[WhoseWho]

I've always had this question in the back of my mind.

I've read a post that asked when you should rotate rounds, but I'm curious how often y'all rotate magazines.

By rotate magazines I mean pull the rounds from one magazine and put them into a different one while allowing the original magazine to return to its "memory".

As we all know, a magazine feeds a round into the chamber by a compressed spring.

If that spring stays compressed for an extended period of time, would it warp the spring (potentially causing a malfunction if you ever had to use your weapon)?

I know that I'm almost religous about changing loaded magazines every month or so. So I was just wondering if this was "preventative maintenence" or paranoia.

Thoughts?

WhoseWho

 

[RadTek]

That's a good question.

I do know I've seen that it's a good idea to rotate your ammo anyway. Meaing, shoot the oldest stuff first. Not that todays ammo really can go bad that quickly, just a good idea from what I've heard.

I'd be intrested in the comments and answers from those far more experienced than I on this one...especially regarding that spring.

 

[brownie]

I've always had this question in the back of my mind.

I've read a post that asked when you should rotate rounds, but I'm curious how often y'all rotate magazines.

By rotate magazines I mean pull the rounds from one magazine and put them into a different one while allowing the original magazine to return to its "memory".

As we all know, a magazine feeds a round into the chamber by a compressed spring.

If that spring stays compressed for an extended period of time, would it warp the spring (potentially causing a malfunction if you ever had to use your weapon)?

I know that I'm almost religous about changing loaded magazines every month or so. So I was just wondering if this was "preventative maintenence" or paranoia.

Thoughts?

WhoseWho

I don't rotate mags. I don't rotate rounds. I've had mags loaded for over two years with my M1a's, G17, G21sf, Kahr PM9, etc.

It's loading and unloading the mags repeatedly that wears the mag springs, not leaving them loaded. That said, I'm still using two non drop free g17 mags that have been loaded and fired to the tune of over 50k [ just through those two ] for the last twenty years that still work as well as the day they were new.

 

[WhoseWho]

I don't rotate mags. I don't rotate rounds.

Just out of curiosity, how often do you take those mags to the range and fire?

I'm pretty sure you're not taking your personal protection rounds and firing them into the range. I'm assuming you would use ball round in that situation.

Well, that is assuming you're carrying a PP round (hollow point and the such).

I standard carry a hydroshock replica in my .45 and 9mm. But when I go to the range, I'll go through a couple hundred ball ammo. Before going to the range I swap the PP round for the ball round; is that how you shoot or do you fire PP rounds at that target?

If so, after years, you haven't had a magazine malfunction (double feed, fail to feed, etc) I'm extremely curious as to how many rounds your carry.

I appreciate your input on this, this is all helping me become more familiar with carrying my weapon (outside of the Beretta 9MM).

WhoseWho

 

[brownie]

Just out of curiosity, how often do you take those mags to the range and fire?

I don't, they're my carry mags.

I'm pretty sure you're not taking your personal protection rounds and firing them into the range. I'm assuming you would use ball round in that situation.

Correct, I have mags for practice and mags for carry for each gun.

If so, after years, you haven't had a magazine malfunction (double feed, fail to feed, etc) I'm extremely curious as to how many rounds your carry.

I've replaced mag springs in 1911 mags. I have changed mag springs in a glock ever. I've not had problems with mag springs for most guns, but the 1911 mag springs seem to be more reliable if they are changed out every so often [ just guessing that they've been fully loaded and fired perhaps 500 times each totaling 3500-3700 rds.

I believe that some mags will need more spring changes than others to remain utterly reliable.

It may sound strange, but I leave my carry mags loaded in my carry guns [ including the spares ] for a very long time. I have training guns and mags that are duplicates of my carry guns so they [ the carry guns ] stay at the ready and the training guns get the duty for practice. When I'm done practicing with the trainers, I just swap put the trainers for the carry guns and I'm on my way down the road.

Now I don't have trainers for every gun I shoot. In those instances, I have carry mags that don't get used and trainer mags that do. Clean the gun, insert the fresh unused mag and spare on the belt and I'm back in business. In other words, I won't use my carry mags for practice or the practice mags for carry.

 

[WhoseWho]

I have carry mags that don't get used and trainer mags that do. Clean the gun, insert the fresh unused mag and spare on the belt and I'm back in business. In other words, I won't use my carry mags for practice or the practice mags for carry.

I completely understand (although extremely envious in the fact that you have a 1911 practice and carry :laughing).

Every time I clean my gun (most recently was from sand from Siesta Key beach) I rotate mags (the XDs come with two mags).

I was just wondering of there was a "rule of thumb" for changing mags.

Brownie, I appreciate your help!

Anyone else feel free to contribute!

WhoseWho

 

[deadeyedick]

I too used to believe that it was beneficial to rotate magazines and give the springs a 'rest', but I have since learned that this is not necessary. Here's a very informative article that explains why...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_163_27/ai_99130369/

 

[Steve48]

Great article, DED. :thumsup

 

[JETHRO]

I don't rotate mags. I don't rotate rounds. I've had mags loaded for over two years with my M1a's, G17, G21sf, Kahr PM9, etc.

