Rifle and handgun magazines are consumable products.

[Big Frank]

As much as we may hate to admit it sometimes, rifle and handgun magazines are consumable products. They don’t last forever. They have a certain service life, after which they need to be rebuilt or replaced. Luckily enough, replacing magazine springs will usually do the trick, if the feed lips aren't bent, and there's no obvious damage.

Earlier this month one of the blued mags for my 12.45 LDA developed some surface rust on one side after the gun and 3 spare mags were kept in my tent for several days and nights. Everything was on a small table with my lantern, cell phone, and 2 small bottles of Gatorade/Powerade. I scrubbed it with a brass bore brush and coated it with gun oil and put it back in the tent. I thought that was good enough. Then it got surface rust on it again later this month after it was in the case all week. I usually uncase my guns when I get home, but I'm moving so slow, I still haven't finished unpacking everything. I'm assuming it was the same mag since it was just one side of one mag that had rust on it. This time I used fine steel wool and Breakfree CLP to scrub it clean and preserve it. I just checked and they all look good. I was using a propane heater in the tent the last trip up north, and I think that made more condensation everywhere.

When I took the baseplate off the mag during the cleaning process, I realized the spring wasn't extending very far out of the magazine tube. So I ordered more springs from Wolff Gunsprings. They come as singles, 3-packs, and 10-packs. I put a single spring and a 3-pack in my cart and looked at the total. When I compared the price of those 4 to the price of a 10-pack, the 10-pack cost less than twice as much. So I ordered the 10-pack of 10% extra power springs. I replaced all 4 springs and cut the old ones in half before I tossed them in the trash. I took a pic of the 4 old springs and 4 new springs. The new springs are about 7 inches long, and the old springs were only 5 inches long! It was getting easier to load the mags, but I didn't have any idea the springs had shortened up nearly that much.

Then I read on Wolff's site to use the same springs in all 10-round Para-Ordnance mags. I have 2 10-round mags for the 12.45 LDA because I bought it during the regular capacity magazine ban. So I replaced those too. And when I popped the springs out of the 2 mags for my P10-.45, they had the same number of coils as those springs, and the replacements too. So I put them in my P-10.45 mags too, even though Wolff sells a different spring for them. I need to contact them and ask their opinion, whether it's okay to keep these springs in the P-10 mags. I loaded all 4 mags and got all 10 rounds in them but they were tight. Those 4 old springs were only 4 3/4 inch long.

By the way, when I was in the army they switched from using Rifle Bore Cleaner, and LSA, Lubricant, Small Arms, to Breakfree CLP. The small 20 ml (0.68 ounce) bottle of CLP with an applicator straw will easily fit in the stock of an M16 or AR-15 rifle, along with a cleaning kit, like the one my Colt came with. LSA is a semi-fluid lubricating oil that came in 4 ounce bottles. Pictures from Vietnam show a lot of guys with a bottle under the band of their steel pots. There weren't a lot of other places that bottle would fit. The rifle bore cleaner was usually in quart cans that we only got out on rare occasions, along with the LSA, when we cleaned our weapons. If you can carry one little bottle on you instead of 2 big bottles, or a bottle and a can, why not do it? My bottle is so old, it's black like the 20 ml bottle in the picture, but has a cap on it like the 2 ounce bottle shown. They got rid of the bottle cap and made a flip spout, and now Safariland makes it in white bottles. The small bottle is a needle oiler now.

[Big Frank]

I almost forgot to post a link to Wolff Gunsprings. Their web address is easy to remember. It's gunsprings.com.

https://www.gunsprings.com/index.php

They make 10% extra power magazine springs for most pistols, and 5% extra power magazine springs for Ruger LCPs, along with recoil springs for 1911s and other pistol ranging from reduced power to extra power.

For Government Model 1911s alone they have

CONVENTIONAL RECOIL SPRINGS - .45 ACP
    Reduced Power...: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Lb.
    Factory Standard.: 16 Lb.
    Extra Power........: 17, 18.5, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, & 28 Lb

    and

Variable Power Recoil Springs - .45 ACP
   Reduced Power...: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, & 15 Lb.
   Factory Standard.: 16.5 Lb.
   Extra Power........: 17.5, 18.5, 20, & 22 Lb.

