With all due respect to the Armorer(I too worked in an Armory),rotating mags is a good idea. However, I have had two glock magazines(17 round) left loaded with 16 rounds a piece finally take a set. They eventually reached a point where I had malfunctions. I have a factory colt 20 rounder(ar-15) that finally crapped out. But were talking years here! If you "download-by-two and use Wolf Springs; your grandkids will still be using them. High capacity(double-column) suffer more than single column. I also built racing engines and have seen valve springs weaken! But again we're talking about lots of Heat, Moisture and Vibration. P.S. Glock 17 springs work well in my glock 19+2 when they sag! Stretching a spring will get you home but does not cure the problem! Good Luck and Happy Shooting!
Compressed Mag Springs
- Thread starter Rich Lucibella
- Start date
Mike Baugh
New member
I use Wolff gunsprings in all my guns when they are available . I got to thinking about spring set when I read this topic and pulled my Springfield Trophy Match out of the safe and took the Wolff Recoil spring out and compared it to a new one , both 18# [I keep several spares]. The spring from my gun had been in for 1 year and the gun had only been fired about 50 rounds in this time . The spring from the gun is 1/2" shorter than the new one and easier to compress . I put the old spring back in and ran 50 rounds through it , it performed flawlessly . I believe the Wolff springs are the best available , but I am surprised at the difference in strength and overall length in this short time period and amount of use . Any thoughts ? Thanks , Mike...
Walt Welch
New member
Mike; I would devise some sort of mechanism for checking the amount of pressure needed to compress your recoil springs. Measure the old and new springs. If the new ones are about the same, and the old one is lower substantially (say 15 lb. or so), replace the old one with a new spring.
Run 50 rounds through the pistol, then check the two old springs; the one with the recent 50 rounds through it now being'old.' If they are different, and the second one installed is around the rated compression level, you had a bad recoil spring in the pistol at first.
If the two springs are the same, and again, substantially below rated compression level (and remember, the springs are rated to be at their given compression level AFTER 'set' occurs), then I would send them to Wolff with an explanatory note.
Hope this helps, Walt
Run 50 rounds through the pistol, then check the two old springs; the one with the recent 50 rounds through it now being'old.' If they are different, and the second one installed is around the rated compression level, you had a bad recoil spring in the pistol at first.
If the two springs are the same, and again, substantially below rated compression level (and remember, the springs are rated to be at their given compression level AFTER 'set' occurs), then I would send them to Wolff with an explanatory note.
Hope this helps, Walt
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Some discussions are hard to stay out of. In 1961 or so, I got into a discussions of springs and durability with my metallurgy prof at UFla. His comment was, "If it takes a set, it's not a spring." Meaning, of course, it was less than high-grade quality.
Maybe I've just been lucky, whether it's my 220,000-mile Toyota 4WD having no loss in ride-height, or (in younger daze) my race-motors' valve trains with no failures.
In fact, one of my most reliable-feed .45ACP magazines has a spring which is noticably soft--it's a home-made 8-rounder. Go figure.
Anyhow, from a metallurgical standpoint, any spring from a reputable source should never take a set nor weaken. (Caveat: Beware the lowest-bidder problem!) Noticeable degradation should take hundreds of thousands of cycles of use.
Maybe I've just been lucky, whether it's my 220,000-mile Toyota 4WD having no loss in ride-height, or (in younger daze) my race-motors' valve trains with no failures.
In fact, one of my most reliable-feed .45ACP magazines has a spring which is noticably soft--it's a home-made 8-rounder. Go figure.
Anyhow, from a metallurgical standpoint, any spring from a reputable source should never take a set nor weaken. (Caveat: Beware the lowest-bidder problem!) Noticeable degradation should take hundreds of thousands of cycles of use.
Mike Baugh
New member
I replied to this topic on 12/25 and said I had a 1/2" difference in a Wolff recoil spring in 12 months and 50 rounds time . I had no problem with the gun functioning but thought I would put in a new one , in 10 days time a new 18.5# Wolff recoil spring in a Government model took a set of 3/8" . I compared 3 new springs and all were the same length , I installed 1 and the gun was not fired , when I checked today I found the difference in length . Just thought I would pass this along , Mike...
Rob,
Just to be a smartass, I'd like to refute your statement about the feather and bowling ball. Your teacher is right. If both are dropped in a vacuum, that is, under the same gravity. The reason the feather doesn't drop as fast is because it has a higher surface area to mass ratio, and consequently, higher drag.
The proof for this is that acceleration due to gravity is constant for all objects (9.?? ft / sec.) I bet if you dropped me and a two ton block of led from a highrise, we'd both go splat at the same time. Not to give YOU any ideas of course!
Mel
Just to be a smartass, I'd like to refute your statement about the feather and bowling ball. Your teacher is right. If both are dropped in a vacuum, that is, under the same gravity. The reason the feather doesn't drop as fast is because it has a higher surface area to mass ratio, and consequently, higher drag.