It's loading and unloading the mags repeatedly that wears the mag springs, not leaving them loaded. That said, I'm still using two non drop free g17 mags that have been loaded and fired to the tune of over 50k [ just through those two ] for the last twenty years that still work as well as the day they were new.

Good to know!! Thanks for question and answer guys!:thumsup:clap

 

[MRBARRY]

...I have carry mags that don't get used and trainer mags that do. Clean the gun, insert the fresh unused mag and spare on the belt and I'm back in business. In other words, I won't use my carry mags for practice or the practice mags for carry.

This is also what I do. I agree it's the loading and unloading of a mag that shortens spring life.

I'm more concerned with bullet setback from constantly re-chamber a carry round in the pipe after practice and cleaning. But I usually shoot out my carry ammo every 4-6 months and replace, after satisfactory testing of the new batch of SD ammo, of course. So hopefully that'll never become an issue.

 

[brownie]

In 0% humidity year round ok, but do you think our situation may be a little more like storing them in the bathtub or the toilet tank? We also have a tendency to perspire a little more when the humidity shifts from 40% to 90% in 30 seconds.:laughing It's the rounds I'm refering to. After a while some of mine get pretty crudy looking.

If the rounds get wet, everything changes. Humidity should not affect a bullet for quite some time. If the bullet is seated properly [ tightly ], the primer is sealed [ most SD ammo is sealed today ] the bullet should not have a problem with firing. The brass may tarnish, and over time grow that green funky stuff if left unattended long enough which could affect it's cycling reliably through the chamber, but humidity shouldn't affect a properly built bullet.

As always, visual inspection of the bullets should be performed on a regular basis. Anything that doesn't look normal should be addressed, and perhaps changed out for fresher ammo.

 

[Mac45]

I only have a minute. I have things that I must get done today.

First, about rotating magazines. Brownie and DED have pretty much answered that. I have, at least, two sets of magazines for every weapon that uses one. One set is for defensive carry and the other is for practice. Most magazine failures are attributable to deformation of the magazine lips or foreign matter inside the magazine. For this reason, my defensive mags never get dropped on the ground or dumped into the dirt just for practice. That happens to my practice mags. And they only get reloaded once a year when I shoot up my current carry ammo and replace it with fresh rounds.

As to humidity damaging your defensive carry ammo, it probably won't under normal conditions. If a magazine gets totally submerged, I would unload it, field strip it, thoroughly clean it, lube it [do not use penetrating oil as that can kill primers], re-assemble and load with fresh ammo. While submersion probably will not adversely affect quality SD ammo from a reputable manufacturer, my life is worth more than the price of a box of ammo. Use the wet stuff for practice. I recently ran 50 rounds of Winchester 38spl hollowpoints through my 1892 rifle that were around 20 years old. They functioned flawlessly.

 

[Japle]

I keep hearing that, "it's compressing and uncompressing the spring that causes spring failure". In other words, leaving the mag loaded is OK, but using it will cause failures.

I don't buy that at all.

I collect vintage trumpets and cornets, most of them 70 to 120 years old. The valve springs in these horns are almost always original. It’s not hard to tell. No one would replace the springs without also replacing the felt and cork spacers, and the spacers in these horns are generally badly beat up.

Anyone who’s played a brass instrument will tell you that valve springs get compressed and uncompressed thousands of times during a rehearsal or concert. Hell, most trumpet players will run the valves a few dozen times during an 8 bar rest! The springs in my old horns must have been flexed hundreds of thousands of times. Maybe millions. Some of the horns were used by professional musicians, judging by the valve wear. It takes many years of hard use to wear out a set of valves, but it takes much more to wear out the springs.

I leave my carry mags loaded. The only time they’re unloaded is when they’re cleaned, maybe twice a year.

 

[MPDC66]

I had read in a couple of popular books that mags should be rotated, some even suggest rotating to various stages of full, half full and empty on a monthly basis.

I have also read (here, in an earlier thread) that steel springs of good quality don't lose tension, loaded OR unloaded. I know from my bicycle nut days that steel has a "flex life" near infinity when compared to aluminum and other materials so it makes sense to me (not proven) that the springs don't lose tension from compressing and decompressing. Staying compressed fully? I just don't know.

What I do know, some magazines are built with better quality materials and workmanship than others. Cheap, Chinese imported mags may or may not measure up to expectations. OEM mags tend to be expensive, relatively but are probably worth the extra bucks. JMHO.:drinks

 

[Steve48]

I keep hearing that, "it's compressing and uncompressing the spring that causes spring failure". In other words, leaving the mag loaded is OK, but using it will cause failures.

I agree. Refer to the article that DeadEye linked to. If the spring isn't stretched past the elastic limit, it shouldn't have a problem.