Heard around the house: transplanted yankee edition
Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks (who makes some of the best holsters out there) came by this weekend to grab something. On his way out, he said If I could get an empty magazine that’d be great.
Handing him a topped off 17 rounder, I say: It’s my house, there are no empty magazines.
As a former New Yorker, that seemed to surprise him.
November 14th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Need more magazines. π
November 14th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Heh. I did tell him that if there ever was an empty mag, it meant i was out of ammo.
November 14th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Well…it wasn’t so much that it was full, its that I didn’t *need* it to be full for what I’m doing with it…
And a 17 rounder to boot…only the second one I’ve ever seen in the wild. I gotta get me some of those for the XD-40 now that I’m in a Free State.
Then invite JayG down for a shooting vacation. π
November 14th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
God. Tell me about it. About the only nightmare I ever have is a variant where I am fumbling to get the magazines loaded. As a result, I think there probably 20 loaded mags of some sort in my house right now.
I may up that by a factor of 4.
November 14th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
I don’t have enough ammo – or money to buy enough ammo – to fill all my magazines…
π
November 14th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
When I packed up stuff for Northcoast II I counted 40 loaded mags….and that was just pistols.
Seeing all that laid out on the bed I thought “I have a problem, but it’s a good problem!”
November 14th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
@ Mike – I don’t think that’s a problem – that’s a solution!
November 14th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Oh I get now. I though you’d say you handed him a copy of “U.S.A. Today” or something.
November 14th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
An empty mag would be Time or Newsweek wouldn’t it? Dennis, down here we refer to those as standard mags. 10 rounders are like decaf, looks the same but its just not the same.
November 14th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
@Mike V….
As I said in your CWP course a few weeks ago, Mike…
I LOVE THIS STATE!
November 15th, 2011 at 12:16 am
Yet when I take a belt-fed 1919 to Northeast AND Northcoast and I bring home ammo, even though anyone who’s there can shoot it…..; )
November 15th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
There are empty magazines in my house.
When I cycle through my sets so that I can rest the springs on some of them.
Orion
November 15th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
“i was out of ammo.”
Is that a code phrase for “Deceased. Buried. Estate sold off.”?
November 15th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Orion, springs get week by cycling. Not by being compressed. You can leave a mag loaded for 20 years, and it will work.
And, I really need to load some more, way too many unloaded mags at my place.
TXL
November 15th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Instalanche coming…
November 15th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
An empty magazine is useless. Also, a handgun without a round in the chamber is useless. Facts one should live by.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Heck, I’m not even a gun guy to speak of and I never have any empty magazines either. It tires my fingers out to load them so if I do it at the start of a shooting session it’s a bad start. Better to fill them at the end of the last session. Not that I won’t be filling them as I shoot, but it’s something.
Yes, need stronger fingers. =)
November 15th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
I have had trouble with jamming in a Walther PPK. I’m told the magazine spring is shot from leaving it loaded.
November 15th, 2011 at 6:06 pm
9mm has three clips…….H & R .410 holds 4 in stock, and lots in my pockets…..both live by my bed; unless I am about……Don’t tread on me!
November 15th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
@ Polynices…..not sure your weapon, but have a loader for my Springfield XD 9mm….small plastic piece which makes loading quick and easy once you master it, and no sore hands/fingers….check on it for yours.
November 15th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
@Polynices
Check out the UpLULA Univ. Pistol Mag. Loader by Butler Creek.
http://www.amazon.com/Butler-Creek-Universal-Pistol-Loader/dp/B001HBHNHE
November 15th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Reminds me of my favorite motto;
“Any man who knows how many guns he has, doesn’t have enough.”
November 15th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Be advised to also have many empty magazines around too as the spring inside the full magazine compresses and weakens. This may effect firing by causing jams.
November 15th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Reminder: loaded mags cause the springs to fatigue over time.
November 15th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
No. Compression cycles fatigue springs.
November 15th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
I “think” you have to be careful about keeping clips loaded. I was told (and this could be wrong) that you should not keep them loaded because it flattens out the spring loaded clip.Maybe keep one loaded and rotate the clips every month to keep the spring “fresh” and “springy”. Anyone else have a view on this?
November 15th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
I finally rounded up all my different AR mags and have decided I need to go ahead and procure/build an AR with a 20″ + heavy barrel suitable for Varminting but stout enough for tactical.
As tactical as I’ll ever need, any way.
November 15th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
I always wondered where “old wives’ tales” come from. I suspect that old wives don’t spend good gossip time spreading silly myths about springs when there are much jucier things to fantasize about. But if not them, who?
November 15th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
When I saw the headline about “empty magazines” on Instapundit, my first thought was of Time, Newsweek, The Nation, The New Republic…
November 15th, 2011 at 11:04 pm
as an aside, I have one of the flatjack holsters for my G17, it’s well made, solid, and wasn’t terribly expensive. Now I just need something for my S&W Mdl 1955 π
November 15th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
The truth about magazine springs may have changed
over time; Older (WWII and earlier) spring steel
will take a ‘set’ and fail to feed, the newer
alloys/heat treatments do not have that problem.
Two Old Wive’s Tales, actually summaries of the accumulated experience of generations:
1) Said of six-1 guns: If you need more than 5 shots
to win a fight, you are probably going to lose.
2) Beware the man who only owns one gun; He probably
knows how to use it.
November 16th, 2011 at 12:26 am
Actually Uncle, there’s some partial truth to the “compressed springs weaken” thing. If a magazine is loaded fully, and then left someplace like the garage with larger temperature swings throughout the day, and over the year even more, the temperature shifts will affect the spring strength over time.
November 16th, 2011 at 12:27 am
BTW, it looks like the timestamps on your comment section are still on DST.
November 16th, 2011 at 7:27 am
Leaving a magazine topped off in storage can lead to spring compression and problems in feeding rounds. If you are going to leave a magazine loaded you should not fill it more than half way and you should empty it out and rotate magazines every couple months.
November 16th, 2011 at 7:29 am
My new ruger suffered from this and doesn’t feed the last 3 rounds well. So it can still happen with modern alloys.
November 16th, 2011 at 8:42 am
Ruger must use some really bad steel in it’s springs if new mag springs are failing. I have two mags that came with a Glock 23 I got in 1992 that have been stored fully loaded at all times. Both still function perfectly.
November 16th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Load em and leave em. If your worried about spring fatigue, buy a bunch of revolvers.
November 16th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
The regular Navy (non-seal) believes in spring compression. Don’t know what the seals do.