Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles How many rounds safe to store in clip?

I just got 3 20 round MagPul P-mags. I put 15 rounds in one of them, but wanted to know how many I can safely keep in a mag long term without screwing up the spring too much?

Thanks

Mark

Supposedly totally full for many years...

That being said I keep about 4 mags loaded(not magpul, just GI mags) to 28 rounds in each 30, over YEARS of shooting GI mags 28 is just a safety factor..... and I may leave those loaded for a year or so, then empty them and load 4 others. The rotation helps out in my mind. Especially if you are relying your life on em.

PErsonally I"d think if you loaded 29 in any 30 round mag, and kept it for 5 years, I'd bet they'd all be about 99.9% reliable.

Pmags are designed to hold 20 rounds and offer the clip that goes over the feed lips which keeps pressure off them for prolonged storage. The springs wear from being compressed and released not from just being compressed.

GI mags left loaded could bend the feed lips under pressure.

Also of note, if you try hard you can force 21 rounds into a pmag but it will cause problems so keep count at 20.

Same for the 30 rd mags but be advised they haven't been around long enough for us to really know for sure, it's just how they were designed and only time will tell.

Yep, I've read all that, one reason I don't suggest it is there is no proof.
Much like PEX piping...

I don't think the issue is as much the spring as the feed lips becoming mishapen as a result of the rounds constant pressing against them. Magpuls have a clip that goes on the top of the mag to depress the rounds enough to keep them off the feed lips. That is supposed to allow full loading with no worries about reliablity.

In a clip I can put in 8 rounds, 5 or 10 depending on the caliber. Let's see in the Garand it's 8 rounds of 30-06; in the 03 it's 5 rounds on the stripper and for the Ar-15, my clips hold 10 rounds in line. I can use these clips to load my magazines.

It seems to be accepted lore that repeated loading and unloading is what causes magazine springs to lose their strength over time.

The number of opinions about spring loading is just a little below the number of opinions on barrel break in or cleaning.


Some years back, I elected to go all Chrome Silicon with the springs in ARs, especially the ones in magazines. Brownell's makes some very nice CS-spring magazines. The CS springs take an initial set and then lose it much more slowly than the regular piano wire springs. They work for me.

I keep 28 loaded in my P-Mags with the cover installed. Tried to keep topped off to 30, but spring pressure was too much to keep the cover latched on. FWIW

FWIW if 2 rounds one way or another makes a difference, I think there is a much larger problem.. but thats just my take on it.

It's constant loading/unloading that wear springs, not keeping them loaded.
*Nod*

Thats interesting, considering that the spring in my mossberg 590 stays compressed all year long, and gets out for a snake maybe 1-2 times a year. It keeps its mag full and after a couple of years it has to be replaced as it won't feed the last 1-2 rounds. I doubt in the 10 or so years I've had it by the bed that its actually shot more than 25 shells. Certainly not from loading/unloading.

Not saying that spring is top line though either. Would like to see something more substanstial

Its better to have a loaded magazine,then a empty one.I keep all of my mags loaded up,I have a large supply of them so when I go to the river to shoot, I don't have to spend my time loading to have fun.I have kept them that way for over 20 years,I hear all kinds of words about how it is hard on them, I have never had a problem with any of them.

I load them up. No one has ever shown me a reason not to.

Push a mag in on a closed bolt and fire a round. Unless you hit the mag with the palm of your hand (and who does when they are in a hurry) you will be reaching for that magazine on the deck.

Maybe... but why would there already be a round in the chamber if you put a magazine in in a hurry?

Always remember , push, pull.

I always slam my mags home.

Why would there be a round in the chamber? Because I did a reload at that point instead of having an empty chamber. Is that a tactical one or some fancy name for it? I don't always shoot my guns dry.

Totally loaded mags are much harder to get fully seated as there isn't any wiggle room. One reason I never load my mags totally full. I"d rather grab another mag along the way than to think I NEEDED 30 rounds instead of 28-29.... and years of shooting NTIT when our tema FORCED us to run 30s, taught us 28 was a magic number in a 30 rounder. Thankfully I and many others got off our state team due to their ignorance and cheating at nationals, and used 20s after that... I will not shoot on a cheating team. But I digress

I guess I follow Clint Smith's train of thought in that, when I shoot a gun, I'm shooting till I win the fight or the gun goes goes empty. I would never do a tactical reload in a high-stress situation, so slamming it home will never be a problem. *Shrug*

Beat me to it.

You remind me of a buddy. Same favorite instructor, same plan. I agree with you, to a point. What are you going to do though, when you're standing over a dead guy? Declare it over or reload?

Reload. Who says anything is ever over? Thats my point, I'll shoot it dry if I have to, but it also only takes a fraction of time to pop in a new mag. IF "targets" are still there we shoot till dry.....
Slamming it home is one of those plusses to me... you can't loose, if you are loading a dry gun, its insurance, if not its a safe bet...get used to doing it one way, hard adn firm and you dont' ahve to think when you dont' have time to