Swapping out your carry mags?

[mudoven]

How often do you unload, and swap out your mags in your carry pistols? I carry a 1911, with 4 spare loaded magazines (Wilson Combat 47D's - thanks to Shyster for the recommendation)...every 2 months, I unload them, and replace them with freshly loaded/different mags. Am I being too anal, or is this reasonable? Magazines are, afterall, the weak link in regards to semi-auto pistols.
The only mags I trust to leave loaded 24/7 are ComBloc AK mags.

Thanks for any input...

[XDM 40 cal]

How often do you unload, and swap out your mags in your carry pistols? I carry a 1911, with 4 spare loaded magazines (Wilson Combat 47D's - thanks to Shyster for the recommendation)...every 2 months, I unload them, and replace them with freshly loaded/different mags. Am I being too anal, or is this reasonable? Magazines are, afterall, the weak link in regards to semi-auto pistols.
The only mags I trust to leave loaded 24/7 are ComBloc AK mags.

Thanks for any input...

Here the issue is mags lose spring rate with use. It's been shown that loaded mag don't lose spring rate. As for carry ammo, well I've still have Winchester ranger T's in some of my 1911 mags. I use Wilson 47d's too.

[slingshot77]

How often do you unload, and swap out your mags in your carry pistols? I carry a 1911, with 4 spare loaded magazines (Wilson Combat 47D's - thanks to Shyster for the recommendation)...every 2 months, I unload them, and replace them with freshly loaded/different mags. Am I being too anal, or is this reasonable? Magazines are, afterall, the weak link in regards to semi-auto pistols.
The only mags I trust to leave loaded 24/7 are ComBloc AK mags.

Thanks for any input...

There is a couple of ways to look at this. If you have a vetted mag that works every time then you are probably better off using that than an untested new, or different mag. Even new mags can have issues that you won't know about until a few uses.

I verify the flawless function of every mag that I carry for self defense. I usually put the gun, complete with the loaded mag, in a double plastic bag then put it in the freezer overnight. Then next morning I remove from the freezer, step out my backdoor then shoot the entire mag. This is probably worse case that my gun/mag will see (simulates leaving it in my frozen vehicle overnight).

Typically a loaded mag (even for years or more) can't lose spring RATE as a lot of shooters suggest as the spring rate is figured from wire diameter and number of coils (that doesn't change no matter how long it is kept loaded).

With a lot of use the mag spring can lose LOAD (load rate) as that is figured on the springs load at a given height. The more times that a spring is compressed to, or near coil bind, the more chance it has of losing some load.

[mikee1973]

I’d be more inclined to cycle out carry ammo than to switch out mags. I have carry mags and training mags, training mags see more abuse.

[Stuntmanmike]

I cycle through carry ammo once a year, but rarely ever change mags. As mentioned by several others, the springs don’t wear out from sitting in a loaded state.

[Mathias]

>> Typically a loaded mag (even for years or more) can't lose spring RATE as a lot of shooters suggest as the spring rate is figured from wire diameter and number of coils

If you've ever seen an old car sagging on its coil springs, you know that's not true.

Think of a diving board: If it were made of steel and strong enough, it would never bend too far, and never lose its elasticity. But if you bend it with excessive force, there is a thing called the "elastic limit", beyond which the board will not return all the way.

The details of this depend on metallurgy, heat treatment, and in magazines, on the exact geometry. Loading the magazines with one or two fewer cartridges than full capacity is probably a good way to make sure springs will not fatigue. I don't actually know that spring fatigue is still a problem in modern magazines. Material science marches on.

But it's not a silly thing to be concerned about.

[GreaseMonkeySRT]

Cycle out carry ammo, especially on a gun carried daily. Friction from the powder moving will turn it into unignitable fine powder.

As already mentioned springs do not wear out from being compressed but from cycling.

I have mags marked specifically for training or competition, and others that remain only as carry that do not get beat on.

[slingshot77]

I have seen hundreds of old cars with sagging springs and not a one was due to loss of spring RATE. It was due to loss of spring LOAD.

As I mentioned above the spring RATE is controlled by the wire dimeter, coil diameter, and number of coils so unless the old car's springs wire diameter changed, or the spring lost or gained some coils then the "rate" remained the same. Now if the old car spring broke a coil or two off THEN the spring rate would change. There are some other outlier factors that could figure in like losing enough load to allow coil bind and that can change the rate.

You are confusing spring RATE with spring LOAD.

[pscipio03]

>> Typically a loaded mag (even for years or more) can't lose spring RATE as a lot of shooters suggest as the spring rate is figured from wire diameter and number of coils

If you've ever seen an old car sagging on its coil springs, you know that's not true.

Think of a diving board: If it were made of steel and strong enough, it would never bend too far, and never lose its elasticity. But if you bend it with excessive force, there is a thing called the "elastic limit", beyond which the board will not return all the way.

The details of this depend on metallurgy, heat treatment, and in magazines, on the exact geometry. Loading the magazines with one or two fewer cartridges than full capacity is probably a good way to make sure springs will not fatigue. I don't actually know that spring fatigue is still a problem in modern magazines. Material science marches on.

But it's not a silly thing to be concerned about.

Yeah… no. You basically just disproved your hypothesis.
A sagging car is far more likely sagging due to USE, not just sitting there. Fatigue causes a higher rate of creep than compression.
Will springs weaken if kept in a compressed state? Yes, but not enough to cause issues, especially not a good quality 1911 mag like the WC OP is using. Since its initial design is single stacked and low quantity, it’s a strong spring not being compressed to its max ability.
Modern double stack mags are more likely to experience weakening faster, but even then, a decent quality mag like an OEM Glock, CZ, etc will be just fine after years of compression.
Use of those mags is FAR more likely to weaken compared to compression because now you have compression/expansion/compression/expansion/and so on.
As to rotating out your mags- if it helps your OCD by all means do so. But, I do NOT recommend unloading that chambered round as you can experience setback and increase pressures. If you’re going to eject that chambered round, make sure it’s out of rotation and you’re going to now use it for target practice. Somewhere in this forum I posted a test I did on 10 major brands of 45ACP in a gov’t size 1911 and measured set back chambering each round 10 times. By the second chambering all but maybe one brand showed compression of the projectile. For a low pressure round like the 45, not likely to be an issue one or two times, but unless you’re writing how many times it’s been chambered, it’s easy to forget.
WWB lost almost 25% of its length by the 5 or 6 chambering. Hornady Critical Duty wasn’t much better.

[MCPO_SOCM_RET]

Cycle out carry ammo, especially on a gun carried daily. Friction from the powder moving will turn it into unignitable fine powder.

As already mentioned springs do not wear out from being compressed but from cycling.

Especially the oft overlooked part in blue.