The proof for this is that acceleration due to gravity is constant for all objects (9.?? ft / sec.) I bet if you dropped me and a two ton block of led from a highrise, we'd both go splat at the same time. Not to give YOU any ideas of course!
Mel
One thing we should all remember, as people who entrust our safety to firearms, is the Murphy factor. Always try to prepare for the worst case scenario, because it's better to have something and not need it, than need it and not have it.
Though I've never had a magazine set on me, I usually have three 8 round mags loaded for my 1911. I have 5 mags that I rotate out every 3 months, so there are always 2 mags that are not loaded. It takes me maybe 2 minutes each time. It may not be necessary, but it doesn't hurt me either.
Though I've never had a magazine set on me, I usually have three 8 round mags loaded for my 1911. I have 5 mags that I rotate out every 3 months, so there are always 2 mags that are not loaded. It takes me maybe 2 minutes each time. It may not be necessary, but it doesn't hurt me either.
"Resting" magazine springs after being compressed for a very long period of time will not return them to the same contition they were when they were new. If the springs would not feed rounds correctly after a period of time, there is little that you can do to return those springs to "life". Pitch 'em.
As an aside: I was asked to check several firearms in an estate and found a flint lock rifle that was cocked. As far as anyone could remember the rifle had to have been cocked since sometime in the late '30's when the oldest son had been playing with it and forgot to lower the cock. The rifle was built in the early 1800's. I lowered the cock, thinking there would be no spring tension left and was suprised to find that the lock would still throw a good shower of sparks. (I tried the lock with the permission of the owners and only after making sure the rifle did not have a charge in the barrel.)
As an aside: I was asked to check several firearms in an estate and found a flint lock rifle that was cocked. As far as anyone could remember the rifle had to have been cocked since sometime in the late '30's when the oldest son had been playing with it and forgot to lower the cock. The rifle was built in the early 1800's. I lowered the cock, thinking there would be no spring tension left and was suprised to find that the lock would still throw a good shower of sparks. (I tried the lock with the permission of the owners and only after making sure the rifle did not have a charge in the barrel.)
Ed Brunner
New member
Or to rephrase the question:How much length and/or strength can a magazine spring lose and the magazine still function?
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Better days to be,
Ed
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Better days to be,
Ed
Bushwhacker
New member
The other day when I went to the range had 2 magazine springs fail on me so....
Have had the 2 since 1990-1991 S&W 59,15 rounds, have had both loaded pretty much all the time, will call S&W and see if they send some "free" replacements If not will order some from Wolfe spring.
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Justice for one,Justice for all.
Have had the 2 since 1990-1991 S&W 59,15 rounds, have had both loaded pretty much all the time, will call S&W and see if they send some "free" replacements
If not will order some from Wolfe spring.------------------
Justice for one,Justice for all.
Walt Welch
New member
Flyer; I also have a M59. I have removed all the factory mag springs and replaced them with either +5% or +10% extra power springs from Wolff. They work very well.
Here is some industry info...
My dad works for a wire company that supplies the wire to the spring companies that make gov. spec. clips. For springs to be accepted they have to have no "memory" and be able to constanly perform. So from what I've heard any Mil. spec. mags such as Beretta, AR-15, Sig 228 etc should have no problem with spring life. Happy shooting!
go vols!
My dad works for a wire company that supplies the wire to the spring companies that make gov. spec. clips. For springs to be accepted they have to have no "memory" and be able to constanly perform. So from what I've heard any Mil. spec. mags such as Beretta, AR-15, Sig 228 etc should have no problem with spring life. Happy shooting!
go vols!
I have a system to avoid extended compression of magazine springs. I empty each magazine through the barrel of its assigned weapon each week. That way it gets to demonstrate the strength of its muscles and enjoy a few hours relaxation before being pressed(no pun intended) back into service. - Doc
Only worry about mag spring set if you have a GLOCK. Wolff springmaker and everyone else will tell you that as long as you have a good quality spring you WILL NOT have spring set. Glock is the only gun that to my knowledge that is having problems with their mag springs ( out of the box )!!!!!!!!!!
Mike Spight
New member
Rich: I know of no problems w/mag springs taking a "set" and then failing to properly feed ammo. I do, as a matter of course, rotate the loaded mags I keep with my bedroom piece (SIG P220) and my downstairs piece (SIG P226) approximately every 90 days. Hey, it can't hurt and takes all of 2 minutes.
Until I began shooting Glocks, I never had a problem with a magazine spring. Now I do. Why Glocks have this problem, how extensive it is, and whether Glock is still supplying springs with a relatively short life I do not know.
At any rate, on the minus side, the magazine spring seems to be the weak point in the otherwise strong Glock system. On the plus side, the Glock service department has been very good about replacing problem springs for me at no charge.
At any rate, on the minus side, the magazine spring seems to be the weak point in the otherwise strong Glock system. On the plus side, the Glock service department has been very good about replacing problem springs for me at no charge.