GUN SPRING QUESTION???

[74man]

I was once told, when I was in the military, that never leave pressure on a spring!!. I usually leave my Magazines unloaded for that reason. I also never leave a weapon in the fire position or cocked position I use snap caps to relieve the tension on the trigger mechanism!! I always pull the trigger after cocking the weapon after unloading using a snap cap I have snap caps for all my firearms.

Am I just being too cautious or is it a good idea to leave your magazine springs unloaded or without tension on the springs? Also, am I being anal about leaving my firearms cocked, although unloaded?
I would like to know, will keeping the Magazine loaded will damage the springs and leaving cocked tension on a firearm damage anything in the firearm? Is it a good idea to use SNAP CAPS in the firearm and release the tension on the trigger springs. Thanks all, I think I am right but wanted to know from the more experienced..

 

[Jeff62]

I have 1911 magazines that have been fully loaded for twenty years. They work as they should. I have some 30 round AR magazines, loaded w/28 rds, that have been loaded more than ten years and they function properly.

I have heard the same cautions as you regarding springs. I’ve never seen the evidence that leaving a spring under tension makes it unreliable.

 

[onibaba]

All springs have a shelf life or a "use" life regardless of whether they are stored compressed or relaxed.

If it were problematic you would be need to expand your car's suspension to avoid premature wear.

 

[Jim Watson]

Internet advice is contradictory
“Cycling is what wears a spring.”
“Leave your new magazine loaded for a week to set the spring so you can get that last round in.”

 

[Sawdust1]

I have heard the same thing before so I tested it along with some other things I have heard. I loaded a 30 round ar mag full, vacuum sealed it and the buried it approximately a foot deep last April. I dug it up 2 weeks ago and everything functioned with no problems

 

[IWAC]

I've heard the same thing, but have no experience one way or the other. That said, I don't leave any of my weapons cocked, or magazines loaded. That presents a problem with my semi auto Rugers. The factory manuals say you can dry fire them. But I don't dry fire any without a dummy round in the chamber. (Except by accident.) You have to cock the semi autos to remove the dummy. Sort of a "catch 22".

 

[Jim Watson]

My Browning Superposed ca 1970 instructions said it was OK to either drop the hammers dry fire or leave cocked.

 

[.455_Hunter]

It's all dependent on the specific geometry, loading and material properties. Yes- there are well designed firearms and firearms accessories that extended compression has no impact. However, there are others that extended compression absolutely has a negative impact. I personally owned aftermarket ban-period CZ-75 mags that severely weakend after a year of being loaded. I have also seen a military Mauser that was stored cocked, probably for decades, and wouldn't be able to fire a primer. I keep a small quantity of proven "ready use" mags loaded. Everything else is kept uncompressed.

 

[Walkalong]

Compressions/cycles wear a spring, compressing beyond it's design limits wears a spring, being compressed within design limits does not.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

When I was boating with our rich uncle, the topside watch's 1911 magazines were loaded with 5 (gov't mags hold 7). They were put away that way too. I suspect they stayed loaded with 5 for years on end (I never heard of anyone actually firing the things). But only with 5, never 7.

 

[Slamfire]

That is a question that has been debated for decades, maybe a half century now on the internet. This is one shot at it:



the video link at this link is gone, but there is plenty of text:

Make Up Your Mind Monday: Do Loaded Magazines Wear Out Magazine Springs?

David Tubb is selling mainsprings , but there is good information in the article:

Spring Materials and Design Philosophy

If you have ever replaced suspension springs on vehicles, it can be difficult to tell if 50 year old truck springs are weak, or not. I have placed the old next to the new, and the new were shorter! Rear leaf springs have taken a set after a couple of decades. These are all under compression. I am confident that good magazine springs, made of good steels and tempered properly, will last decades under compression. I purchased some real cheap magazines back in the nineties, and those springs lost tension during use. I took them out and stretched them, and that stretching caused them to weaken even faster. And the the lips on the magazines spread, I bent them back with pliers, did not last. Crappy magazines don't get better.

Those cheap Government M16 magazines, the lips spread over time. At the time Stoner was designing the things, back in the 1950's, the Infantry school was sending Memorandums stating the Infantry did not want magazines in the replacement to the Garand. It wanted clips. Magazines were heavy and expensive. So, the Army got cheap, "disposable" M16 magazines, which have been the greatest source of unreliability in the weapon platform since they got most of the other bugs fixed during the Vietnam war.

Maybe the problems of the M16 magazines have tainted all magazines. Hard to know how these things start.

 

[Jim Watson]

I think a lot of gun springs are overstressed, and moreso now.
Lots of reports of GI 1911 magazines left loaded with 7 for years and still working fine, but I had to replace the springs in my 8 round Wilsons about every other season.
Chuck Taylor in his Glock longevity epic said that he went to loading 15 instead of 17 so the magazines would last longer.

I have seen recommendations to replace your GM recoil spring every 3000-5000 shots, replace the 4" Compact spring every 800.

 

[CapnMac]

One of the things to remember about near everything military, is that, most military things are done for the purpose of repetition, and for conformity.
Or for keeping idle hands busy.

The military, as a whole, has an entire logistics network of spares and people tasked for ensuring things are to spec. As a whole, "the military" is not much bothered if a spring wears out, or takes a ste, or the like--they have replacements. We mere mortals can have different motivations and timelines.

 

[The Night Rider]

I was once told, when I was in the military, that never leave pressure on a spring!!. I usually leave my Magazines unloaded for that reason. I also never leave a weapon in the fire position or cocked position I use snap caps to relieve the tension on the trigger mechanism!! I always pull the trigger after cocking the weapon after unloading using a snap cap I have snap caps for all my firearms.

Am I just being too cautious or is it a good idea to leave your magazine springs unloaded or without tension on the springs? Also, am I being anal about leaving my firearms cocked, although unloaded?
I would like to know, will keeping the Magazine loaded will damage the springs and leaving cocked tension on a firearm damage anything in the firearm? Is it a good idea to use SNAP CAPS in the firearm and release the tension on the trigger springs. Thanks all, I think I am right but wanted to know from the more experienced..

Using the Search terms "Magazine Springs" there are eight pages of different discussions on this topic.

 

[Walkalong]

And they all end up the same way with the same conclusions.