Glock 23 Magazine question

rrg991981

rrg991981

Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
778
I have a Glock 23 with 6 13rd mags, and I am keeping that for my home defense gun, first off should I only keep 10-12 rounds in the mag for an extended time? Also how long should I leave a Mag loaded?
 
I believe that keeping Glock mags loaded will cause no difficulties with the mag spring. Personally, I keep mine down loaded by one round. When I carried a Glock during my police career, we were instructed to keep the mags fully loaded.
 
they are designed to remain loaded for extended periods of time. i wouldnt worry.

the spring will get soft over time, but i have yet to replace a spring in one.

my agency has been issuing glocks for several years, and we have seen no mag springs needing replacement.

there is no specific time i am aware of, but springs are cheap. peace of mind is not.

if you feel better replacing them every couple years, it certainly would not hurt.
 
in theory leaving a mag loaded for an extended period of time will not weaken the spring. what weakens springs is repeated compression and expansion. personally i just alternate mags, leave one loaded for a month and then empty it and load the other. even though they say it won't hurt the spring it just seems to me it must.
 
Over time, one should worry about the ammo in the mag more than the mag spring. Be sure to fire off the old stuff every now and then and replace it with fresh ammo. That is especially true if you carry said autoloader as sweat, condensation, and and who knows what (donut crumbs....kidding kidding) can eventually bung up your ammo.
 
good advice so far. rotate your mags,,, ummm,,, maybe once a year. i down load my glock mags by one but only because it makes them a lot easier to insert and lock into the gun. the mags springs will indeed get weak over a period of several years if left loaded. but dont worry to much about it. some of mine are so weak they will barely activate the guns slide stop lever but they still function fine. ,,,VWB.
 
2nd the magazine rotation...seems like with 6 of them that should be a no-brainer (or are you anticipating a 75 or 80 round shootout in your house?)

Rotating mags every month or so would mean all of them get 5 months of downtime between sitting with the springs compressed for a month...my guess is at that rate they outlast you.
 
During the 4 years I worked in law enforcement we kept all 3 mags loaded to capacity without any problems. Here is an important tip though - If you find yourself frequently racking the first round out of the chamber to unload the weapon you need to, at the very least, unload and reload the magazines and place that first round at the bottom. Better yet, place a new round on top. Frequently racking the first round out of the weapon will cause the extractor to "chew up" the rim of the round and may cause a failure/stoppage when you need the gun by not fully ejecting the first round. And, at a minimum, fire all of your rounds once a year or so and reload with fresh.
 
Bwilson said:
Here is an important tip though - If you find yourself frequently racking the first round out of the chamber to unload the weapon you need to, at the very least, unload and reload the magazines and place that first round at the bottom. Better yet, place a new round on top. Frequently racking the first round out of the weapon will cause the extractor to "chew up" the rim of the round and may cause a failure/stoppage when you need the gun by not fully ejecting the first round. And, at a minimum, fire all of your rounds once a year or so and reload with fresh.
Click to expand...

The real problem with re-chambering the same round over and over isn't damage done to the rim, but rather bullet set-back, which is caused by the bullet being banged repeatedly against the feed ramp. This can cause the overall length of the round to shorten, compressing the powder charge, which increases pressure when the round is fired.

I have never managed to wear out a Glock spring after years of carry and competition. They are some of the toughest mags going.

Andy
 
IF the spring is made properly it will NOT weaken or 'take a set' over time !!! If you're worried about cycles the spring sees then you should be hysterical about your engine's valve springs !! While many shooters are cheap and buy after market mags that's a questionable practice for a defense gun !!
 
I recall reading in one of the gun magazines that they had found several M1911 magazines that had been stored fully loaded since the war. (The Big One...)

They all worked perfectly.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
I have never managed to wear out a Glock spring after years of carry and competition. They are some of the toughest mags going.

Andy
Click to expand...

mete said:
While many shooters are cheap and buy after market mags that's a questionable practice for a defense gun !!
Click to expand...
Although there are a lot of great guns out there, one reason I've been warming up to Glocks is the tough as nails mags can be found dirt cheap prices NIB. With factory Sig mags costing much more, it makes a pretty easy choice for me which I should stock up on.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
The real problem with re-chambering the same round over and over isn't damage done to the rim, but rather bullet set-back, which is caused by the bullet being banged repeatedly against the feed ramp. This can cause the overall length of the round to shorten, compressing the powder charge, which increases pressure when the round is fired.
Click to expand...

Yes this is correct! Bullet set back does happen and is very very dangerous! It comes from re-chambering the same round over and over again. The bullet does get pushed back into the case from the repeated impact with the feed ramp. Try not to use the same round when reloading the weapon for what ever reason you have unloaded it. ,,,VWB.

Ps - Here we go again with the spring fatigue argument! :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top