Do you leave your magazines loaded?

[Reef]

I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but do you empty your magazines at the end of the day?

 

My logic is that the springs inside the magazines are under tension when loaded and could stretch over time leading to poor performance. Am I talking rubbish? ?

[Shamal]

6 minutes ago, Reef said:

I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but do you empty your magazines at the end of the day?

 

My logic is that the springs inside the magazines are under tension when loaded and could stretch over time leading to poor performance. Am I talking rubbish? ?

I always empty mine after a game.

It gives me a legitimate reason to continue fiddling and fondling my gear after a game "No darling I can't come and help raking leaves,I have to sort my gear out.sorry"

 

I will fill them all the night before a game though.

 

I can't say for sure whether leaving the springs under tension weakens them though?

 

Regards 

 

[Sewdhull]

Certainly compressing a spring and leaving it compressed can weaken it. I don't keep the mags full, but it depends on the mag. The wind up ones you can take the tension off the spring, the mid and low caps, along with gas mags are not going to suffer any harm empty, so I empty them.

 

Magazine springs are different to a normal compression spring because they operate creating torsion and bending in different parts of the spring, rather than the torsion only in other compression springs and this can cause the wire to bend and stay bent reducing the length of the spring without altering the springiness.

 

I can't recall any of my mag springs dying, its only been increased friction in the mag that has ruined them for me, a plastic issue... getting scratched etc.

[ParHunter]

13 minutes ago, Shamal said:

I always empty mine after a game.

It gives me a legitimate reason to continue fiddling and fondling my gear after a game "No darling I can't come and help raking leaves,I have to sort my gear out.sorry"

 

I will fill them all the night before a game though.

 

I can't say for sure whether leaving the springs under tension weakens them though?

 

Regards 

 

Same as above with the exception that I would of course do what my wife asks me to do straight away ?

I guess leaving a few BBs in would not hurt the springs but it is safer to not have any loaded magazines in the house anyway. Having the mags fully loaded over a longer period would weaken the springs I believe.

Regarding pistol/gas mags. Leave some pressure in the mags as that apparently helps with keeping the seal (just repeating what I read).

Edited January 17, 2024 by ParHunter

[Rory]

Mid-Caps and Low-Caps I empty completely, I have a few hi caps which I let spit out back into the bottle if unused, but those springs are 10feet long and made of unicorn hair so I think once they start dropping or misfeeding they're gubbed, so maybe worth continuing to empty if you use. Gas mags, I keep a bit inside and regularly (once/twice a month) check the release valve on the back is under pressure. I’m always happy to be corrected, but most legit airsoft gas has some silicon based lube in it. (Hehehe, I said lube….)

[gavinkempsell]

I prefer to empty my mags after a game day, I try and release them into a container but at my age they mostly go supersonic all over the floor.

[Impulse]

I always empty my mags after a game day and I still have m14 magazines that I've had since about 2010 and they still work without me having to change out any springs.

[Enid_Puceflange]

I absolutely, 100 % empty my magazines when packing up, if not the same night.

It really rips my tights to see something listed for sale on the classifieds and the mags are loaded, like how long have they sat like that?

”not used in two years” kinda stuff.

No way - walk away ?

[Emergencychimps]

Always empty them after games. 

 

I think leaving them tensioned for a day or 2 is fine, but generally there is a week or 2 between games and I think that's too long. I ran the same set of pmags for around 8 years and they never skipped a beat, but they were well looked after. 

[EDcase]

As all the above...

Remove BB's from spring mags. (pistols/low caps)

Can leave BB's in hi-caps as long as tension is taken off the feed ones.

Leave gas mags filled and check them all once a month or so.

Don't leave gas mags in guns (pistols or rifles)  The rubber outlet router can get deformed and lose a good seal.

[1st commando]

I've found mags at home that were loaded and left around since the 90s and they still work fine . Mostly TM aeg magazines as i just rarely use aegs and have mags i've forgotten about.

I have never had a mag fail because of being left loaded , only new mags failing because they were bad right from the box 

[EDcase]

A few BBs left in the mag won't be a problem but leaving a mag fully loaded can't be good for the spring.

Same as leaving an AEG half cycled with the spring compressed.

[Rogerborg]

One reason that I empty my mags before bagging them is that it's the only way I'll get the BBs back in the right bags or bottles.

[_K4MF_]

1 hour ago, Rogerborg said:

One reason that I empty my mags before bagging them is that it's the only way I'll get the BBs back in the right bags or bottles.

 

^^^This... I've had to make a separate bottle in my kit labelled "aah bollocks, which ones are these again?"

[Dan Robinson]

14 minutes ago, _K4MF_ said:

 

^^^This... I've had to make a separate bottle in my kit labelled "aah bollocks, which ones are these again?"

 

Glad I'm not the only one.  These tend to get used up in the pistols, if only to save any embarrassment at Chrono LOL.

Edited January 18, 2024 by Dan Robinson

[_K4MF_]

2 minutes ago, Dan Robinson said:

 

Glad I'm not the only one.  These tend to get used up in the pistols, if only to save any embarrassment at Chrono LOL.

 

Exactly that... Been there... If all else fails, just become a human moscart and start throwing them by the handful. ?

[Reef]

Thanks for the response guys.

[The_Lord_Poncho]

21 hours ago, _K4MF_ said:

 

^^^This... I've had to make a separate bottle in my kit labelled "aah bollocks, which ones are these again?"

Yep, same here! Generally go into a bag that is then only used for testing feeding/cycling on guns after I've fiddled with them, or for breaking in new mid caps by repeatedly loading/unloading them.

[Lozart]

46 minutes ago, The_Lord_Poncho said:

Yep, same here! Generally go into a bag that is then only used for testing feeding/cycling on guns after I've fiddled with them, or for breaking in new mid caps by repeatedly loading/unloading them.

 

 

I use them in my LMG for the "lots to the everywhere" approach!

[The_Lord_Poncho]

14 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

 

I use them in my LMG for the "lots to the everywhere" approach!

That's an excellent use - almost preferable to use mixed weights to provide a bigger spread, and increase the size of the 'beaten ground'!

[_K4MF_]

1 hour ago, Lozart said:

 

 

I use them in my LMG for the "lots to the everywhere" approach!

 

Like a painful lucky dip....

[novioman]

On 18/01/2024 at 00:08, EDcase said:

As all the above...

Remove BB's from spring mags. (pistols/low caps)

Can leave BB's in hi-caps as long as tension is taken off the feed ones.

Leave gas mags filled and check them all once a month or so.

Don't leave gas mags in guns (pistols or rifles)  The rubber outlet router can get deformed and lose a good seal.

Didn’t know about not leaving gas mags in guns, I always kept my mags in my gbb pistols, never noticed any loss of seal, but removed them now to be on the safe side.