Beretta 96 factory mags, springs wore out very quickly in storage?

I bought my Beretta 96fs at a gun show back in november, around a month ago. The gun was in good condition, and came with 2 factory, silver colored, 10 round mags. I do believe it was used, and not new, but in great condition.

At the same gun show I also bought 2 18 round mags. Both the 10 and 18 rounds are the same size, but the guy told me the 10 rounds were probably designed that way for other state restrictions...anyways, my problem..

When I first started loading my magazines, the 10 round magazines were EXTREMELY hard to load. I felt like I almost broke my thumb when loading them. The 18's on the other hand, which were unused, loaded very easily.

I have kept all my magazines loaded for a couple weeks, shot them all about one or twice. Anyways, today when cycle testing my gun, I got bad problems with the 10 round mags. It's as if almost every single bullet was getting stuck on the metal in the magazine, as if the spring was weak or something. I got failure to feed on every single round in the 10 round magazines. The last time I shot them about 2 weeks ago, I had no problems though.



Why could this be? If my 10 round mags are jamming on every round, I might as well throw them out. I have kept my 18 round mags loaded and have had no such problems with them.

My friend is a machinist and insist that springs will not be worn out by sitting idly in a gun, and even so manufacturers design the springs to be stronger than they need to be. He explained that loaded mags sitting wont cause the spring to weaken because there is no movement, and that only compression and decompression will weaken it. He basically said, how can you even think a spring can become weaker if there's no movement occurring with it, it would defy physics almost?

Another theory I had is that maybe the mags need to be oiled? Though I wouldn't know how to do this, or why they would wear out in such a short time

Actually now that I look at them, I'm not even sure these are factory mags, they have no print on them at all.

I recently ordered some 30 rd mags off the beretta website, and they say made in itally, and so do my 18 rounds....though still not sure why the no-brand mags are failing

Have you tried to take them apart and clean and lubricate them

Call me a noob but I've never heard of peoples taking apart magazines as part of a typical cleaning maintenance.

I'm going to look into that.

Firstoff, and this is just me......I have never heard of 18 rd. mags for a 96fs, or any fs for that matter,,,,,,,,,Usually, New Beretta mags are extremely stiff and will loosen up a bit after use, but not alot..........who knows who the mfg. was for the 10 rd. mags, if they are not marked........keeping mags loaded does not affect the spring................If I had Beretta mags, and they were extremely easy to load, I would think that there was a problem.......to save your fingers, purchase a Maglula mag loader, best thing since white bread............Personally, I would be suspect of ALL the mags, and something just doesn't smell right......You can easily find Beretta mags online for the 96, new and used, and Mecgar makes mags also..........you can also look on line, and find video of how to dissassemble a mag, clean and lube, and put back together..it's not rocket science.....I have owned/ and currently own 6- 96's in my lifetime, and never had the issue that you are talking about....I use nothing but Beretta mags........If you used them 2 wks. ago, and had no problems, and now have problems, it's strange, to say the least, especially when the (18) work, with weaker springs.

Are you using handloaded ammo?

If the mags are not stamped Beretta somewhere on them, then they are not factory mags.

Get rid of them, and keep your eyes open for factory mags.

One exception for non-factory mags. MEC-GAR makes excellent mags. That's cause they make them for Beretta, Sig, and HK.

So...stick to Beretta marked mags or MEC-GAR mags and you'll do fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paratrooper

If the mags are not stamped Beretta somewhere on them, then they are not factory mags.

Get rid of them, and keep your eyes open for factory mags.

One exception for non-factory mags. MEC-GAR makes excellent mags. That's cause they make them for Beretta, Sig, and HK.

So...stick to Beretta marked mags or MEC-GAR mags and you'll do fine.

---

+1. The beretta mags should have a little "pb" stamped on the bottom of the floor plate