A question that routinely comes up when a new user gets an auto pistol – whether a police trainee or armed citizen – is “how long can the magazine stay loaded without compromising reliability?” – or words to that effect.
It’s a fair question. I’m no metallurgist, but I’ve been handling guns since the 1960s. One advantage to the revolver is that it can remain loaded with the springs at rest until needed. An auto pistol magazine operates on spring pressure pushing rounds up into the feeding path of the pistol. That’s kind of important; if it’s slow, you have a stoppage.
Auto pistols operate on springs. For example, failure to keep up with the recoil spring, allowing it to get weak, also leads to malfunction.
Knowing the recommended spring replacement schedule is critical. With magazine springs isn’t the same thing true?
Well, no. If the magazines are loaded and left alone – assuming that the manufacturer didn’t select a magazine body too short for the capacity and over-stress the magazine spring – they seem to work fine.
