Guns

Mailbag: Magazine Questions

Oldvet50 asks:

How long can you safely store a loaded mag before the spring weakens and causes misfires?

The answer to that depends on the magazine manufacturer. Cheaper magazine manufacturers, especially ones with polymer feed lips, are more prone to failure. Not of the spring, but of the magazine itself. Scorpion had a well documented issue with that. It turns out that the factory Scorpion magazines would dry out when left in a dehumidified safe for long periods. That’s why the Scorpion PMAG is a better choice than the factory one.

With a quality magazine, the answer to that is decades. Magpul themselves claim that they have had magazines fully loaded for eight years, and they still function.

The damage is done by compression and decompression of the spring. The more cycles that a spring goes through, the more it weakens it. I wouldn’t worry, however. It takes thousands of cycles to wear out a spring. Still, I think of magazines as consumable items, which is why I have so many of them.

SmileyFtW asks:

Why the waste of space with the foam? Load the cans tight for maximum capacity I would think. Same stuff in one can; label the can and move on. If one can is to be an assortment, say so on the can and ID the contents so it is obvious to what each one is

That was actually what I was doing up until now. What I got was cans that either contained a bunch of different mags in the same can, or the can wasn’t full. Example. Let’s say that I have a bunch of Smith and Wesson magazines:

  • 12 magazines for a Shield 9mm
  • 8 magazines for a Shield 40S&W
  • 6 magazines for a Shield Plus
  • 30 magazines for an M&P9 9mm
  • 12 magazines for an M&P9C 9mm compact
  • 12 Magazines for an M&P40 .40S&W

That’s 80 magazines. They will likely fit into one caliber can, but they aren’t cross compatible. The worst part is that some will fit in the handgun, but not function. For example, an M&P9 magazine will fit in the M&P40, but you don’t want to attempt to fire it like that. So with this system, good luck finding the right magazine in a hurry.

Another reason for padding them is preventing damage. One of the biggest reasons for malfunctions in a quality handgun (that isn’t a 1911) is a damaged magazine. My carry guns are life saving equipment, as far as I am concerned. The number one quality that I need in a carry gun is reliability. I need to know that it will go ‘bang’ every time I squeeze the trigger. Since quality handgun magazines cost anywhere from $35 to $60 each, having 100 magazines is a significant investment. By padding my magazines, I am protecting them and my investment. I lower the chances of malfunction which will, at best cost me some range time and money replacing it, and at worst will cause a malfunction during a firefight.

That’s also why I number my magazines. I know which ones have malfunctions. Note that number 2 and 5 are both missing in this picture. It’s because they are currently loaded and ‘in use’ by one of my handguns.

It’s a simple numbering system. If it starts with a 9, it’s a magazine that will fit the S&W9. If it ends in a “c” it’s for the M&P9C. This makes sense in my mind, because the compact can accept the full sized mags (but not vice-versa). The magazine numbers that start with a ‘G’ are for the Glock 19. (That’s the only model of Glock that I have, thanks to Project Gaston)

A similar code works, with the M&PShield Plus mag numbers all starting with ‘P’, the 45 magazines starting with ’45’, etc. I have a spreadsheet* that I use to track magazines, ammo, firearms, and firearm spare parts.

*I also keep a list of spare parts on hand: springs, firing pins, sights, and other fiddly bits. That’s why I have so many M&Ps: common spares, and the best spare part is simply having a spare pistol. Not only that, but I also know how to detail strip and troubleshoot the M&P series very well, which simplifies repairs. The Glock is easy to do the same with, but I generally don’t like the way that the Glock fits my hand. I’m still learning all of the ins and outs of the AR system.

By Divemedic, ago

Reloads

Bad Dancer asks for my thoughts on using reloads for defense. This comes up from time to time, and I don’t do it. Not because of the gun lore of a prosecutor using reloads against you, but because it just doesn’t make financial sense to me.

Let’s say that I wanted to roll my own ammo. What does it cost to roll your own? (all prices from Brownell’s, because I am doing a blog post, not writing a novel)

So call it $735 to load 1200 rounds, or about 61 cents per round. Winchester white box currently costs 26 cents per round and JHP costs 40 cents per round. Now I already know what the reloaders are going to say. They are going to claim that they can reuse the brass. (We aren’t going to be reusing used brass if we are making war shots, because you are either saving them for later, or you don’t have time to police a battlefield for your brass) But OK, let’s play that game. Let’s assume that you can load each brass case 10 times before it gets lost, damaged, whatever. That lowers your cost per round to 34 cents per round, which is still more than buying cheap factory ammo. Even if the brass is free, it still costs 32 cents per round.

