storing ammo in clips

[matthewy8]

does anyone know if it is bad for the clips to store your ammo in them for a long period of time? i just dont want to wear out the spring inside the clip from just keeping the ammo inside it for long periods of time and not being used.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Glock 'em down]

What brand are you carrying? Me personally - I carry a Glock 22 with a 10 round mag in the weapon and 2 15 rounders on my belt. I load with 1 in the pipe and 9 in the magazine, and the two 15 rounders on my belt are loaded with 13 rounds each.

"Why a 10 round mag when 15 round mags are available" you may ask? Simple...the 10 rounders function much better than the 15 rounders do...that's just my opinion, of course. I know, I know, everybody thinks I'm crazy - and yeah, to an extent I AM but I still like the 10 rounders better as far as feeding goes. Besides...I was trained to keep count of your rounds and not let your weapon run dry.

But in answer to your question...you should be fine as long as you don't load to "full" capacity and get new mags about twice a year.

[P95Carry]

Ahhh hum - yeah magazines (not clips!)

These days it is reckoned that spring material is good enough to not take too much of a set but despite that I think on majority - we do tend to let springs ''relax'' from time to time.

As to what is a ''long time'' ....... well I might free up a SIG mag after two to three months and charge a fresh one. I don't feel it is a major issue. One example - I had left an AK mag fully charged with 30 rounds and forgotten it - well over a year later I emptied it with no glitches at all.

[farmerj]

what destroys a magazine is over compressing the spring or stretching it.

Leaving the spring at it's compressed height will not damage it. I have left magazines loaded for 15+ years on my 10/22 before I pulled them out again. To this day it still works fine. I have now used the same magazines for 25+ years without fail.

My 92FS has been about the same. Albeit, get the mag full of sand and dirt is another story.

My AR/M16 mags are now pushing 14+ years on the original mags. I don't tap on the spine of the magazine either to "seat" the rounds. It spreads the lips on them.

My M14 mags are only 3 years old but proving just as reliable.

[Superhouse 15]

I've got that beat. I've got a Thompson magazine that allegedly has been fully loaded since 1945 with steel cased military ball ammo. One of these days I'll get around to trying that, but the spring seems pretty good. I have some SHTF-type AR magazines and I keep them loaded with no trouble yet. I shoot the ammo out of those about every year or so and no mag related jams yet.

[Leadslinger]

Ahhh hum - yeah magazines (not clips!)

Hey I got a bunch of ammo loaded in clips .

...... Stripper Clips

[matthewy8]

excuse me mag not clip. i have a glock 30 with the 10 round mags. i was just worried that if i left the mag fully loaded for a long time being months or years if it would weaken the spring inside. ive asked quite a few peoples opinion here locally and they all tell me different things.

[aus71383]

not sure about this either. for some reason i think i read somewhere that it was being compressed and released and back again that wore them out...but then why did i buy extra magazines planning to switch them out every couple weeks just in case? hmm..

[lowflyer]

does anyone know if it is bad for the clips to store your ammo in them for a long period of time? i just dont want to wear out the spring inside the clip from just keeping the ammo inside it for long periods of time and not being used.

Yes, the spring will eventually wear out if the magazine is kept full. Depending on too many variables to count, the length of time it will take will likely be measured in decades.

[ccw9mm]

does anyone know if it is bad for the clips to store your ammo in them for a long period of time?

For nearly two decades, now, I have kept at least 4-5 magazines full at all times, for my primary firearm, plus whatever I carry with me. Every 3mos or so, I make sure to cycle through all of it at the range, then load it up again for the next ~3mos. The springs have seemed to lose none of their zest, though I do replace magazine springs every ~2000 rounds, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't see any issues anyway. Cheap insurance, for having plenty of ammo ready to go. Otherwise, you could be caught fumbling with the dang bullets as you're loading under fire. Not a good way to go.

[Bud White]

you can not wear out a mag spring it sitting


read the stories of people shooting mags that were last loaded in WWII

the actually cycling of the mag during normal firing is what wears it out not leaving it loaded

There not clips also only gun that truly uses a clip is a m1 garand

otherwise they are Magazines

[gotammo]

their made to be loaded, so load'm' up

[OldMick]

My suggestion would be to do an annual inspection and maintenance of any carry piece. Buy some new, replacement mag springs and a recoil spring; they're not expensive. When you inspect the magazine, if the current spring is much shorter than the new spring - replace it.

On my Sig, I replace the recoil spring, trigger bar spring, decocking lever spring and carry mag springs every year, or 5000 rounds.

I agree that you "probably" don't need to , but IMO there's nothing wrong with being extra cautious about your carry handgun.

[MTGun]

Bud is right, "using" mags wears them out. Leaving them fully loaded will not wear out a "quality" mag. Because of possible defects, Murphy's Law, etc. it would be prudent to check and or rotate them anyway.

This is info from many highly respected gunsmiths and highspeeders with vast experience. I personally have never had weak springs in non-issue weapons that I own personally.

[BILLYKALDRICH]

whaa??