My first Para-Ordnance, the kit, came with a heavy 18.5 pound recoil spring, and a solid plastic guide rod to help absorb recoil. The aluminum frame would have been battered beyond repair without them, but I switched to a steel guide rod (Dwyer Group Gripper) and Shok-Buff with a heavy recoil spring. Wilson Combat sells the Dwyer Group Gripper now, but I don't see one with a full-length guide rod on there anymore. Not that a Government Model .45 has ever needed one. If you can't find a spring you need from Wolff, chances are, you won't find it anywhere. The only other place I bought gun springs from was IMSI. I bought a pair of Para-Ordnance 170mm Magazine Springs from them for my 20-round .45 ACP mags. 170mm is ~6.7 inches and 140mm is ~5.5 inches. It's easy to find springs to fit 140mm mags, but not as easy to find 170mm, especially if you don't run an STI/SVI 2011 race gun.

https://www.ismi-gunsprings.com/

https://wilsoncombat.com/group-gripper-kit-full-size.html

[Big Frank]

This is why I only have 2 P10.45 mags. I bought 2 Pachmayr Mag Sleeve Magazine Adapters made to use P14 mags in the P10, and cut them down to fit my 2 10-round LDA 12 mags. Then I filed the back to match the contour of the Smith & Alexander mag guide that I have on all 3 pistols. Then I had 4 mags for the P10, and still had 4 12-round mags for the LDA, 3 blued and 1 nickel plated. The mags with Pearce grip extensions add approximately 1/2" additional length, and the mags are about the same length as the P12/LDA 12 mags. These mag sleeves have been discontinued but Midway still had a picture of them online.

https://www.lymanproducts.com/brands/pachmayr/grip-extenders/mag-sleeves

[Rastus]

Wollf is a great source for springs and information.  They are definitely "go to" guys.

[alfsauve]

At first, from the title, I thought you were either collecting or recycling, Shooting Times, American Rifleman, etc.  Magazine?

I’ve replaced the springs in my carry guns, which are kept fully loaded, every couple of years.

Interesting exercise with my competition mags, since I shoot in “limited” divisions with either 6 or 10 rounds, and the mags hold many more than allowed, I put spacers inside that compress the springs, gives reliable feeding, plus aids in ejecting the mag.  But then these mags are only loaded for competitions so I don’t think they’ll fatigue anytime soon.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

That sounds like a good idea Alf. I used to know how long a 1911 recoil spring had to be serviceable by army standards, 6" maybe, but most springs I don't have a clue about. When I pulled the baseplate off one of my mags, I knew in an instant "that ain't right" without measuring it. I recently started using an UpLULA universal pistol magazine loader 9mm – .45ACP to load my Para mags, and a BabyUpLULA for the LCP, all except the first round. You don't want that steel beak gouging up your followers, especially plastic ones. The UpLULA made loading so easy that I didn't realize I was no longer fighting spring compression because the springs were so worn out. I was sitting around lthe campfire oading my mags without looking at them or paying much attention. My first clue the springs were weak was when it was lifting the rounds too slow when I released the slide, but still, I was really surprised how bad they were.

I should measure a new Wolff spring every time I order one for any gun, so I have a future reference. That would be a good thread unto itself -- a list of new spring lengths for ______ springs for _____ guns. One last thought -- if you're using stiff recoil springs, you need stiff mag springs to keep up with the quick dwell time.

https://www.maglula.com/product/babyuplula/

https://www.maglula.com/product/uplula/

[Big Frank]

The Sears catalog used to be a consumable product... in outhouses all across America. When you were done reading a page you could use it to wipe with.

On a side note, I keep my American Rifleman magazines in boxes that stand on a library shelf and hold 2 years worth. I have 6 of them, and when I finish reading 2 years worth I have to dispose of the oldest 2 years worth. After cutting my name and address off I leave them in doctor's offices without asking permission.