Yeah, would make sense to have all the same pistols, but kids these days...

MrMN, I'm pretty well stocked, just not organized. That's my goal now.

Thanks guys!

We too, have standardized on 9 & 45 acp for the pistols, 5.56 for the rifles, and 38spl +p for the revolvers.

we may have to get rid of the 45acp because of hand injuries that turned out to be pretty bad and my grip is weaker.

Spare parts are also a consideration. Stock up.

We are also practicing home defense scenarios. It gets pretty hairy.
Be well.

Despite having several 45's, my stock on that ammo isn't great.....though I have plenty of components for reloading it. I used to compete with it. Same with 38Spl. I'll stick with stocking 9mm and 223. Wouldn't hurt to have some more mags of those guns I'll stock ammo for too.

Thanks again, men!

....and beef jerky! Don't forget the beef jerky!!!

quote:

Originally posted by mrmn50:
We too, have standardized on 9 & 45 acp for the pistols, 5.56 for the rifles, and 38spl +p for the revolvers.

we may have to get rid of the 45acp because of hand injuries that turned out to be pretty bad and my grip is weaker.

Spare parts are also a consideration. Stock up.

We are also practicing home defense scenarios. It gets pretty hairy.
Be well.

Ditto with the addition of .357 Magnum ammo. Not getting rid of the 45s or 45 ammo though. I bees ready!

Yesterday I cleaned my rifle and bought another one. Now my wife and i each have one. I got her to get her permit and will be taking her shooting hopefully today. It will be her first time. She has realized the world is a bad place.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
How are you storing your ammo? How much of it is ready to go....in mags? How do you keep yourself portable and what and how much do you keep for bug out gear?

Because of all that's going on now, I don't think I'm quite prepared enough, but want to be.

Over the last couple of years I've been assembling a couple thousand rounds for each AR in my family. I store the bulk of it on stripper clips in metal ammo cans. Each can has a stripper clip spoon and desiccants. Each person in the family has his/her own AR with several mags. Each person also has a load bearing vest with pouches. some of the pouches have mags, but most of the pouches have loaded stripper clips. That is how I keep them. This way we can be mobile within minutes, we can carry the max ammunition per and have ammo in storage. I hope we never need it.

OK, I'm not the biggest gun expert, I just like to shoot them and have for protection, so this may be a dumb question. I've always been concerned about keeping mags loaded and it wearing out the springs, so I keep a couple 5.56 loaded and a couple 9mm. Does it weaken the springs to keep mags stored long term loaded?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
How are you storing your ammo? How much of it is ready to go....in mags? How do you keep yourself portable and what and how much do you keep for bug out gear?

Because of all that's going on now, I don't think I'm quite prepared enough, but want to be.

Over the last couple of years I've been assembling a couple thousand rounds for each AR in my family. I store the bulk of it on stripper clips in metal ammo cans. Each can has a stripper clip spoon and desiccants. Each person in the family has his/her own AR with several mags. Each person also has a load bearing vest with pouches. some of the pouches have mags, but most of the pouches have loaded stripper clips. That is how I keep them. This way we can be mobile within minutes, we can carry the max ammunition per and have ammo in storage. I hope we never need it.

OK, I'm not the biggest gun expert, I just like to shoot them and have for protection, so this may be a dumb question. I've always been concerned about keeping mags loaded and it wearing out the springs, so I keep a couple 5.56 loaded and a couple 9mm. Does it weaken the springs to keep mags stored long term loaded?

Article from American Handgunner

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...27/ai_99130369

The shooting sports are full of some of the most knowledgeable and capable people you'll meet anywhere. I've been impressed consistently with the abilities of those I meet at the range to diagnose and fix a gun problem with as little as some spray lube and a cotton swab. However, sometimes a myth will creep into the folklore.

The magazine spring myth has been around for many years and is growing in popularity. It goes something like this: "You should unload your magazines when they're not in use or the spring will weaken causing failures to feed." This has gone as far as shooting competitors actually unloading their magazines between stages to extend the life of their springs. A variant of this myth is: "You should never load a magazine to capacity and should always leave it one round short." What if you need that round some day?

