Wolff Springs says that compression will weaken magazine springs and that it is a good idea to store them downloaded by one round.
Wolff Springs says that compression will weaken magazine springs and that it is a good idea to store them downloaded by one round.
That is for the most part incorrect.Originally Posted by ranburr
Properly designed springs will not weaken when compressed in the perfect environment. Ask any engineer and they will tell you the same.
What is not known is if the springs are sized appropriately for the magazine size and capacity.
Think for yourself. Question authority.
Personally, I'd be much more concerned about feed lip spread than the springs either way.
Wolff is correct. They do design springs for a living. Loaded mags suffer from stress relaxation. Fatigue is a non-factor. The rate of stress relaxation is dramatically increased the higher the initial stress. It is also a time based phenomena. Downloading by a few rounds provides a disproportionate increase in service life. Some mags are better designed than others in terms of ability to remain functional after long periods of being loaded to full capacity.
I want to say, as someone who was very recently in the exact same position you were in - don't worry so much about the gun itself. The gun is a tool, and there are better and worse ones out there, but both of your options were perfectly reasonable. Which one you picked didn't really matter.
What matters is that you get in a training class (or several!), and get to the range and practice. You'll learn that everything you thought you understood about guns was largely irrelevant. If you're not going to shoot the gun more than once a year, it doesn't really matter much what gun it is. On the other hand, if you're shooting every other week - after a year or so you're going to be a much more informed buyer, and have a much stronger lust for more and different guns anyway. So don't sweat the small stuff, just go shoot
Last edited by ford.304; 06-29-2011 at 11:43 AM.
This man has the right idea.I want to say, as someone who was very recently in the exact same position you were in - don't worry so much about the gun itself. The gun is a tool, and there are better and worse ones out there, but both of your options were perfectly reasonable. Which one you picked didn't really matter.
What matters is that you get in a training class (or several!), and get to the range and practice. You'll learn that everything you thought you understood about guns was largely irrelevant. If you're not going to shoot the gun more than once a year, it doesn't really matter that much what gun it is. On the other hand, if you're shooting every other week - after a year or so you're going to be a much more informed buyer, and have a much stronger lust for more and different guns anyway. So don't sweat the small stuff, just go shoot
This is my first time purchase of an automatic handgun, not my first gun. I'm not sure what I would need in a training class. My first gun was a shotgun when I was 14. My first handgun was a S&W stainless steel revolver with a 6" barrel (didn't buy it, was a gift), I was 22, back in 1985. I'll be 50 years old next year and have owned guns my whole life, not saying know everything but I think it would be a waist of time and money. Besides, their passing the law to allow CCW in Wisconsin on Friday. I'll have to take training or some kind of classes to get my CCW permit anyway..I want to say, as someone who was very recently in the exact same position you were in - don't worry so much about the gun itself. The gun is a tool, and there are better and worse ones out there, but both of your options were perfectly reasonable. Which one you picked didn't really matter.
What matters is that you get in a training class (or several!), and get to the range and practice. You'll learn that everything you thought you understood about guns was largely irrelevant. If you're not going to shoot the gun more than once a year, it doesn't really matter much what gun it is. On the other hand, if you're shooting every other week - after a year or so you're going to be a much more informed buyer, and have a much stronger lust for more and different guns anyway. So don't sweat the small stuff, just go shoot
What I wanted was advice on a one time purchase because I won't have the money for another one later. I have a family and we have much more important things to spend money on rather than me buying different handguns. My wife agreed we need one for home protection and I wanted one I can go to the range with often, that's why I needed help, so I could get a gun that's good for both and will last...
I ended up buying the M&P9. From the help I got here I think I made the right purchase and it will serve all my purposes: reliability, home protection, range time and it will last.
Brother, I mean this in the nicest way. You completely missed the point of his post. Even Ninjas train...... Glad you are happy with your purchase. Good luck.
I certainly understand having a financial crunch; the point is more that until you have more trigger time and experience handling a semiautomatic handgun, you don't really know what will suit you best. What often "intuitively" feels right may not work at all for you, or may not work very well once you have a better grasp on proper technique.
I don't think you can go wrong with the weapon you decided on, OP, but part of the reason people end up churning through different guns is because they find out what they thought was best turns out not to be so. I say this as somebody that has recently switched platforms for this very reason. I'm not the same shooter I was when I bought my first handgun; learning has occurred and I have adapted with it.
ETA:
In fact, one of those bits of learning happened only recently because of this forum. I thought I liked blocky, Glockesque grip profiles and that they worked best for me. Some advice on grip from SLG made me realize that a larger, more rounded profile fits my hands best. I'm not near the skill level of many of the shooters on this forum, but it was an eye opener after 4 years of trying to be serious with my shooting. Just an example.
Well, I don't mean to disrespect anyone by saying training is not necessary, I just meant that I really don't think I need any formal training on weapons. I am wondering, what could training do, once a ninja learns something, then he practices, and I do plan on that, I plan to practice a lot, that's the fun part. I have had the M&P for a few weeks now and still haven't shot it. I've been watching videos on cleaning and care as well as videos of people using it and giving their opinions so I know more of what I'm in for. I know gun safety, I know how to use the gun, now I just need to practice.... I suppose you could call what I've been doing is training..
That's why I came here. Thanx to everyone here I know I have a good gun, now as I use it I'll get familiar with it. I won't know if there is better or worse as this is the only one I will know, so I'll most likely always be satisfied. I'm glad you can appreciate my financial situation and I thank you for your opinion as well as all the others.
Here are the main points I needed to know, is the gun is reliable and accurate? Will it last?
I raced mountain bikes back in my 30's. Every bike felt different, so I just picked one and got used to that. After riding for many hours a day for a few weeks, that was the best bike for me because it was what I was used to, it because part of me. I didn't need to know about the other bikes, I just needed to know mine was reliable and in the same class as the ones I was racing.
Again, same with my skis, there are many different types so I chose a pair. I just made sure they were reliable and able to handle my aggressive style, other than that it was a matter of me getting used to the skis.
And the same with the gun, I'll shoot it and shoot it and eventually hopefully it will become part of me like my skis and mountain bike have.
I just hope I don't offend anyone with my opinions.
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