Do folks keep a loaded mag with their weapon and where? How long do you keep your mag loaded? Won’t it wear the spring if not used? Do you rotate your mags for staging? (As you can tell, a newbie to home defense)
beside my bed, behind my night stand. The magnetic plate is super small but very strong. My gun is ready to go without locking it up and my kids have no idea. Remember this is only when I am in the room sleeping.
Fast and easy to grab and unless you tell someone it’s there… Now you see it… Now you don’t
Small, cheap and mount it anywhere you want in the house without anyone knowing. $20. On Amazon.
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As for the loaded mag… I’ve kept my 10/22 mags loaded for 2 years. Took it out and shot just fine, reloaded just fine.
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Welcome to the family and god bless you. I do rotate my ammo if possible and you should once in a while unload the magazines to relieve the spring tension. I have left magazines loaded in my safe for months then took them to the range and they worked flawlessly.
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If you have the rounds in your mag and do not mess with it you will be golden. Where you keep it at night? I have a little safe at the side of my bed. Quick to get into in case of emergency and secured so it is not going anywhere. I have a get home bag in my vehicle with four mags in it. I have two mags for CC. One in the gun and one on my side for backup. The only time I remove the round out of the barrel is when I go to the range and shoot. Then if you want you can change or rotate the rounds. I go to the range every other week so other than that I leave my mags alone.
Welcome to the community and if there are anymore questions feel free to ask.
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It also depends on who is living with you. Any children? Anyone with behavioral issues or addictions? That all needs to be taken into account.
I’ve been told that what causes wear on mags is cycles—how many times the spring is compressed and uncompressed. Leaving a mag loaded, or unloaded, shouldn’t affect long term reliability unlike using the same mag over and over (and over and over.)
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Stage mags, not firearms. Rotate loaded mags monthly.
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The bedside firearm has a spare mag next to it, both in a quick access safe.
A few other threads on rotating ammo below, but the TLDR is keeping them loaded doesn’t bother them too much even after years. Loading and unloading is what wears out springs.
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Do folks keep a loaded mag with their weapon and Where?
In my safe.
How long do you keep your mag loaded?
Til I shoot it out.
Won’t it wear the spring? Under today’s manufacturing tech, I am not worried about it.
Do you rotate your magazines for staging? No all of my guns (except the ones on me) are in my safe with a loaded magazine in them.
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I have my pistol laying on top of a pocket holster. It has tritium sights so I have no trouble finding it. It’s my carry gun (Ruger LC9S) so it has a manual safety & aways one in the chamber.
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I’m confused. 
Why do you distinguish between HD ammo and carry ammo? You rely on both to end a fight, so what is the point of being different? This is unlike HD/carry ammo and range/practice ammo as all range/practice ammo has to do is reliably punch holes in paper.
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@RUGER9 The bottom pic reminds me of the Big jungle spiders we saw at night in Panama, C.A. WHOO. 
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@John292 That was from a comment by ScoutBob. In the thread he said he had a pistol he uses only for home defense so the difference between SD and HD ammo. 
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Todd,
what bed side safes do you recommend?
Thanks,
Joe
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Welcome to the community @Steven163…
My answers are similar to several others…
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Yes, I keep a loaded mag in the weapon and an extra with the weapon. I also have several extra AR15 and AR10 mags loaded and ready to go.
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Nightstand safe next to the bed (thumbprint lock or combo) for 2 handguns, the rest of the guns (handguns and rifles and shotgun) are in my safe are loaded without one in the chamber.
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Years, I haven’t unloaded most of the mags (occasionally if I need an extra one when going to the range)
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No it won’t wear the spring out as the spring doesn’t wear out from being in a state of compression or decompression, rather they wear out eventually over time after compressing and decompressing after hundreds of repetitions).
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I don’t rotate my staged magazines, but I do rotate through the extra mags I take to the range so they get an even amount of wear and maybe last a little longer.
I have teenagers who are trained in gun safety and handling so I’m not worried about them, but for me it’s a safety protocol I plan on keeping even after the kids leave.
That’s me…lots of good answers here though. Good luck!
Pics added…
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RPNB Gun Safe, Smart Pistol Safe w/5-Digit PIN Keypad Handgun Security Safe with LED & RFID Quick Access, Measures 14.5" x 9.1" x 3.5", Anchoring on Floor, Wall or Closet.$72.99 This is the one I use. It is big enough to hold two guns.
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Thank you, Todd30!!
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Hey @John292 No need for confusion, I wasn’t differentiating between anything.
The topic of rotating ammo, regardless of the type, has come up before many times. I just posted links to two different threads on rotating ammo. One just happened to be about rotating their HD ammo and the other about rotating their carry ammo.
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Got it! Thanks.
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every weapon is loaded with/ Federal HST rounds. As for where, I keep one on each side of my bed (one for me or my wife), under my pillow, under the couch cushion, taped to the dogs (one each…and they got used to it), taped to my wife’s butt, and literally every 2 steps throughout my home…or maybe just next to the bed and strategically placed throughout my home…I like my first answer better.
There’s a lot of videos on youtube talking about wear on springs over time and I’ll save you the time and sum it up…makes little to no difference to you as a normal shooter.
As for rotating and staging…honestly most people have different routines and you should pick what’s best for you. I have a couple pistols I haven’t rotated the mag at all and some I have and I let them sit for a year before I took them to the range with the ammo they were loaded with and tested them and every pistol fires as it’s supposed to with no issues. Now, again, some will argue you need to clean, some say don’t bother, others might say you need to perform a rain dance after every trip to the range so the rain god blesses your pistol…frankly…I think you need to figure out what works for you and the firearm you’re depending on with your life.
Try some things out and see how your pistol handles the home defense loads and you’ll be able to decide for yourself.
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