New Stress Test

I think I will stress test my range magazines.

Now that I have them down to where I want them, they are broken in and reliable, I want to test how soon it will be until they start to fail.

How am I testing them? I am going to leave the mags loaded between range trips. Better to find out for myself how quickly the spring or whatever on a mag will go 'bad' in a situation where I am not relying on the mag to perform flawlessly. That will give me a better idea of the Carry-Magazines, and what to expect with them.

Want to know what my guess is on Chip McCormick 1911 bags and Sig P229s? That they will be fine. Compressed for years they will still work without a hiccup. But either way, I'll try to find out by abusing the range mags. The unique thing is never leaving them unloaded for any period of time. Why do I think they will probably be fine? Because of something I read of Jeff Coopers describing MP40 mags bricked up in a wall for 40 years working fine. I've talked about that Cooper anecdote before.


I was a little hinky to load mags at home here in Maryland. The cops don't like ANYTHING firearm related, and the law is less than clear if you are allowed to sport around full mags. But it looks like as long as the loaded mag is separate from the gun and the gun is locked up, I should be fine. [note: I rely on more than just one source of info for my gun law-learnin. I use that website because it is concise and a bit of a one-stop shop. From there I can delve further, usually on the State Police website. But large swaths of the state's gun laws aren't really very clear.] And locked up can include a lockable gun rug in the range bag with the mags right next to it. The pistol might not even have to be locked up if it is in the range bag with full mags and the pistol is in an enclosed holster and the bag, in that case, would even necessarily be locked. An enclosed holster is any holster with a flap or strap to secure the handgun in the holster.

So... gym bag... army holster... and a bunch of loaded mags is fine in Maryland as long as I am going (and can demonstrate) to a gunstore, my property, or formal or informal range shoot. I don't know how I can prove I am going TO a range or informal shoot. I guess if Uncle Trollop on the Eastern Shore of Maryland invites me to shoot tin cans on his farm some Saturday I better have a printed email from him with a date and an invitation and directions. AND while stopping for gas on the way is probably fine, stopping at a stand alone Kwik E Mart for beef jerky and Red Bill is a bit hazy. IF the cops choose that time to lean on me for whatever reason.