How long do magazines last

I have never had a failure from them. Then i think i have 40 new mags that have never been used. I figure i should be good or maybe buy another 20 or so while they are cheap. A few years ago I rebuilt and refinished a couple hundred Vietnam era 20 rounders. While many of them had no original finish left the feedlips were still perfectly serviceable in most cases. I deburred and polished the alloy followers, replaced the springs, stripped and sprayed the floorplates, and sprayed the bodies with new dry lube finish.

Posted Via AR Com Mobile. Use them till you start having malfunctions. Then throw it away. They were meant to be disposable not last forever. Quoted: A few years ago I rebuilt and refinished a couple hundred Vietnam era 20 rounders.

Quoted: They last a lot longer than people seem to think. My oldest USGI was made in It still works fine in my Schmeisser Ultramatch without Problems. The Mag was given to my uncle in I just love that reliable thing. They will last a long time, I have a fellow officer on shift who has a favorite mag he still uses in his dept carbine, he aquired it while in the Rangers before I was even born! I'm sure some last longer than others, and then again some of it comes back to how you handle them.

I know one thing, buy them up while you can! I had one 30 rounder fail. Not the Feed lips, but the tabs that held on the bottom plate broke. Quoted: no idea on magazine age. They are disposable. Quoted: They are disposable. Use it till it jams or starts spitting rounds out on its own.

We came into some mags in Iraq, played with them, they worked, then left them for the next group. I still have magazines that I acquired during a pre-deployment training for Bosnia in while at Ft.

They have been through too many range trips to count.. Deployed to Albania-Kosovo, Africa, and Iraq. No issues.. Though I do take care of them. Some of my best functioning mags are Vietnam Era 20 rounders. Marked men guard outpost. Mesquite Mountains lean-to. Two - One in Nellis workshop , and another in Nellis schoolhouse on the teacher's desk. New Vegas medical clinic.

On a bedside table in the Nash residence , along with a Programmer's Digest. Vikki and Vance Casino , on a side table in the lounge in the back. Puesta del Sol North. Two - One in the ruined room above a store in the northeast corner of the local map. Another is on top of a desk when exiting the switching station via elevator.

Two - One on the ground in the room above the two working terminals contracts and visits. Another is located on the second floor of a ruined building in the southeast corner of the local map, next to a bed without mattress. Sierra Madre Casino. Executive suites , on top of a terminal.

The living quarters' flooded area in the south, on the bed together with a Locksmith's Reader and Milsurp Review. Recreation area, past the entrance, go left down the stairs. Behind the first Very easy locked door, on a shelf. First floor area, on the floor in the southwest area of the balcony, next to a skeleton and several cans of Pork n' Beans. Two - One in an open file cabinet in a storage room on the way from the Town Square towards the Salida del Sol South entrance on the left.

Another is found in a small storage room north of the Villa police station , together with a Programmer's Digest. The Aerie. House Resort , second floor on top of a filing cabinet, next to the broken terminal at the end of the southern hallway. Male restrooms , on the floor. On the left most bed in the safe house next to the advanced radiation suit. Gun Runners. On a table in the cocktail lounge. In the presidential suite. Nipton Town Hall , on the shelf just behind the mayor's desk.

Ruined highway interchange. Violet and Violetta trailer compound. House Resort , second floor, on a bed in the northern center room with terminal. Camp Golf tent , the one with Sgt. McCredie in it, on the middle right desk. Inside the easternmost tent nearest to the blue tractor-trailer, two green military trucks, and a single, unattached trailer in the southeast area of the front courtyard. Camp McCarran concourse , in the waiting area section with the pool table , on the floor, just in front of the second most right bench.

Cannibal Johnson's cave. Captain Dean Boat Rentals. Headquarters , inside Aurelius of Phoenix 's desk. The Courier's Mile. At the center of the map, between a burning car and a warhead under some ruined books. Dry Wells. In a lead-lined metal box together with a Today's Physician , west on the map on a ledge with several ammunition boxes and stimpaks.

Inside the first house to northeast of Doc Mitchell's house , sitting on a step ladder. Goodsprings schoolhouse , on the floor near the middle of the room next to the large group of ruined desks. Held by a dead female wastelander , near a duffle bag at the back of the cave.

East of the water tower, in the southern cavern with two rock ledges on the back wall, hidden between the rocks and plants on the ground. Jacobstown lodge , up the right hand staircase in the first room on the left, on a bed with a shelf and surgical instruments. Junction 7 rest stop. In Parker's Restaurant and Fountain, ground level, near and upside down table under a ruined book. At the back south of the cave, among some suitcases and ammunition boxes. Mountain Shadows campground. In a pool of green water near two skeletons, east from the ranger safehouse and north to northeast of Black Mountain.

