How often did you have to replace your magazine?

I have a Just Right Carbine in 9mm take down model that uses Glock magazines. Brought it May and I shoot 30 rounds a week thru it. Accurate and easy disassembly which is good because the blowback action leaves it pretty dirty. It came with a 15 round mag but it was a Glock knockoff. The other week after 5 rounds the spring was not strong enough to push up the rest of the rounds so I brought a new 15 Glock mag. Now I have two 15 round mags and one 30 round mag, all Glocks, My Ruger 10/22 started misfeeding so I changed the recoil which helped but not all the way. I shoot about 200 rounds thru it a week for about 2-1/2 years so next I replaced the mags problem solved. My EDC is a Sig 365, 4-1/2 years old, shoot about 40 rounds a week thru it. No problem with the mags but the trigger and recoil spring have been replaced. My Sig 322 goes thru 160 rounds a week so far no problem with the mags but they are a bit tricky to reload. By the way I clean my guns every Saturday morning, go thru a lot of Hoppes #9 .

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With quality mags it is all about the number of times they are loaded and unloaded. The springs will eventually wear out but I have yet to do it to any of my Glock mags or the cheap knockoff Glock mags I bought over a decade ago. But I have a fair number of practice mags so they get rotated instead of the same few getting used every range session.

If you start noticing feeding issues on the last few rounds and the mag is clean and undamaged you should be able to solve the problem by getting a replacement magazine spring. Though it might be a good excuse to add to your mag collection as well:)

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While this may sound snobbish I make sure that my EDC magazines are manufacturer magazines for my EDC firearms. I also shoot with my ECD magazines once a month to insure they are working correctly. I disassemble and clean my magazines twice a year or if any failures pop up. If I a magazine gives me any issues I will tear it down it, clean it, and reassemble it, than run several cycles of snap caps through it and the firearm to insure it is working correctly. But I do not put it into the EDC rotation until it has passed a full range check with my carry ammo. It is good idea to have a spare set of EDC magazines for your EDC firearms. When i purchase a new firearm I budget for 10 magazines, manufacturer or generic, and plan on purchasing two additional magazines for each firearm every year. There have been magazines shortages also.

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@Gabriel46 Welcome to our community, we are glad to have you with us. :slightly_smiling_face:
P.S. Good planning.

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My opinion: Buy a couple more Glock brand mags.

Take two that you have proven to work, load them with your preferred real deal use (like for self defense ammo), and use them sparingly at the range. Use and abuse the other magazines regularly at the range.

It’s use that wears the mags out. Spring cycles. Dropping/damage, etc.

Good mags, like Glock factory mags, are quite durable and last a long time even when being used

Also, and this is just me, if I have any failure that is in any way potentially associated with the magazine (basically any kind of feeding failure) I will immediately mark that magazine with an X and never use it for defense of life/limb/self defense

Mags are cheap, ammo to test them is expensive, life is precious, I’m not taking chances or burning expensive ammo over a magazine with a question mark it will be strictly range use from then on out

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I’m pretty impatient with magazine misfeeds, after 2 or 3 the magazine goes in the trash. Like @Nathan57 said

The last thing I want to “Have To Do” is clear my gun in a fight.

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If a magazine gave me any trouble I also would remove it from the defensive use rotation.

Though unless it was having issues on every other load or more I would throw it in the practice mag pile. Would be nice to have the occasional unexpected problem in order to practice clearing FTFs.

I’ve been pretty lucky on the mag front. I only carry OEM for defensive purposes and only buy very well regarded off brand mags for practice if they are significantly cheaper than OEM. With the exception of AR style mags. I mostly stick to Pmag or Lancer for those. They are relatively cheap and very reliable.

There have been a couple of firearms that I have had to settle for cheap mags for because there weren’t decent ones available at the time I got them. Still can’t find reliable 10 round mags for my old 7600 .308 pump rifle. Remington only makes 5 rounders and all the 10 rounders I’ve found are poorly made and not completely reliable with 9 or more rounds in them.

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Welcome aboard sir! Not snobbish at all actually.

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Never, so far. 12 years into it.

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Yes, and also about how you put them in and remove them. These two actions are major mag stressors. Every one likes to insert a mag and “give it a little” tap. The distance from “little tap” to slamming it in is very slight, and is murder for both steel and polymer mags. Same for removal. If you are pulling on your mag when you press the release you are stressing the catch and your mag. Your mag catch and where it engages the mag are stress points, and should get the tiniest amount of lube regularly.

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Serious Question, I insert/tap my mag when I insert it. Are we saying that we should just push it in until it clicks, No Tap?

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A tap is fine. I have, however, seen people give the magazine a roundhouse slap that would knock a horse over. Not fine. I like to give mine a tap…which I initiate with the palm of my hand no more than an inch from the baseplate. Practice on the range for the real world.

(Edit to state “no more than an inch”)

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Wow… so it is thru that people have to replace magazines? I thought is a myth… :thinking:

Oh… It was about Glocks… Sorry, by bad… I got it now. :joy:

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@Gabriel46 Welcome to the community, and great input on servicing those magazines.

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Hello and welcome @Gabriel46

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I’ve tossed away a few magazines----cheap imported ones, gun show specials, that didn’t work worth a darn, but I’ve never actually replaced one.
Take care of them and you can rebuild them if needed. Quality springs are available.

The ones I tossed away I flattened on a farrier’s anvil , using a 2.5# rounding hammer because I didn’t want them to be trusted by anyone finding them. They were that bad.
About those cheap magazines: I bought them because they were dirt cheap (really) and I only had one OEM magazine at the time (being a kid on a very tight budget) and thought anything would be better than nothing and at $4 a pop, well, you get what you pay for (I was already out for the admission to the gun show and wrongfully thought I should at least bring something home to show for it.)
I suppose so, but truthfully they’re a hazard that can be mitigated with a little more money. I was glad to crush them on an anvil and replace them a few months later.
These days I still won’t buy really expensive boutique magazines, 30 bucks or so is my absolute limit and every one I’ve purchased so far has worked flawlessly (OEM, CheckMate, Metalform, Chip McCormack, Mec-Gar)
Of course I also take good care of my equipment.

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I have a Sig P220 that I bought in 1991 or 1992 for duty use as a police officer. I have never had to replace any of those mags. I can testify to this…the Germans DO know how to build weapons!

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So we get a pretty good conclusion: the Austrians DO NOT know… :roll_eyes:

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Just Hitler.

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As I know… he didn’t use those magazines we have been talking about :thinking:

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