# Bad to leave your magazines full for extended period of time?



## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

I believe this was answered before but I couldnt find anything on it.

I have a PX4 Storm, 9mm, two 10 rd mags.

I usually have one full of hollow points Hornady selection, is this bad if I leave like this for months at a time? 

Thanks guys!


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

Leave um loaded. I've done so for years at a time. Never had any feeding issues with them. 

Oh wait.....I think I hear the footsteps of someone coming that's gonna disagree with me. :watching:


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## Harryball (Oct 10, 2012)

Its compression and decompression that wheres them out. Loaded all the time doesnt hurt them at all...


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

There has actually been a long and heated debate about this issue in the past year. There are 2 camps when it comes to keeping them loaded or rotating the mags every few months....... We're all in one or the other. And, people tend to take their side to heart (sometimes too much so). 

If I can find the last thread on this, I will and will post the link. But, in anticipation of what might come... Please keep it civil..... I myself have previously fallen into this topic, and it's easy to have things turn into an argument...


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

Shipwreck said:


> There has actually been a long and heated debate about this issue in the past year. There are 2 camps when it comes to keeping them loaded or rotating the mags every few months....... We're all in one or the other. And, people tend to take their side to heart (sometimes too much so).
> 
> If I can find the last thread on this, I will and will post the link. But, in anticipation of what might come... Please keep it civil..... I myself have previously fallen into this topic, and it's easy to have things turn into an argument...


What do you mean an argument? People start physical threatening each other?


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I thought I read somewhere on the internet, that arguing about anything and everything, is mandatory. :watching:


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

paratrooper said:


> I thought I read somewhere on the internet, that arguing about anything and everything, is mandatory. :watching:


That's just as good as you saying that you made it up. Internet doesnt have every answer amigo!


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I have a quirky sense of humor.....so I've been told. 

Some say strange actually.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

paratrooper said:


> I have a quirky sense of humor.....so I've been told.
> 
> Some say strange actually.


I tend to agree with those peeps!  :watching:


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## Tip (Aug 22, 2012)

Simple, I believe leaving them loaded won't hurt them a bit, BUT, I still rotate my mags simply because I can. That way if any one mag develops any kind of operational problem I know it - and can remedy or replace it. I also know they get cleaned, lubed and maintained on a regular basis. Nobody gets forgotten.


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## rayf (Jun 25, 2012)

I don't believe you should ever lube a magazine. I don't anyway.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

paratrooper said:


> I thought I read somewhere on the internet, that arguing about anything and everything, is mandatory. :watching:


Yes, if it is on the internet, it must be true :smt082


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

rayf said:


> I don't believe you should ever lube a magazine. I don't anyway.


A very good point, and not one that is often brought up. Kudos to you! :smt023

Clean them, but *NEVER* lube them.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

Why never lube them?


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## Skarrde (Oct 14, 2012)

What is there to lube? Springs don't rub against each other so nothing to lube there. Is the piece inside plastic or steel? If steel then I guess they do rub and there is a chance of some rust. Guess I never really thought about it.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

TheLAGuy said:


> Why never lube them?


Because lube will attract and hold dirt and stuff. Nothing in a magazine needs to be lubricated. The follower is typically made of a plastic or nylon blend, and is self lubricating. The base plate is either metal or plastic. Although the spring does move, it doesn't do it so fast that it builds up any friction and creates heat.

I don't like any kind of lube around any of my ammo. Lube just doesn't belong in a mag.


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## wilson396 (Jan 28, 2013)

The magazine in my nightstand gun stays loaded all the time. The other ones I leave empty. I don't rotate my mags. Between my nightstand gun and the shotgun which I also always keep loaded, I think I have all my bases covered.


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## 2AFan (Feb 14, 2013)

I'd be interested to hear a view on this from those in the military. Surely they have a protcol for sidearms.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

2AFan said:


> I'd be interested to hear a view on this from those in the military. Surely they have a protcol for sidearms.


True, has anyone here outta curiosity had a magazine issue in a pinch?


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

leave them loaded.

if you feel the need to unload them, go to the range.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

Broondog said:


> leave them loaded.
> 
> if you feel the need to unload them, go to the range.


