How often do you unload/reload pistol or rifle magazines?

[MillCreek]

The comments on the Ruger LC9 magazine thread got me thinking: do we have thoughts on how often we should unload/swap out loaded magazines for our magazine fed pistols and rifles?

I keep two 30 round mags loaded for each of the AR and the Mini-14.  I use PMag 3rd generation for the AR and Ruger steel for the Mini-14.  I mark the month and year that I load them and I load them with 28 rounds. I empty the rifle mags (either by firing them or unload them) and change to other mags a year later.  For my pistols, I unload and swap out the mag every six months.  I have at least four magazines for each pistol and I have at least five rifle magazines in the rotation with more magazines in the ready reserve.  I number my magazines for easy rotation.

So how often do you change out your mags?  Is there a best practice?  In my reading on this, the change interval seems to rank right up there with which is the best gun lube in terms of different opinions.

[lee n. field]

The comments on the Ruger LC9 magazine thread got me thinking: do we have thoughts on how often we should unload/swap out loaded magazines for our magazine fed pistols and rifles?

I keep two 30 round mags loaded for each of the AR and the Mini-14.  I use PMag 3rd generation for the AR and Ruger steel for the Mini-14.  I mark the month and year that I load them and I load them with 28 rounds. I empty the rifle mags (either by firing them or unload them) and change to other mags a year later.  For my pistols, I unload and swap out the mag every six months.  I have at least four magazines for each pistol and I have at least five rifle magazines in the rotation with more magazines in the ready reserve.  I number my magazines for easy rotation.

So how often do you change out your mags?  Is there a best practice?  In my reading on this, the change interval seems to rank right up there with which is the best gun lube in terms of different opinions.

I'm not near that disciplined.  For pistols I reasonably might use (XD XDS, Glock), I stash magazines, some loaded, with gun specific accessories and small parts in plastic storage boxes.  Some magazines stay loaded.  All my AK magazines are loaded up, but I haven't shot it in years.  

My XD magazines, in the subcompact only for some reason, will sometimes get distorted to where they don't drop freely.  No problems feeding, so I mark out ones that don't have the problem for carry, and stock up when I see them available at a good price.

I've been carrying my snub .38(s) for the past half year, and the point's kind of moot for that.

[Fly320s]

I don't worry about loaded mags.  I don't think they are a factor in the reliability of a gun, assuming good-quality mags.

[HeroHog]

I keep ALL of my mags loaded all the time. Springs wear out from USE, not compression according to majority of actual scientifically tested theories I've found on the subject.
 

[230RN]

Last wisdom I heard was compressed springs don't fatigue, it's the relaxing and re-compression cycles that do them in.

I don't like manipulating and fiddling with guns too much except at the range or in need, so I leave everything alone... (no kids around here.)  I carry an unquestionably reliable revolver in my pants pocket for my primary gun and the CW-9 auto in a holster is my backup.

If it's absolutely necessary to play with loaded arms around the house, I have a bookshelf full of old books I can aim at from the side.

Terry, 230RN

[Boomhauer]

Modern pistol and rifle mags tend to have stout quality springs. The only mags that have ever felt flimsy springwise to me are 1911 mags (no wonder they have issues with them). I only unload by shooting usually. If a spring starts to feel weak then replace it but I’d wager you’d have to shoot a good amount to reach that point for most mags

[cordex]

When I shoot them.

[Kingcreek]

I’ve been shooting for 50 years, some of that time as what I would call a high volume competitive shooter.
I used to change mag springs if I had any inkling of issues before a match but I never bothered to schedule anything. I’ve got some high mileage mags that work just fine. Maybe I’ve just been lucky but the number of mag issues I’ve had is almost none in many many thousands of rounds fired.
I inherited a colt 1911 that had 2 mags fully loaded since 1917 with 1914 mil issue ammo. The springs are fine. Not all of the ammo went bang but most of it did.

[lupinus]

My mags only get unloaded when I shoot them, or have a good reason to clean them or something.