Sold by Julie Farkas at a discount, after providing her with enough supplies during the unmarked quest Friend of the Followers. Powder Ganger camp south. Ranger Station Foxtrot. On the table inside the tent, to the left of the Duck and Cover! In the tent to the northwest of the fire, on the floor with a Programmer's Digest and Milsurp Review. Securitron de-construction plant. Sunstone Tower roof. Office room one level below the roof, in a Hard locked filing cabinet in the corner, together with a True Police Stories.

On the counter, next to a Salesman Weekly near Clayton Ettienne. In the abandoned shack to the northwest, to the right of the shelves in the back. Zion fishing lodge. Zion Valley welcome booth. Z-9 Crotalus DNA preservation lab. Bitter Springs recreation area. Two - One on bottom of the conveyor belt by the train station office.

Another is found in the second to last building to the south, inside Boulder City ruins on the first floor, bottom of the stairs behind the chair.

In one of the tents underneath a bunk bed along with several other magazines, from the middle doors into the terminal building head north, it is the second tent on the left. Crimson Caravan Company. Caravaneer barracks , on a desk. The army, the top-level gun associations, and most professional shooters all agree that around 6 months is a good middle of the pack time for storage.

If you leave them any longer, you run the risk of the springs wearing out and the magazine spring losing its power. If you are someone who only shoots casually, then keeping one or two loaded magazines in the house at all times is a good idea. If you are planning on going shooting soon, then loading a few extra magazines beforehand would be a good idea.

A neat little trick is rotating your stored magazines out for ones you just loaded before you head down to the range.

That way you are using up the mags that need using and ensuring that fresh ones regularly take their place. For a professional shooter, like a soldier, then a faulty magazine may be the difference between life and death. It can also be hard to know how long a magazine can be stored while loaded and still function normally.

As mentioned above, a magazine should last for at least 6 months across the board. Some will last longer, very few will last less than 6 months though. Some magazines can keep their spring for years, even decades, after they were manufactured.

In world war one, magazine-fed rifles and pistols only just started entering into circulation. Beforehand, cavalry and bayonets still played a large part in wartime tactics. You can get a good idea just how much weaponry and war progressed between world war one and two with this alone. This led to a huge amount of allied soldiers using world war one weaponry, with old magazines, before they would eventually have their issued weapons replaced.

And sometimes people died because of this. Even without being stored fully loaded they will begin to lose their tension. Since the magazine will lose its tension in its uncompressed state, filling it with ammo will compress it again giving you a little bit of spring. With the cover installed storage life is considered indefinite. There have also been PMAGS reportedly tested to hundreds-of-thousands of rounds military vetting , and we know positively of ones that have gone tens-of-thousands, so usable life is quite excellent too.

Can't speak for all brands, but I have a Colt manufactured in that made it through WWI and I still shoot it today with the original magazine and it functions flawlessly. When I bought the gun in it had been stored with a full magazine for over 35 years while it rode around on a tractor. The ammunition in the magazine was dated and it came with a sock full of extra ammo dated the same.

I have single stack 38 super mags that I use in my Springfield 9mm I used them heavily in competition in the 80's and 90's. We shot at least 2 matches a month. The matches lasted all day, they were that big and we had that many shooters. I can't begin to guess how many times my mags have been loaded and unloaded. I would occasionally run a mag brush in my mags. More because I thought I should than because it was necessary.

I have never replaced my magazine springs. The mags are flawless. I just used them yesterday at the range trying out some new reloads. They work great in any 9mm single stack gun we put them in. As long as it functions correctly and is kept free of debris like powder residue they can last a long time. I recently read an article and it stated the same as gdnagle's MagPul response. In the spring and early summer we would hit yard sales at noon. Folks on orders for overseas would really unload stuff cheap.

I bought every Colt 20 round magazine I saw and ended up with a lot. All were used, think companies repeatedly going to the rifle range. They were well used. I gave from a quarter to a buck for them. I sold the HBAR and at some point all the magazines. I have a rough one hiding in my junk that would be 30 years in my possession and well used when I bought it. When I find it I'm gonna clean it up. I don't need any volunteers, I soundly kicked my own rear.

What was I thinking? I keep stuff, it must have been a cloudy day for my crystal ball on that decision. It had been dipped in mud and crud and allowed to dry. I took it apart, cleaned it, dried it and wiped it with REM oil and then wiped that off.

Old spring and all it works fine. Originally Posted by SMR. Before they start to get tired and the spring starts to go bad and maybe start causing malfunctions? I'm really wanting to know especially for my everyday carry gun which is the shield 9. I work on spring powered air rifles and similar questions come up all the time from air gunners about leaving their rifles cocked too long.

Chronograph numbers were taken before the event and after. And yes, velocity is lost Leaving the springer uncocked for a day or two returns the pellet velocity to what it was before the test. I answer them all like this