Recently, I read an article in a gun magazine suggesting you rotate your magazines so the ones not in use can "recover and rest." The same author uses the phrase "spring-set" to describe weakness of a spring because it was compressed for a long time. Hogwash. There's nothing further from the truth. Springs don't care how long they're compressed and don't require rest, recreation or even a vacation from time to time.

Shameful Spring Benders

To put this one to rest, you have to understand creep. Creep is the slow flow of a non-ferric metal like copper, brass and lead under force. At temperatures outside of a furnace, steel doesn't have any appreciable creep. Under most conditions, steel flexes and then returns to its original shape. When pushed past its elastic limit, steel will bend and not return to its original shape. All designers of well-made magazines make sure the spring never approaches the elastic limit when the magazine is fully loaded. Honest. This means the spring will not weaken when the magazine is fully loaded -- not even over an extended time. Like 50 years. American Handgunner recently ran a story about a magazine full of .45 ACP that had been sitting since WWII and it ran just fine on the first try. So there you go.

Now that the light of truth is leaking out, lets talk about what is causing failures to feed. The only way to weaken a magazine spring is to flex it past its normal range (elastic limit). If this is happening, somebody is trying to overload a magazine or has "adjusted" it by bending the spring. Both of these could cause feed failures. Shame on you if you're a spring bender.

Carlton Nether, Customer Service for Beretta USA, tells us keeping a pistol magazine loaded for an extended period doesn't cause magazine spring failure, however, failures to feed can result. He says, "The ammo will 'roll' in the magazine. If the mags are kept loaded and moved around a lot -- say on a cop's belt -- the rolling action can, over time, cause creases in the cases. These creases can cause malfunctions. Also the top bullet will roll against the magazine lips and creasing can occur there as well. Just check old ammo that's been bouncing around in a magazine for a long time.

We tell police officers if they keep loaded magazines, take a few seconds to "cycle" the ammo. Periodically unload the mag and reload it in a different sequence. This movement will allow the bullets to be in different parts of the magazine and help eliminate creasing.

At STI, Dave Skinner, President and CEO says, "Personally, I rotate my 'under the bed' and 'under the seat' mags about every six months. I always empty them the 'fun' way and have never had a failure." Given what we learned above, this sounds like a good idea. Smith and Wesson customer service also says magazines can stay loaded indefinitely without hurting the spring.

As we add force onto a spring, it will displace the same amount for each amount of force we add. This is true until the spring passes a certain point called the elastic limit. Robert Hooke discovered this theory back in 1660. Hooke's Law states: "If the applied forces on a body are not too large, the deformations resulting are directly proportional to the forces producing them." Which means, in actual human being language, if we load a spring past its elastic limit, it permanently deforms. It still provides a force against the load but the force is no longer proportional. If this happens, when we unload the spring (such as when we empty a magazine that has been over-loaded) the spring never returns to a state where it can provide the same load for the same amount of displacement.

Trust Us

When a magazine manufacturer designs a spring, they plan for a preload. The spring is already compressed some in the magazine. On the curve below, this would be Point A. The spring compression would be designed to be below the Elastic Limit. When fully compressed, the spring would be at Point B. If the spring is ever compressed past the elastic limit, say to Point C, it won't ever behave the same. Like a recalcitrant lazy Uncle, it will have a lower spring force for each amount of displacement. On the drawing, the spring would now cycle between points D and E. This means that -- particularly with the last bullet or two -- the force pushing the bullet up would be less and lo-and-behold, a mis-feed might occur.

When somebody stretches your spring to "fix" your magazine, they are trying to get you back on the original curve. They may get pretty close, however, it's unlikely the spring will ever perform to its original design. The elastic limit is now shifted lower and your magazine spring may fail to perform fairly quickly.

Having said all this, if you have a magazine that isn't feeding right, what should you do? First, disassemble the magazine and clean it thoroughly. Then try it with new, factory ammunition in a freshly cleaned gun. This takes away some of the possible causes. If you are still having feed problems, send it back. Even the low cost, after-market magazine manufacturers will fix the problem at no cost to you other than shipping. If it's a magazine from the gun's manufacturer, let them troubleshoot and repair the problem. Otherwise, toss the mag. It's not worth risking your life to save a few bucks. And that's the truth.

RELATED ARTICLE: Definitions

Creep: The flow or plastic deformation of metals held for long periods of time at stresses lower than the normal yield strength.