However, if we are going to do that, let’s also consider that I have to buy the tools, so let’s call it $300 or so. Then there is also my time, which is worth something. It takes over an hour to load 1200 rounds. Then there is the chance that you will make a mistake and destroy one of your firearms with a double charge, which has a much higher probability of happening with a reload than with quality factory ammo.

So that’s why I have never really wanted to get into reloading. Hey, if you like sitting at the reloading bench and rolling your own, I support that. Don’t think that I am attacking reloaders. Shoot sports is filled with all kinds, and if you enjoy loading ammo, knock yourself out. Just don’t say that you are doing it to save money.

By Divemedic, ago

Spring Carry Handgun Ammo Purchase

My regular carry ammo has been hard to come by for the past couple of years. I try to replenish my carry ammo every year, and I also try to standardize it across all of my carry pieces. I want high quality, effective ammo that functions well with what I carry. I buy it as if my life depends on it, because it just may. I buy it all at once, so it is the same bullet and loading.

For 9mm, I switched to Critical Defense 135gr FTX back in 2019. For the PDW, I use the Critical Duty +P version of the same 135gr FTX bullet. Both of them have started getting expensive at more than $1 a round.

In .45ACP: I just switched to the Speer Gold Dot G2 230gr +P. I got a good deal on it from Lucky Gunner at $27 per 20 round box. Thanks to those of you who pointed me to the Youtube video of the gelatin testing. It looks to be every bit as good as the original Gold Dot. I got a few boxes.

I still have plenty of .40S&W and .357Sig. I don’t shoot or carry them a lot, so I don’t need to buy any this year. In fact, I can’t tell you the last time I shot either caliber. That’s odd, because when I was competing in IDPA, .357Sig was my ammo. I really liked the way that it recoiled straight back and gave no real muzzle flip in the pair of black Stainless Sig229s I was competing with.

Next up: revolver ammo. I am critically low on both .38 Special and .357 Magnum. I have less than 200 rounds of each. I just don’t want to pay a dollar a round to replace it at this moment. Maybe later this summer.

By Divemedic, ago

Magazine Storage

One of the big downsides to having a few firearms is that you tend to accumulate various items: holsters and magazines being the two that take up the most room. I literally have hundreds of magazines in the house, all for various firearm makes and models. Some are compatible with more than one firearm. (.40S&W magazines are compatible with .357Sig, S&P 9mm magazines are compatible 9mm Compact magazines, etc.)

I was keeping the unloaded ones in large Rubber Maid totes, but looking for the magazine you need is a large pain in the, well Rubber Maid tote. So I began looking for an answer, and it didn’t take me long to find one. I bought some foam rubber holders that fit into a .50cal ammo can for handgun magazines . I decided to try them out. Four of them cost me $62.

You number your mags too, right?

These holders allow you to store 24 magazines in each ammo can. That means I can have a can with just Smith and Wesson full sized 9mm magazines, another with .40 and .357 magazines, etc. Now four ammo cans take up the same amount of room as one Rubber Maid tote, and hold 96 magazines in a way that makes it easy to find the one you are looking for. The cans that I have are lockable, so that allows me an extra layer of security.

The downside is that the things aren’t as rugged as I would like, and lots of use will probably tear them up. Still, it’s better than what I had. If I didn’t already have the cans, I would look at buying cans that come with the pluck n’ pick foam already in them. It’s cheaper that way.

Now I need some storage for rifle magazines and for the large number of holsters that are sitting around here.

Now, the disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

NRA was the first National Gun Control Organization

There are many in the gun community that are angry with Trump for the bump stock ban. I have never blamed Trump for the travesty that was the bump stock ban, because I don’t think that he is the one who sold out gun owners. Let’s be honest here- the NRA greenlighted the bump stock ban. This is nothing new, the NRA was pro gun control for most of its history.

In the 1920s, the National Revolver Association, the arm of the NRA responsible for handgun training, proposed regulations later adopted by nine states, requiring a permit to carry a concealed weapon, five years additional prison time if the gun was used in a crime, a ban on gun sales to non-citizens, a one day waiting period between the purchase and receipt of a gun, and that records of gun sales be made available to police. Florida becoming the 26th state to get rid of concealed weapons carry as a crime meant getting rid of that NRA proposal after 100 years.

During the 1930’s, the NRA helped shape the National Firearms Act of 1934. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to make gun control a feature of the New Deal. The NRA assisted Roosevelt in drafting National Firearms Act and the 1938 Gun Control Act, the first federal gun control laws. These laws placed heavy taxes and regulation requirements on firearms that were associated with crime, such as machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and silencers. Gun sellers and owners were required to register with the federal government and felons were banned from owning weapons. Not only was the legislation unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court in 1939, but Karl T. Frederick, the president of the NRA, testified before Congress stating, “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”

After the assasination of President John F. Kennedy on  Nov. 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald with an Italian military surplus rifle purchased from a NRA mail-order advertisement, NRA Executive Vice-President Franklin Orth agreed at a congressional hearing that mail-order sales should be banned stating, “We do think that any sane American, who calls himself an American, can object to placing into this bill the instrument which killed the president of the United States.”