Compressed springs don't fatigue, cycling via compression and decompression is what fatigues a spring. Over extending or stretching a compression spring can ruin it. But keeping a compression spring compressed isn't going to hurt it, it's what they're designed to do.

Unloading magazines certainly isn't going to hurt anything and if you've got nothing better to do have at it. But unless you just need something to kill time it's a waste of it.

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[Perd Hapley]

Modern pistol and rifle mags tend to have stout quality springs. The only mags that have ever felt flimsy springwise to me are 1911 mags (no wonder they have issues with them). I only unload by shooting usually. If a spring starts to feel weak then replace it but I’d wager you’d have to shoot a good amount to reach that point for most mags

Wouldn't most 1911 mags have lighter springs than, say, most Glock magazines, just because most 1911 magazines are single-column?

You realize it's a bit hard to generalize about a part that's been made by various manufacturers, and in use for over a century, yes?

[MillCreek]

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/The_Myth_of_Magazine_Spring_Set/5-855236/

I cannot find an online link to the article, but the first post repeats an article on springs that I remember reading back in 2003, when the issue came out.  It was from there that I adopted my change out pistol magazines every six months.

[AZRedhawk44]

I've got mags filled with defensive ammo that haven't been cycled in about 7-8 years.  Not all of 'em, but guns that have fallen out of my carry rotation (I carry a CZ P-01 Omega now and there are XD's and 1911's in the safe that used to be my carry guns) that still have mags loaded with defensive ammo in the safe. 

I keep separate my mags I use for training vs carry.  I don't want to worry about the carry reliability of a mag I just dumped on the ground that may have landed on the feed lips in a hurried change during a match or training class.  I've also accidentally shot up my carry ammo a few times at matches.  That gets expensive quick - carry ammo costs about as much as the mag it's in.

I don't worry about spring longevity in any of my modern magazines.  My first XD is probably 15 years old at this point, I have its original magazines and springs, and that pistol has somewhere around 20k rounds through it.  The original mags held 15rds and Springfield changed the bodies and followers slightly in later designs to fit 16, so I used the 15's exclusively for practice.  Those two original mags have the majority of those 20k rounds through them.  The only malfunctions I've ever had with that gun are after a 1000rd no cleaning torture test I did to it, and the failure was from the loaded chamber indicator on top of the slide getting fouled and blocking a round from feeding properly.  Not mag related.

Guns that are in active carry rotation get the carry ammo cycled out about every 18-24 months, and the carry mags disassembled and cleaned and then function checked (usually the last mag of a stage at a match, to avoid dropping it or throwing it down).  I worry more about pocket lint, gun oil and powder residue combining to create a problem than about the springs fatiguing. 

[MechAg94]

I don't mess with loaded magazines.  With my primary carry guns, I like to shoot through the loaded ammo at least once a year so I guess that counts.  I have never had an issue with older guns where the mags stayed loaded. 

One thought:  I have a feeling that more magazine issues are caused by issues with the mag body or feed lips than springs, but I am just speculating.  I guess that assumes you start with quality springs and mags.  In my early days of shooting as an adult, I would buy no-name mags at the gun show and had a lot of issues. 


My brother has my PTR-91 now.  He pulled out some of the aluminum mags that I have left loaded for 8 to 10 years.  One or two had issues cycling.  Not sure if that is the spring or the aluminum body.  Only 3 or 4 mags in that sample out of 30 or so.

[MechAg94]

My rule with newer guns I sort of stole from Tom Gresham.  Have at least 6 magazines for each gun.  Or just have enough that if one magazine is not working right that 1) you have other mags to keep shooting, and 2) you can throw away the bad magazine and not be short.  That can get expensive with pistols (FN), but a lot of manufacturers have been improving on magazine prices. 

[Scout26]

I doubt that unloading and loading a magazine 3-4 times per year are going to wear out the springs...

[lupinus]

I doubt that unloading and loading a magazine 3-4 times per year are going to wear out the springs...

Certainly not. Just also totally unnecessary

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[MechAg94]

I can see reloading the carry mags every six months, but only because you shoot the ammo in them and replace it.  At least I think that is a better reason.