Store your mags charged!

[Mobius]

It's a fairly little known and rarely adopted practice to store your mags charged when not using them.

From our experience in airsoft we practice emptying our mags after use for logevity. However, if you do this with your gas mags you could be harming and reducing their life and reliability.

When a mag is empty there is no pressure on the O-rings and when rubber just sits it oxidizes, begins to break down, and will crack.

When you charge your mags it causes the seals to expand and since the gas we use contains oil the seals are lubricated as well. So if you store your mags charged with gas you will see longer use and less leaky mags.

[CommieHunter]

I always leave mine charged. 3 years and no leaks yet.

I know of a WE that sat for 8 mo. with a full charge of gas and fired like new when we picked it up.

[Braddock]

I have been telling people to do this for years.
I have G19 mags that are 4 or 5 years old that dont leak.

I have never had leaking mag problems from leaving the gas in...

[Deleteplz]

Kevin and I found a rusty 1911 mag on the Timber field a while back, no idea how long it was out there, but when I checked to see if it had gas it was fully charged.


I have always kept my mags charged, never had an issue with it.

[Jester316]

I've always left mine charged, no problems yet.

[Bigfoot]

I used to keep them empty. But as of last spring I always keep gas in them.

[Jewish Ninja]

Are you supposed to keep the fully charged or only a half charge? I've heard it both ways...

[Alex]

if magazines are to be stored for a long period of time, one second of gas, providing that you do a proper "thousand count," inside the magazine is enough to keep pressure on the valves. storing half a charge is also okay, though it isn't necessary. a full charge is has opposite effects on a magazine as it will bloat the rings.

[Braddock]

I have been storing my mags with a full charge for years with no negative effects.

[Raging Hormann]

Yeah, I never knew this until Hot Curry told me about a month ago at Rilea. Been doin' it ever since!

[Mobius]

if magazines are to be stored for a long period of time, one second of gas, providing that you do a proper "thousand count," inside the magazine is enough to keep pressure on the valves.

This is seriously over complicating things Alex, as well as absolutely unnecessary.

storing half a charge is also okay, though it isn't necessary. a full charge is has opposite effects on a magazine as it will bloat the rings.

Well then, I guess I as well as most of the other people in this thread have bloated rings because I know I keep them at a full charge. Ive also never had any kind of leak or for that matter any other kind of problem and Ive been doing it for upwards of three years.

[Ivan Daylovich™]

I keep mine loaded but I use my glock to scare the goats off of my car so I have different reasons.

[Decker]

I wish I would have known this last summer when I got into airsoft. At the time I was told to not keep gas in the clips. Ugh. Anyway newbie question: If you have a pistol mag that's got a leak is there any way to fix it? Or, is it better to just buy a new mag?

-decker

[Mobius]

there are ways to fix mags. first where is the leak coming from sometimes you can oil the mag and it will repair the seal and other times you may need to just replace teh valve.

Get in touch with Airsoft Outlet Northwest. they can order most valves for mags and havnt let me down yet

[Decker]

there are ways to fix mags. first where is the leak coming from sometimes you can oil the mag and it will repair the seal and other times you may need to just replace the valve.

Get in touch with Airsoft Outlet Northwest. they can order most valves for mags and havnt let me down yet

Thank you Mobius, I'll give them a call. I've been out there several times and I'll probably be trying to snag a KWA m4 from them (have a ICS mp5 already). Recommendations on type of oil to try or just the usual silicon stuff?

-D