[munitedhooligan]

But is it too much stress on the magazine springs if I leave them loaded? And I am talking about my home defense pistol, not my ccw. So they are just sitting in the safe.

[JonM]

no stress at all. unloading the magazine does more harm than leaving them loaded.

from a previous post i left a reply on this very topic:

one of my very first jobs was working in a machine shop and the very wise owner explained how springs and metal work. you can bend metal, which basicly what springs do is bend, this is work and makes the atoms of the material rub against each other generating heat. the heat weakens the structure. when the piece of metal is not moving, in the case of springs compressed or decompressed, there is no heat being generated. so a spring doesnt care if its compressed or not.

you can see the effect yourself by bending a coathanger wire back and forth and feel the heat it generates at the bend. bend it once and leave it there is no further heat generated. same for springs.

so anyone claiming that springs need to rest or at full compression fatigue dont know anything about metal working or the properties of steel.

im no expert by any stretch but its basic metalurgy

when you get someone that says their mags dont work full loaded its because the springs are worn out or are faulty and being compressed beyound their operating range. you see this a lot with cheap foreign magazines and cheap US made ones. its not however because the springs "need to rest" thats just foolishness.

a quality magazine will function at its rated load for as long as needed or until decays from rust

one last thing. you dont take the leaf springs out of your car to "let them rest" or jack the body of the frame at nite so those last few pounds dont cause a rough ride...

[rifleman1]

spring set can occure in magazines being left loaded for long periods of time.www.gunsprings.com/faq,they might be a little sels serving but they have good info on the subject.if you can find the book The Tactical 1911 written by Dve Lauck he talks briefly about spring set.

[mountainman13]

Can we get a stickie on this? Seems to come up once a week.

[munitedhooligan]

Alright guys thanks you've been a lot of help!

[Quentin]

Originally Posted by rifleman1

spring set can occure in magazines being left loaded for long periods of time.www.gunsprings.com/faq,they might be a little sels serving but they have good info on the subject.if you can find the book The Tactical 1911 written by Dve Lauck he talks briefly about spring set.

Hmmm, didn't bother looking at the link since it sounds like they're in the business of selling springs!

[Olympus]

Spring fatigue comes from the amount of times a spring has been compressed and released. Leave your mags loaded and you'll be just fine. This is a common internet myth.

[rifleman1]

i like to give the best info possible just because one believes spring set to be a myth does not make it so, spring set can and does occur.it may take years and it may never be an issue for some people or most but it still can happen.google search "A magazine spring experiment"this one is not saleing anything.www.ballistics101.combottom of the page there is the list you will see the experiment.

[JonM]

Springset is being misrepresented by that link. While every spring has a natural ammount of set it will take, on a properly designed magazine that set factor is taken into account.

What spring set actually is, is the amount of permanent compression a spring has from when it was brand new to a shorter permanent length once its been in use a while.

When a spring is properly designed the engineer designing the magazine takes that into account and its a nonfactor.

Springs do wear out from sustained use. The wear is NOT from the compressed state of the spring but from its constant compression and decrompression cycle itself.

Loading and then unloading a magazine to let a spring "rest" does far more damage than just leaving the magazine full

Springset is a term used incorrectly by certain folks to sell ya unneeded springs.

[partdeux]

Originally Posted by JonM

When a spring is properly designed the engineer designing the magazine takes that into account and its a nonfactor.

Springs do wear out from sustained use. The wear is NOT from the compressed state of the spring but from its constant compression and decrompression cycle itself.

If the spring is properly designed, it should last millions of cycles, way beyond my income level of shooting

I would expect any mfg to properly design a spring.