Do you always have a loaded magazine in your gun, condition 1 while at home?


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

I do on 2 of my HD guns in opposite areas of my house... an unloaded gun is a useless gun.

The rest are stored empty... but ammo is near them.


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## JMessmer (Dec 30, 2012)

My dad kept his 9mm loaded for years on top of his tv stand, we shot it on Monday with no problems (same magazine).


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

Lubing the mag and spring is ok if you wipe all of it back out to leave a very fine film to prevent rust,but don't let any get on the follower or you'll have feed problems,inertia feed to be exact.

Leaving them loaded is fine if it's a good mag and properly engineered.Bad springs will take a serious set,good springs take a slight set after a few functionings,and really good springs don't take a set at all.Some mags,like 1911 8 in a 7rd tube or some old contract M16 30rd mags can be weakened by extended compression.The problem is normally the spring is overcompressed to get fully loaded,so the elastic limit of the spring has been exceeded.That's why the old 30rd M16 mags were only loaded to 28.Good modern mags have pretty much cured the problem.


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

rex said:


> Lubing the mag and spring is ok if you wipe all of it back out to leave a very fine film to prevent rust,but don't let any get on the follower or you'll have feed problems,inertia feed to be exact.
> 
> Leaving them loaded is fine if it's a good mag and properly engineered.Bad springs will take a serious set,good springs take a slight set after a few functionings,and really good springs don't take a set at all.Some mags,like 1911 8 in a 7rd tube or some old contract M16 30rd mags can be weakened by extended compression.The problem is normally the spring is overcompressed to get fully loaded,so the elastic limit of the spring has been exceeded.That's why the old 30rd M16 mags were only loaded to 28.Good modern mags have pretty much cured the problem.


*If you insist* on lubing a mag and it's spring, use a small cloth and put a dab or two of Rem Oil on it. _Most_ springs anymore are SS and won't rust.

But, I stand-by my previous statement that neither need to be lubed. Just wiped clean.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

TAPnRACK said:


> I do on 2 of my HD guns in opposite areas of my house... an unloaded gun is a useless gun.
> 
> The rest are stored empty... but ammo is near them.


Do you have them in opposite ends of the house as a safety measure I take it?


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Opposite floors... I sleep in the basement bedroom due to working a midnight shift, so I keep one on each floor since most home invasions happen during the day. Both are in fingerprint recognition safes and can be accessed quickly. The rest are locked up in my gun room.


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

paratrooper said:


> *If you insist* on lubing a mag and it's spring, use a small cloth and put a dab or two of Rem Oil on it. _Most_ springs anymore are SS and won't rust.
> 
> But, I stand-by my previous statement that neither need to be lubed. Just wiped clean.


I know exactly what you're saying.My old silicone gun and reel cloth has one end with CLP absorbed in it and the other normal,wipe with one end and wipe it out with the other.The majority of the time that I rarely pull my mags down I don't need to do anything,but I dry brush them since it's apart.Even when I shot matches alot with 231 and dropping them on the ground they didn't seem to get very dirty at all.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

TAPnRACK said:


> Opposite floors... I sleep in the basement bedroom due to working a midnight shift, so I keep one on each floor since most home invasions happen during the day. Both are in fingerprint recognition safes and can be accessed quickly. The rest are locked up in my gun room.


You sleep there due to light? Or because of a possible home intruder during the day, they won't know your down there?


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Light, lol. I work in a bad area but live in one of the safest areas in the Country... but ya never know.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

TAPnRACK said:


> Light, lol. I work in a bad area but live in one of the safest areas in the Country... but ya never know.


I wouldnt say DETROIT is one of the safest in the country, but too each their own.


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

Like I said... I don't live near my place of work.


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

TheLAGuy said:


> Do you always have a loaded magazine in your gun, condition 1 while at home?


in any other condition it would be a useless paperweight, so yes.

both Glocks, both Steyrs, the Sig and the CZ are all locked and loaded. and both Smith's have full cylinders to boot.

don't ask me about the long guns. i don't think you wanna know all that too.


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