The NRA also supported California’s Mulford Act of 1967, which had banned carrying loaded weapons in public in response to the Black Panther Party’s impromptu march on the State Capitol to protest gun control legislation on May 2, 1967.

Then came 1968. The assassinations of JFK, jr and Martin Luther King prompted Congress to enact the Gun Control Act of 1968. The act brought back some proposed laws from 1934, to include minimum age and serial number requirements, and extended the gun ban to include the mentally ill and drug addicts. In addition, it restricted the shipping of guns across state lines to collectors and federally licensed dealers. The only part of the proposed law that was opposed by the NRA was a national gun registry. In an interview in American Rifleman, Franklin Orth stated that despite portions of the law appearing “unduly restrictive, the measure as a whole appears to be one that the sportsmen of America can live with.”

It wasn’t until a mini-revolt was staged at the 1977 NRA convention that there was a change in direction. A group of gun owners pushed back and deposed the old leaders in a move called the “Cincinnati Revolt.” Led by former NRA President Harlon Carter and Neal Knox, the revolt ended the tenure of Maxwell Rich as NRA executive vice president and introduced new bylaws. The Revolt at Cincinnati marked a huge change in direction for the NRA. The organization thereafter changed from “hunting, conservation, and marksmanship” and towards the defense of the right to keep and bear arms. The catalyst for this movement was that the NRA wanted to move its headquarters from Washington, DC to Colorado. The new headquarters in Colorado was to be an “Outdoors center” that was more about hunting and recreational shooting than it was the RKBA.

I became a member of the NRA about a decade later and remained an annual member, until I became a life member about 15 years later. I believed for years that the NRA was fighting the good fight for gun owners. It wasn’t.

The NRA was always influenced by a group of Fudds who supported hunting, but hated guns that weren’t for hunting. The bureaucrats who were a part of the NRA’s organization always tried to steer towards hunting, eventually caused the organization to morph into an organization that used the threat of Democrat gun bans for fundraising.

LaPierre was able to use the large flow of money to fund his luxurious life on the company dime, including over $13 million each year for travel and a postemployment golden parachute worth $17 million. LaPierre testified in the NRA’s bankruptcy hearings about his annual weeklong trips to the Bahamas on the company dime.

All they were good at was bargaining away gun rights to the Democrat gun banners in exchange for money and power. That’s why my political donations for the past 15 years went to other gun rights organizations, and yours should, too.

EDITED TO ADD:

Thanks to an anonymous poster, we get this quote, directly from the pages of the March 1968 edition of The American Rifleman, the NRA’s official monthly publication:

the NRA has consistently supported gun legislation which it feels would penalize misuse of guns without harassing law-abiding hunters, target shooters, and collectors”

NRA president Karl T. Frederick

Note that they make no mention of RKBA as anything other than support for the hobby of hunting. The article goes on to declare the NRA’s support for firearm registration, waiting periods, as well as prohibitions on sales of ammunition and firearms across state lines. The also express support for the prohibition of firearms to what they termed as :undesirables.”

The NRA is not, and apparently never has been, a true supporter of the Second Amendment and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. They should rename it the National Hunting Association. It can collapse and die for all I care. We don’t need them.

By Divemedic, ago

Profiteering

This guy complains that Florida’s constitutional carry is dangerous because there is no training requirement for people to carry a weapon. While I agree that people need training, this guy is being a disingenuous prick. Let me tell you why.

This is how he fulfills the “instructor must observe the student firing a weapon” requirement that is under Florida’s current CCW training requirement. Does that look like a class being taught by an instructor that cares about firearms training? Does that look like a high quality class? He gives a 2 hour class, where there is a 20 question quiz at the end that he gives the students the answers to, then makes them fire a single round into a bullet trap.

His class is nothing more than a scam to meet the bare requirements of the law, extract $49 from students, and try to sucker them into taking other courses that aren’t required by the law. Reading that article, I would steer clear of Brandon Gun School. There are other schools out there that deliver a much better class than that, and aren’t of the “I’m a gunowner, but” brand of instructor who is willing to sell out gun owners for a quick buck…

By Divemedic, ago

Changes to Florida Law

Let me start by saying that I am not a lawyer, and you therefore shouldn’t rely upon my advice. With that being said, here is my reading on the new “constitutional carry” law that was signed by the governor today. (pdf alert, but not stored here at SectorOcho)

It removes the legal requirement to have a concealed weapons permit for anyone who can legally receive a concealed weapons permit in the state of Florida. If also removes the restriction against having a firearm in a pharmacy that was previously in effect for anyone not a LEO or a CWP holder.

