Ask the Community

some people will tell you yes but I have left mags loaded for years and never had a spring go bad from it In fact, leaving a magazine spring fully compressed — or fully extended — won't harm it at all. You can leave magazines loaded for years and they'll be fine. What does the damage is the act of compressing or extending the spring.(loading and unloading)

No, using the magazine makes the spring go bad. So loading and unloading will wear the spring. Constant pressure of a loaded magazine doesn't hurt the spring. I have many ar15 magazines and other magazines loaded year round and they still function flawlessly. I always load them one or two rounds light, so a 30 round magazine I'll do 28-29 but that's just me. Hope this helps.

Mike, no Sir it will not. Also, springs are a replaceable component and takes about a minute just in case. Cheers and stay safe!

Mike, storing them loaded will not cause the springs to go bad. Load them up ahead of time and you'll be ready for a spur of the moment trip to the range at any time.