The reason I ask is that there are a lot of meth addicts where I live, and I dont want to be caught off gaurd, trying to load a magazine while they bust through my front door. I have heard that some magazines cannot be kept loaded over long periods of time, or the spring will weaken. I have all East German mags, and any info will be usefull.
Thanks,
Craig

If it's a concern of yours, just alternate mags. Assuming you have 6 mags, keep 3 loaded and 3 unloaded. After a month, switch. I toyed with the spring idea a long time ago. I loaded one of my AK mags and stored it for a year. When I fired it after the year, it functioned flawlessly. I re-loaded it, and it functioned fine.

Also, you might do a 20% "download" on each one. Like, if you have a 30 round mag, keep 24 rounds in it. 24 oughta stop a crack head AND a meth head.

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Generally, leaving a magazine loaded will not hurt the spring.

The thing that does wear the spring is constant loading, and unloading. The compression, and decompression is hard on the spring, and will weaken it over time.

Just leaving a spring decompressed, or compressed will not hurt it. You should be able to leave your magazines loaded indefinitely without a problem.

If you dont want to do that, then rotate your magazines. Load some up for a while, then unload them, and load up your others. Just don't do it too frequently, or you will wear your springs.

Good Shooting!

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nWo FOR LIFE, Brother!

"The AK-47. It'll never jam, never break. Rugged, reliable, and so simple to operate, children could use it....and they do" Yuri Orlov. 'Lord Of War'

NWO nailed it. I never had a problem leaving any of my mags fully loaded.

-Vincent

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Smith & Wesson M&P .40

I keep one loaded all the time... and every time I go to the range I take it and shoot it, then load a different one for home. I also only load 20 rounds in my 30 rd mags at a time. I've never had a problem with any of my 6 mags.

-HK-

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"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams

I have some WWII mags still loaded and they kick out ammo if you push it forward. What was that, 60 years ago? Load 'em and don't worry about them.

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-NRA Life Member
-Eagle Scout
-"We must all fear evil men. But, there is another kind of evil, which we must fear most; and that is the indifference of good men!" -Boondock Saints
"In life, we can never escape the rain...the rain must fall." -Myron Carter

Forever. No reason to rotate, if anything rotating (loading and unloading) is worse for the life of the spring.

All magazines should be loaded. I may leave one unloaded occassionally to try out a different ammo brand or something, but the rest are always loaded.

Load them up. That is what they are made for. 30 in a 30, 20 in a 20

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"I believe in animal rights.............. They have the right to Garlic and Butter- Ted Nugent

Buy a drum. Never have to worry about it. I keep a certain amout of mags loaded all the time. Never had any problems.

Buy a drum.....BUY A SHOTGUN! I never had a problem w/ the 40 rounder I left loaded.....and forgot about, still works fine.

Exactly. I'm pretty sure that somewhere in the world theres a fully loaded AK mag thats been sitting in a dusty corner of some mud hut for about ten years. If the tribe in the next village acts up, I'm sure they can just slap that mag in an AK and be good to go.

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There is no such thing as an Ex-Marine...Once a Marine, always a Marine! Semper Fi!