Hi Folks! New to Conceal Carry...

[high pockets]

Welcome to the forum!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[sioux565]

Welcome to the forum!

Hopefully you receive your CC license soon. As far as the magazines go, you will hear a lot of opinions on what wears them out. I have yet to see any evidence of my mags wearing out on my Glock or Ruger after plenty of shooting and loading/unloading. I say just don't worry about it!

[lchamp]

Greetings and weclome to the forum from the Space Coast of Central Florida.

[bandrich]

I know people say you can leave ammo in a mag forever. I was told by my instructor for my CCL to switch mag's each month soooo that is what I have been doing be it right or wrong. IMHO.

Oh yeah Welcome!

[1MoreGoodGuy]

Welcome from Fort Worth, Texas.

[Brass63]

Welcome from the Midwest!

[GH]

Welcome from Wisconsin, Chuck!

[BurgerBoy]

Welcome from Western Kentucky.

[Hiram25]

Welcome from Delaware!

[Geobob]

Hello, ChuckP, and welcome from Missouri to a really great forum. Good people and info here!

Since you are new to this handgun, self defense arena, consider taking some good self defense classes. I also recommend you check out the many free YouTube videos made by Massad Ayoob, a world-class instructor in handgun use and self defense, who has recorded training sessions in Judicious Use of Force, Shoot to Live, Home Invasion, Preparation for Home Defense, and What to Do After a Shooting. Just Google his name and these topics and the YouTubes should show up. Very good instructional information from an expert, and free.

Also, this is a very good technical study of self defense ammo:

Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

Best wishes for a safe, prosperous New Year to you and yours.

[Boozehound]

Welcome from the Heart of Dixie!

[gasmitty]

Welcome from AZ!

The mag spring question comes up periodically. I'll spare you the engineering lecture (for now), and just state that keeping a mag loaded won't reduce the spring force (except over a very, very long time), but loading and unloading the mags will. Taken to a illogical extreme, compare a fully loaded mag lying in a drawer for 2 years versus a mag whose owner unloads it every night in an attempt to keep from "wearing out" the spring. The latter magazine (loaded/unloaded daily) is the one more likely to malfunction due to spring relaxation.

There are some exceptions; some smallish guns compromise spring design to load an extra round into the mag, and some high-caps do the same.

Here's a data point: Over the past 2 years, I've shot about 10,000 rounds in a weekly match. I have 8 mags set aside for that game, all high-quality Wilson or Tripp/Cobra 8-shot (single stack, for a 1911). Three of the mags are 10+ years old. Four stages per match, multiple reloads, so the mags get a workout. Over that time, I've had just one spring go soft enough that the gun didn't feed well, so that one got replaced along with 3 others that subjectively felt a little softer than the others.

If you're doing just a modest amount of shooting, I say don't worry about it for years, but in the meantime get a replacement spring for each of your mags, just to have on hand.

[JDE101]

Welcome to the forum from SW Ohio.

[VPNAVY]

Welcome aboard from the great state of Pennsylvania!

[rstickle]

Welcome!