1911 magazines

[pitor]

Originally Posted by DrHenley

Not always true. Some mags, like the 8 round Checkmate with "Bullnose" follower compress the springs so much that they will wear out fairly quickly if left loaded. I have a number of these mags and all the ones I left loaded starting having feeding issues after a year or so. Pulling the springs out and comparing with springs from new mags confirmed that they were quit a bit shorter and weaker.

Some mags don't compress the springs as much, especially GI style 7 round mags. This is probably why you'll see stories of military mags that have been loaded for decades that are still good.

Good info Jim, and your experience may be the result of poor quality materials used in those mags. It would make sense that if a manufacturer wanted to save money somewhere in the production of a mag, it would be where is not visible (inside the mag, spring component). But this is just speculation on my part.