Elastic Limit: The maximum stress that material will stand before permanent deformation occurs.

Yield Strength: The stress at which the metal changes from elastic to plastic in behavior, i.e., takes a permanent set.

Permanent Set: Non-elastic or plastic, deformation of metal under stress, after passing the elastic limit.

Magazine Recommendations

* Clean your magazines when they get gritty. Apply oil then remove all excess. Oil attracts dirt that may cause malfunction.

* If you find rust on the spring, this is culprit. Rust changes the thickness of the metal and reduces the force applied to the follower. Cleaning off the rust may help. For a gun you depend on, replace the spring. All the major brands and most of the smaller ones have replacement mag springs available or try Wolff Springs.

* If you keep a magazine loaded for long periods, rotate the rounds every few months. If you carry a pistol on the job or in your car, cycle the ammo frequently. These actions prevent creases from forming which may cause a misfeed.

* If you experience feed problems, first clean your magazines and weapon. Fire a couple magazines of new factory ammo to see if this resolves the problem. If not send the magazine back to the manufacturer -- or toss it.

My rifles are always clean.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
How are you storing your ammo? How much of it is ready to go....in mags? How do you keep yourself portable and what and how much do you keep for bug out gear?

Because of all that's going on now, I don't think I'm quite prepared enough, but want to be.

Over the last couple of years I've been assembling a couple thousand rounds for each AR in my family. I store the bulk of it on stripper clips in metal ammo cans. Each can has a stripper clip spoon and desiccants. Each person in the family has his/her own AR with several mags. Each person also has a load bearing vest with pouches. some of the pouches have mags, but most of the pouches have loaded stripper clips. That is how I keep them. This way we can be mobile within minutes, we can carry the max ammunition per and have ammo in storage. I hope we never need it.

OK, I'm not the biggest gun expert, I just like to shoot them and have for protection, so this may be a dumb question. I've always been concerned about keeping mags loaded and it wearing out the springs, so I keep a couple 5.56 loaded and a couple 9mm. Does it weaken the springs to keep mags stored long term loaded?

Article from American Handgunner

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...27/ai_99130369

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
My rifles are always clean.

You couldn't have missed the point any more if you had tried.

I cleaned the g27 my EDC. Now putting a little bit away to step up to a g23.

Was just trying to determine the best travel rifle.
Winchester 94
AR15
Sig 556

Guess I'll probably get an optic for the AR. It is a couple inches longer than the 556 in most compact format but that is alright.

No more traveling without a rifle for this guy.

If that 94 is in .30 WCF, that's a rifle which makes a lot of sense for interstate travel.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If that 94 is in .30 WCF, that's a rifle which makes a lot of sense for interstate travel.

Why do you say that? It's "innocent" appearance compared to a "military style" rifle?

Just ordered more ammo.

Looking to add another long range rifle to the mix.

And another safe.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If that 94 is in .30 WCF, that's a rifle which makes a lot of sense for interstate travel.

Why do you say that? It's "innocent" appearance compared to a "military style" rifle?

That and the fact that you can obtain ammo nearly anywhere. Gas stations. Hardware stores. Walmart.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
My rifles are always clean.

quote:

Originally posted by Mainspring:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If that 94 is in .30 WCF, that's a rifle which makes a lot of sense for interstate travel.

Why do you say that? It's "innocent" appearance compared to a "military style" rifle?

That and the fact that you can obtain ammo nearly anywhere. Gas stations. Hardware stores. Walmart.

I get it. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If that 94 is in .30 WCF, that's a rifle which makes a lot of sense for interstate travel.

Agreed for it's overall inconspicuousness and aside from being a touch longer than the AR it takes up a smaller overall footprint when you take into account height with pistol grip and optic. I also like the added power of the round as well as the overall ability to grab a box of rounds pretty much anywhere you are.

6 round capacity and slow reloads are my biggest concern. Lone attacker no problem, multiple attackers not as good.

Half tempted to sell one of my 5.56 ARs to build an AR that uses Glock mags so I can have the same magazine and round across the board but have the ability to engage from a distance as Paris pointed out the vest is most certainly going to be part of the game when it goes down here. Want to be as far out of the blast radius as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by dave7378:
Shit, read Day of Wrath if you want to get nervous about the possibilites.

Just ordered it. I like the author.
Thanks and be well