AR mags full or empty?

[PBFrijoles]

it's fine if you don't take the spring out but from time to time i'll take the mag all the way apart and stretch the spring out alittle. additionally when i have them apart i'll clean any sort of debris out that might have gotten inside the housing to help prevent any sort of stoppages. on a conservitive week at work i'll shoot roughly 3000 rds combined with my shorty m4 and glock and i've only in my 16 yrs of service have had to trash 10-15 mags because of proper maintenance.

[LMiz]

use Cheap Magazines and check them reguraly

[txstringbender]

Standard GI mags are cheap. I keep them fully loaded. If the spring ever wears out. Throw it away and get another.