My HD shotgun is a Mossberg 590. Will upgrade to a A300 soon.

I leave my guns tube loaded, chamber empty.
When I shoot it, I clean it.

Any issues with mag tube spring fatigue? Should I be changing it regularly?

Spring fatigue, for the most part, seems to come from repeated compression/expansion cycles. In quality firearms such as your Mossberg and the Beretta you'll be getting, I wouldn't be overly concerned about it.

My suggestion would be to get a couple of spare springs and replace the spring perhaps every four or five years, and that would be erring on the side of caution.

You'll probably get a definitive answer from one of our dedicated shotgunners in the forum.

Not a big deal 99% of the time. Para is correct about the cyclical wear.

Trivia: In 870Ps, the magazine spring was one of the "upgrades" on police guns. The theory was that the heavier spring would reduce the chance of misfeeds under VERY rapid fire. For work shotguns, we'll replace the magazine spring as part of the periodic maintenance routine-- every 3 years, or around 750-1000 rounds-- but that's because we're spending other people's money and the springs are still cheap.

That's just precautionary. I have never seen a failure attributable to magazine spring fatigue. On a personal 870 with a "+1" extension I have over 600 full-to-empty cycles and it's still running just fine.

Much shorter version: Your factory springs will be fine.

Regarding springs, when I was an armorer, we removed a suspect spring and measured it against a new spring, ie a 1911 recoil spring-if the suspect spring was 1/2” shorter than the length of a new un-used spring, it got replaced.

All the spring lengths were in the TM, but that 1911 is ingrained in my noggin. So you could take a measurement when you order a back-up spring and replace the old one when it’s shorter.

But like Para said, springs get “used” by the number of cycles they get squished and then expand-not just sitting there under compression.

Cheap enough. Ordered a 3 pack from Wolffe.
Thanks

Somewhat embarrassed to say that I did not know this, and I should have having shot weapons with magazines (tubes or removable/stackable) for over 45 years. I thought long term compression caused spring fatigue.

OP - Thanks for asking this question. This old fart just learned something.

I have one shotgun my father bought new in 1962. The original magazine spring still works fine. I have several shotguns older than that which I suspect still have the original magazine springs. They still work as well. For a hunting gun, I wouldn't worry about the spring until it had problems. For a self defense gun, I'd probably replace the original spring every 5 to 10 years just to be safe.

I've read people who claim to be in the know say repeated compressions wear out springs. I've read others who claim to be in the know say prolonged compression causes springs to take a set. I don't know the facts, and won't argue either way, but do know anything can wear out or break.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jaybirdaccountant,

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
Somewhat embarrassed to say that I did not know this, and I should have having shot weapons with magazines (tubes or removable/stackable) for over 45 years. I thought long term compression caused spring fatigue.

OP - Thanks for asking this question. This old fart just learned something.

Same thing applies to magazine springs in pistol/rifle mags that are left loaded for long periods. It's not the extended compression that causes wear, rather compression cycles.

quote:

Originally posted by mike56:
Cheap enough. Ordered a 3 pack from Wolffe.
Thanks

Good move. My 9-shot (8 in the tube) 590 kills mag springs fairly quickly, even just keeping the tube crammed full. I think the spring is likely close to its compression limit with a full mag tube with my selected ammo. Even if I don't load/unload often or use the gun much, the spring will get tired after a year or two. Swapping it out periodically is cheap insurance.

Note, I only noticed the issue after the OEM spring got so tired that I started getting misfeeds where I'd cycle the gun during shooting but the bolt would close on an empty chamber because the magazine wasn't releasing a round quickly enough. Swapped in a new Wolff and it was resolved for a couple matches, but it started again more quickly than I figured it would. So now I just swap in a fresh spring every year or so, whether I've used the gun or not.

YMMV

In the last 20 years I've replaced the mag spring in my 870 once. It was still working, but loading the last round into the chamber from the magazine was noticeably sluggish.

I have stopped leaving my shotgun (and lever guns) loaded to capacity for long periods though. I'm less worried about the spring than I am the shell or cartridge itself. I've seen some obviously deformed shotgun shells and badly set back bullets in tube magazines left loaded for extended periods (years, not months). My shotgun at home is currently downloaded by two with extra shells on the side saddle to top off as needed.

Springs are cheap. Buy a few and replace every few years and you'll never need to worry about it.

Leaving the tube loaded isn't a problem, as others have said. It's the loading and unloading cycle that fatigues all springs.

I replace my 870 springs every 2-3 years just 'cuz. If it's a universal spring that's really long, I cut it to a length that extends one foot beyond the mag tube. That's worked well for many, many years.