Mag Question

[brewskzilla]

I'm not sure where this thread should go, so I'm starting it here, because it is, technically, about my CETME.
How long can a magazine be stored full before the spring goes soft?

[sdk1968]

man this question gets asked and everyone has a wild opinion on it... this should be fun!

my metal cetme mags stay loaded.

my thermolds do not.

but how long?? well i shoot mine alot so they arent staying loaded that long/? how bout you?

[brewskzilla]

I shoot frequently, but dont take the same rifles all the time. Therefore my mags could possibly go a couple of months before "rotating" back to the range.

[jfowl31]

Keeping them loaded should NOT effect the life of the mag sprng....... Honestly its the loading and unloading that will fatigue the spring steel.

That is theoretical though, and not all steel is created equally, but THEORETICALLY, a loaded mag should be perfectly fine for ages, and will outlast a "shooter" mag all the time.

Think of bending a paperclip back and forth and how weak and "loose" it gets after you fatigue the metal.

[Planning]

Keeping them loaded should NOT effect the life of the mag sprng....... Honestly its the loading and unloading that will fatigue the spring steel.

That is theoretical though, and not all steel is created equally, but THEORETICALLY, a loaded mag should be perfectly fine for ages, and will outlast a "shooter" mag all the time.

Think of bending a paperclip back and forth and how weak and "loose" it gets after you fatigue the metal.

jfowl is correct, i keep some my mags loaded for "just in case" times. been that way for a while and every now and then i will shoot a mag full just to check. always have worked fine for me.

[brewskzilla]

Good. I'd been kinda worried about it, but if anything ever happened and I needed a rifle, I probably wouldn't have time to load a mag up.

[AK AJ]

Brew, The ammo in the mag will probably go bad before the spring goes bad in the mag.
-And I don't know anyone on this site that lets a weapon sit that long. :icon_biggrin:
But like Planning and jfowls said, Keep on rotating out your SHTF Mag just in case, it makes me feel better, to keep fresh ammo in them.

AJ

[KidKalash66]

This No5 Mk1 enfield I got recently came from somebody who loaded it back in the 60s,and never shot it.All 10 rounds shucked out just fine 40 yrs later,green and grungy,but ejected fine... 9686

[mike minihan]

I agree,a loaded magazine will be stable for a long time. That counts triple in the case of military magazines. There was a story making the rounds ten
or so years ago of a man who inherited his father,s
WW II .45 Colt. It had been stored since the end of the war with the magazine loaded. He took it out to shoot to see if it would. It did.

As stated previously,the flexing of the spring is what weakens it. I keep a few loaded,just in case also. They are expected to function perfectly.

Guns are built to last a very long time. As a somewhat related example,a gentleman in late '80s Massachusetts had his ancestors Revolutionary musket
hanging over the fireplace. The story goes that it had not been fired since the late 18th century. A friend convinced him to load and fire it. It was loaded,and had been so the story goes since 1793.

The guys took it outside and lashed to a tree and pulled the trigger with a string. It fired! Both incidents were reported in gun mags. It just goes to show that things military are VERY strongly built.

best regards,

Mike Minihan

[jfowl31]

I believe the first one no doubt, but the second one is a bit of a stretch. We're talking about black powder lasting for nearly 200 years not vacuum packed or anything??? doubtful, but if it is in fact true, that's a helluva story.

[mike minihan]

Jfowl,that is correct,it is a story from a gun mag. I suppose it could be just as written,depending on conditions of storage,etc. I certainly was not there,at the time I did take the article's author to be truthful.
But it IS a helluva stretch.

Best regards,

Mike Minihan

[jettag]

I have are always loaded a few rounds shy of capacity.
They always function fine and this method keeps some extra skin on the fingers for pulling the trigger too.
Quality mil-spec mags don't go bad unless you drag em through dirt...

So say a prayer for our troops doing it daily!

[jettag]

I have are always loaded a few rounds shy of capacity.
They always function fine and this method keeps some extra skin on the fingers for pulling the trigger too.
Quality mil-spec mags don't go bad unless you drag em through dirt...

So say a prayer for our troops doing it daily!:America: