakerMorant,
Thank you both for your replies. I go to the range about 2-3 times per month, so I think I will rotate the magazines as you suggested, after every range session.

I am trying not to buy new mags until this coming September. Hopefully by then we'll all be able to purchase 16 round magazines for a decent price.

 

[NM_P99]

Why don't you read this paragraph from the people who make gun springs.
http://www.gunsprings.com/resources/FAQ.htm#5

 

[Ni3Frontier]

NM P99,
Thank you for the helpful post! Does anybody know where I can purchase magazine springs?