Magazine Rotation

chambered221 · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:14 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Have never swapped out a mag spring........ it's never been proven to me that a mag spring was ever at fault for lack of function !!!

PaulS · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Springs, when made new, are a tad longer than the "unloaded length" because they do take a "loaded set". Once the initial setting is taken the only thing that affects the load and length of the spring is:
Heat from an external source above the 500F - 580F "tempering" range
or
Internal heat from constant working near or beyond the springs minimum working lenth.

As long as the spring is not "overcompressed" or worked at that length for prolonged periods it will never soften. It may rust and break but the steel will not change its fundamental characteristics.

Paul

slimjim · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:13 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Elvis, your grammar is good. I was just playing on words. Isn't Radar involved in law?

Bushy, this discussion is concerning semi-auto pistol mag springs which are not the same as semi-auto rifle. Rifle brass is long enough that the mag lip do all the aligning of the bullets. Its not the same in a pistol. The position of the bullet nose is controlled by the magazine lips and spring force. A weak spring may not elevate the nose high enough to feed into the chamber. I can't explain what makes a sping week but it can happen. When it does, high-capacity semi-autos may begin to feed unreliably as the rounds remaining in the mag decreases. When I was trouble shooting my feed issues, a Glock armorer showed me what was causing my problem. When I compared spring lengths of all my magazines, the two with the issue were shorter than the others.

chambered221 · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:17 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Were those mags kept loaded or did ya wear them out ??? Confused

Did you replace with Glock springs or aftermarket springs ???

slimjim · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:31 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

chambered221 wrote:

Were those mags kept loaded or did ya wear them out ?

I remember now that there were 3 mags that I replaced springs in. Two were ones I keep loaded. The tired one was in the mix of ones I used.

chambered221 wrote:

Did you replace with Glock springs or aftermarket springs ?

To were replaced by Glock with OEM springs. One I tried an aftermarket spring with a +2.

Elvis · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:38 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

tube magazine springs get dirty and will give feed problems too. even the old 30/30 (sorry Bushy) will give grief if they get crappy or rust a little, I know mine used to hang up the last round some times, I always check to see the end of the magazine when unloading my pump .12ga for this very reason. my buddys .22mag would sometimes do the same. if you remove the coil spring and give it and the tube a plurry good clean the problem goes away.

slimjim · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:05 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

chambered221 wrote:

Have never swapped out a mag spring........ it's never been proven to me that a mag spring was ever at fault for lack of function !!!

Do you have a hi-capacity semi-auto pistol? 1911s don't count. I can tell you with certainty that it can happen. I had failure to feed problems at a Glock sponsored match. Went to the Glock armorer on duty. He diagnoised the problem in 2 seconds. He showed me the bullet angle difference (nose up) with the original spring and then when the new spring was installed. I've had the problem occur in 2 other mags. I've been shooting Glocks coming up on 20 years. I've had to replace sagging springs on my cars during that time also.

chambered221 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Yes I have hi-caps but admit my single stacks are the go to guns and get most of the attention !!!

I did however leave a couple of .40cal XD mags loaded for about a year without any ill effects .

slimjim · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:22 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

chambered221 wrote:

mags loaded for about a year without any ill effects .

Try 10 to 20 years.

Elvis · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

why bother having them loaded for that long????
If they arent getting fired at least once a year you wont be familiar with them to the degree you should be.

chambered221 · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:43 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

Yup....did that ......15+ years in a Sig220 but you say they don't count !!!

Guess that makes my old Sig single stacks more reliable than your Glock !!! Poke

Elvis, I have mags that are dedicated for carry/protection. This helps ensure they are not compromised and work if needed. They only time they get unloaded is when I rotate the ammo out or do a reliability check.

Elvis · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:43 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

and that reliability check is done at the range I hope? which was my point Very Happy

that they will get used/ changed around at some stage not left sitting for 10 years+ Very Happy

hells bells batman you will have to get em out and have a blast up so why not use up the now getting old ammo and replace it with some new flash fandangled stuff Shocked

you have just loaded up. it must improove piece of mind??
would it not???

chambered221 · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:42 am Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

I laugh every time I shoot the old ammo up...........yup it still works... didn't need replaced Confused

And for the record I only use factory ammo for carry/self defense.
I know that's a hot topic with some but I've never had issue with the factory stuff. I also prefer not having to explain or justify my re-loads.....one less thing to worry about.

slimjim · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:38 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

chambered221 wrote:

Guess that makes my old Sig single stacks more reliable than your Glock !!! :poke:

I pondered that for a moment. If my mag spring has weakened, you are correct. That's why I check my mags.

slimjim · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:09 pm Post subject: Re: Magazine Rotation

talked with some other Glock owners at the match last weekend. The Glock guy that shot the most, switches out his magazine spring every two years. He buys a 10-pack of Wolf springs.