Will it hurt mags to keep 'em loaded?

[AD-Arms]

Will it hurt 30 round mags to keep them loaded? I just got a new AK for my SHTF gun and was wondering if I can keep the mags loaded without hurting the springs. Thanx

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"Son, people are no damn good." -My Grandfather

[Volk]

It sure will if you leave them loaded for a long time. Try swiching them time to time.

[AD-Arms]

I have been told USGI AR mags are not harmed by being left loaded for long times. AK mags are damaged? Does anyone else have any experiences?

[Lrp]

Guess it depends on who you ask. My experience is if you leave them loaded it won't do much damage. If you constantly load and un-load them it will weaken the springs. I have some AR mags that have been loaded for 20 years and then shot without any problems. Next!!!

[LAgunman2K-3]

some say to load it 1/2 to 3/4 full and rotate the mag every 6 months

if TSHTF i think you will have more than a few minutes to load your mags -- but thats just my opinion

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and on the 8th day GOD made the AK-47 and saw that this was good

talk is cheap, but bullets are even Cheaper!!!

[dtid]

take a roll of 100 mile and hour tape, wrap some around the bottom of the mag above the floorplate, number your mags with a permanent magic marker on the 100 mile an hour tape. Keep the first 1/2 of your mags loaded in your SHTF bag/LBE. Every six months, you should be a check of your SHTF bag and supplies, making sure to change your canteen water, change batteries in your flashights, rotate your food and rotate your loaded magazines. Write it down on your calenadar.


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Don Tidwell
NRA Certified Instructor
Pistol, Rifle, Personal Protection

[JA]

I have 4 30rd mags that have been loaded with 30rds for the last 8 years. Every time I take them to the range they work fine with no lose of power in the springs that I can tell.
If you are worried about leaving your mags fully loaded for long periods of time you don't own enough mags.

[AD-Arms]

How many mags do you think i should own total?

[hafa]

Spare Magazines. How many spare magazines are enough? The answer is as many as you can afford and carry. The current U.S. military basic load consists of six 30-round magazines in ammo pouches and one in the weapon. However, the last thing you need to be doing in the middle of a firefight is to be loading magazines. Soldiers and Marines armed with the M-16 rifle in Vietnam regularly carried 300-500 rounds in loaded magazines while on patrol. A British Royal Marine Captain after the 1982 campaign in the Falklands stated, "There are two things you need in your equipment: ammunition, food and more ammunition." A British paratrooper in the Falklands started an attack with 14 20-round magazines for his 7.62mm NATO FN FAL rifle and a sandbag slung around his neck containing a further 200 loose rounds and 200 rounds of belted 7.62mm machinegun ammo. He spent most of the attack skirmishing forward on his belly, used all of his ammunition, and ended up rummaging through dead Argentines' ammo pouches for spare FAL magazines. A one stop shopping source (with prices not terribly inflated) for legal pre-ban high capacity magazines for the AR-15, Mini-14, AK-47, FN FAL, M-14, M-1 carbine, HK-91, and AR-180 is the company Delta Force (P.O. Box 1625, El Dorado, AR 71731; credit card orders 1-800-852-4445; catalog requests 1-501-862-4984).

[hafa]

InFO on Mags ETC: click on and read this:
http://www.ak-47.net/legal/hicap.html

[atlas366]

This business about mag springs taking a set is total BS. With modern steel (post-1950)and other alloys you have nothing to worry about. This is an old warning left over from days past when this was a concern. You have more to fear from rust in long term storage than spring damage. In my experience there is very little that will make an AK mag stop working. The Israelis have done tests over the years and mags stored in excess of twenty years functioned fine. Stretching a spring out will hurt it much more than compressing it.

[colonel kalashnikov]

i had 6 30 rounders that had been loaded (fully...all 30 rds) for about 7-8 months, and took em shooting on Monday.....no problemo. Fed into my Maadi and SAR-1 sweet as pie....FMJ and HP both.

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We owe it all to the Veterans :)

[Tango 1Zero]

AK Mags are the toughest mags around, I loaded one of my mags as an experiment. Kept it fully loaded in my garage for over a year it feeds flawlessly.
Since then I have abused this same magazine keeping it fully loaded when not at the range.
I have been doing this for almost five years and this mag. works as good as a new one does.
I dont think its as big of a deal as we might think, atleast for AK's that is.

[fubar]

no. look the AK was a well thought out and implemented design. designed to function no matter what. this goes for the mag as well.

in fact by rotating your mags you are cycling them which is what really ruins the springs.

this advise does not apply to USA brand magazine which are pure garbage....

[Packrat]

What's the justification that compressing the spring is OK, but compressing and releasing it damages it? If you were exceeding the limit of elasticity, I would agree, but the amount of flex that you get in a magazine shouldn't hurt it. Compressing it and leaving it would be more likely to damage it, I think.

Keep a few half loaded, and the rest empty. You probably won't have a fire-fight that will burn more than a hundred rounds unless you're bump-firing or shooting at shadows. If you do, you got the wrong people mad at you.

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Packrat

[mike1]

1. AK mags are very tough

2. I keep six loaded 30 round mags in my assault rifle case and one 30 in the gun.

3. I keep no less than 25 rounds in any given mag. If I have to grab it in an emergency, I know I am not left with any less than 25 rounds. Easy system.

Good luck

[LtlRndTop]

Just to throw this in, you can load a "wind-up" 75 round drum, and not wind the spring during storage. If TSHTF, it takes about 3 seconds to wind, and you are ready to go. I know, the 75 round drum is heavy and cumbersome, but if you instantly need ammo when TSHTF, you probably won't feel the weight (adrenalin), and those 75 rounds will be nice.



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"Hold this ground at all cost"

[unclejed]

the "advice" about leaving mags empty came from a problem with early m-16 magazines, and their use/abuse in vietnam. this info related to me by one of my drill sgts in basic at ft jackson. apparently, the early model magazines had substandard steel for the springs, and were prone to losing their "spring" when stored loaded. the problem was caught and corrected early, but the myth refuses to go away.

[General Tso]

I've had mixed experience with this issue. In most of my weapons, including AR-15's using GI mags, I've had no problems even after years of storage. The only time I had a problem was with my old 92F Beretta using GI mags. I had my 3 primary mags take a set to them. They would still feed but would no longer lock the slide to the rear when empty.