Places that are off limits to carry remain otherwise unchanged. If you are legally permitted to carry a concealed weapon, carrying a weapon at a school is a misdemeanor. I still advise maintaining a permit because permit holders do not have to go through a waiting period for purchases.

Here is the big change, as far as I am concerned:

790.251 Protection of the right to keep and bear arms in motor vehicles for self-defense and other lawful purposes; prohibited acts; duty of public and private employers; immunity from liability; enforcement.—
(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
(c) “Employee” means any person who is authorized to carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm under s. 790.01(1) possesses a valid license issued pursuant to s. 790.06 and:
1. Works for salary, wages, or other remuneration;
2. Is an independent contractor; or
3. Is a volunteer, intern, or other similar individual for an employer.

As used in this section, the term “firearm” includes ammunition and accoutrements attendant to the lawful possession and use of a firearm.

No public or private employer may violate the constitutional rights of any customer, employee, or invitee as provided in paragraphs (a)-(e):
(c) No public or private employer shall condition employment upon either:
1. The fact that an employee or prospective employee is authorized to carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm under s. 790.01(1) holds or does not hold a license issued pursuant to s. 790.06; or
2. Any agreement by an employee or a prospective employee that prohibits an employee from keeping a legal firearm locked inside or locked to a private motor vehicle in a parking lot when such firearm is kept for lawful purposes.
This subsection applies to all public sector employers, including those already prohibited from regulating firearms under the provisions of s. 790.33.

If you recall, the previous law was a bit of a gray area when it came to guns in parking lots. Take that, Disney.

A bunch of other stuff was added that governs schools and school boards. I haven’t read that yet.

So there you have it, some big changes coming to the state on July 1 when the law takes effect. I will be waiting to see some lawyer’s interpretations of the new law.

By Divemedic, ago

Annual Pistol Competition

The folks over at GunFreeZone post about cops who don’t take well when losing IDPA matches. Let me add my own stories to that.

About 20 years ago, I was competing in IDPA matches. I went on a vacation to Mexico, and it just happened that an employee of the Public Works Department and the head of the police Department’s SWAT team in the city where I was employed as a firefighter were on the same trip. Some smack talking ensued, and the cops decided to set up a pistol competition. The police, fire, and public works departments would all compete, and any revenue would go to charity. It was billed as the First Annual City Pistol Competition.

The cops really screwed the pooch when they didn’t do their homework. The deputy fire chief was a Master level IDPA shooter and placed in a couple of state level matches, and the director of Public Works was the President of the Florida Cowboy Pistol Shooter’s Association. I was a decent shooter as a Sharpshooter that had one a couple of local matches, and I barely made the team for the FD. There were some really good shooters on the Public Works and Fire Department teams. I felt outclassed.

The results of the match were embarrassing for the cops. Public works walked away with it, the fire department came in second, and the cops were a distant last.

The rules were modified by the cops to heavily favor their elite SWAT skills. For example, the cops didn’t have to conceal, but everyone else did. A reflection of Florida law, they claimed. Also, there was no ten round magazine restriction. One stage in particular was tough because it required multiple reloads, even with the larger magazines.

There was one stage that was setup to look like the inside of a church with about 40 IDPA targets inside. I think 8 were painted blue, 8 painted red, and the remainder not painted at all. At the beginning of the stage as you entered the church, the RSO would hold up a paper plate that was either red or blue. The color of the plate was the one you weren’t supposed to shoot. It was a mess of a stage, because there were so many non-threats in there. It was way easy to plug a hole in one by accident.

When I did that stage, I shot it clean. As the RSO held up a red plate, I yelled out “RED IS MY FRIEND” over and over again, so I wouldn’t screw it up. I managed to engage every blue target while missing every red and unpainted one. As I remember, I got a decent score. Not the best, but not bad.

The SWAT team’s sniper (we will call him Darryl) was next. As he entered, the RSO held up a blue plate. That dumb sonofabitch went in there and drilled every single blue target. Twice. It took them forever to calculate all of the penalties for engaging all of those non-threats, and probably involved some calculus. I even saw one of the cops take off his shoes so he could count higher. Darryl wound up finishing dead last in the entire match. Since we were friends, I gave him no mercy at all for months about that one. Holy hell, it was hilarious.

Darryl still doesn’t find it funny. I do. It turned out that the First Annual City Pistol Competition was also the Last.

By Divemedic, ago