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Has anyone considered the value of clip loaded combat rifles, as per an SKS or M1 Garand?

The value of clips when loading magazines is clear, to your thumb at least, but what about the value of never needing a magazine, ever?

The more ammo you have, the more valuable the clip-loaded rifle becomes.

Suppose you have a big stash of ammo, over 1000 rounds. WIth a magazine-fed rifle, how much of your ammo do you pre-load into magazines, ie, how many mags do you need? How long do you leave those magazines loaded?

With clip fed rifles, your ammo is always ready.

Is someone really going to load 1200 rounds of bulk ammo into 40 x 30 round magazines and leave it stashed indefinately? Not likely.

Is someone really going to have 1200 rounds of ammo in pre-loaded clips for their SKS or Garand? Sure, and why the hell not? It's not like clips are prohibitively expensive, and it's especially convenient if the ammo is pre-loaded into clips.

BTW, a "mini Garand" with clip-fed, top-loaded internal magazine that fires .223, perhaps from 10 or 12 round clips, would be the ultimate Guerrilla warfare combat rifle.

Edit: I never even mentioned the issue of bad magazines, which are very common. If you have dozens of magazines loaded up, have you tested them before hand? What do you do with magazines that "sorta" jam? Seriously, anyone dissing my argument on the grounds that magazines are automatically superior is a knucklehead at best.

Has anyone considered the value of clip loaded combat rifles, as per an SKS or M1 Garand? The value of clips when loading magazines is clear, to your thumb at least, but what about the value of never needing a magazine, ever? The more ammo you have, the more valuable the clip-loaded rifle becomes. Suppose you have a big stash of ammo, over 1000 rounds. WIth a magazine-fed rifle, how much of your ammo do you pre-load into magazines, ie, how many mags do you need? How long do you leave those magazines loaded? With clip fed rifles, your ammo is always ready. Is someone really going to load 1200 rounds of bulk ammo into 40 x 30 round magazines and leave it stashed indefinately? Not likely. Is someone really going to have 1200 rounds of ammo in pre-loaded clips for their SKS or Garand? Sure, and why the hell not? It's not like clips are prohibitively expensive, and it's especially convenient if the ammo is pre-loaded into clips. BTW, a "mini Garand" with clip-fed, top-loaded internal magazine that fires .223, perhaps from 10 or 12 round clips, would be the ultimate Guerrilla warfare combat rifle. Edit: I never even mentioned the issue of bad magazines, which are very common. If you have dozens of magazines loaded up, have you tested them before hand? What do you do with magazines that "sorta" jam? Seriously, anyone dissing my argument on the grounds that magazines are automatically superior is a knucklehead at best.

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[–] • 0 pt

leaving mags compressed for years at a time does wear out mag springs faster than uncompressed storage, maybe not as fast as repeated compression decompression.

[–] • 3 pts

Your ammo will go bad before the compressed spring. Aside from wives tales and urban legend here is no evidence of what you claim period, full stop. This has been researched extensively but don't take my word for it do some reading.....

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/magazine-springs-and-ammo-cycling/

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/8/12/how-long-can-you-keep-your-magazines-loaded/

Ask yourself this, why do al the springs inside your firearm not suffer from this same fatigue problem?

It's fine if you prefer internal mags over external mags, that's your call, but spreading misinformation based solely on your preference helps no one and could actually be detrimental to uninformed / new shooters.

[–] • -1 pt

Did you even read your own source? Probably only searching for tidbits that confirm your previously held opinions instead of doing an unbiased analysis of the facts as presented.

All springs suffer this same fatigue problem, its basic spring science. I have owned springs long enough to have to replace them, including mag springs that wouldnt feed reliably due to wear, including "bullet proof" glock mag springs.

Your source agrees. The author admits he only has anecdotal knowledge, so sought out the sage advice of one article published years ago by an aerospace engineer (probably sounds like a science wizard if you didnt go to engineering school with a bunch of AE's who couldnt keep their cars running and didnt know shit about guns) "In the article, he went into detail as to the material aspects of the springs and how their ability to do work degraded ((minimally=positively)) under compression and over time ... with the end result being that with all the variables factored in—it would be hard to find a definitive answer". Sage.

Here's a clue - compare mag springs that occasionally get wet, spend most their life in a humid, salty marine environment and see extreme environmental changes by travelling to various climates in unpressurized aircraft to magazines on a desk in front of an irrelevantly experienced engineer in a climate controlled building. Everything degrades over-time. Compression accelerates degradation. Will your springs become unusable in your lifetime? Has anyone had a lifetime to test enough of your magazines design in your specific environment? No. If your life depends on it, I'd follow the ammo/magazine manufacturers suggestions, based on the fact compression causes loss of spring force, based on the simple principle of equilibrium, and unload your magazines every now and then because your life may depend upon it, and its better to practice shooting than pretend like you did everything you could to avoid a bad situation.

[–] • 0 pt

Great points. The same reasoning applies to internal magazine springs, which could possibly fail. I contend the internal magazine isn't likely to fail, or at least could easily be replaced on a regular basis, nullifying the remote possibly of failure.

As far as I know, the failure of external magazines is due to really cheap housing, not really the springs, so when it comes to magazine failures from any cause, internal mags seem far more reliable.

[–] • 0 pt

You mean this:

My opinion, regarding your question, comes from my direct experience in the military, as a competitive shooter and as an industry professional. When using quality magazines with quality ammunition, stored and maintained properly, you can leave them loaded as long as you want to without any reservation.

or this

Again, there is not a clear consensus in the industry. Mec-Gar’s rep stated that it’s unnecessary to down-load magazines and that doing so is not relieving enough tension to make any appreciable difference in the life of the spring. “If you’ve got a 15-round magazine, you’re not doing yourself any favors by making it a 14-round magazine,” Cochol said.

or this

If you skipped the video, the short answer is “yes.” Or no. Maybe… nobody really knows for sure.

Like I said you have no clear evidence proving that rotating or unloading mags in necessary or even beneficial, it's all just opinion. If what you say is universally true this should be easy to prove by finding old mags in storage but they almost always feed just fine.

Do what you want and shoot what you want. I've been shooting a long time and I know people don't let go of long held superstition. Of course if you're right and springs do fatigue over time just because it's simply another argument for external mags.