Physics of shooting a rifle - coil spring

T

tangolima

New member
The original thread has been closed. Here I'm trying to restart the discussions. Learning from the past experiences, I'm going to do it slightly differently. Hope it will help promote more civil and orderly conversations.

Narrower topic hyphenated to the main theme. When one is done, we move to a new hyphenated thread, so that we won't get bogged down by some prolonged back and forth.

I don't have authority to regulate people's behaviors, but I'd like to suggest the following.

Leave behind our degrees, titles, or qualifications. It is bad form to "pull rank" to shut people up.

No need to convince others to agree with you. I myself hope to learn things from other people's different view points, and I have.

Here it goes. I will copy and paste in the next post the last topic from the old thread.

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
From time to time, we need to reduce a coil spring's strength, to lighten a trigger's weight for instance. We were taught at gunsmithing school never to cut coils off. Instead we should thin the wire's diameter. In practice we often end up cutting coils because it is easier. Certainly both methods work in reducing the spring's strength.

What's the difference? Why gunsmiths are so adamant about cutting coils, even though at least sometimes they still choose to do it? There are even talks saying that cutting coils makes a spring stronger, not weaker. How comes?

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
IDK why some will cut coils, and some won't. I find it preferable to just replace the trigger if it's an option. Otherwise, I'll buy a spring kit if not. Most of my rifles were purchased used, so I don't know if the trigger has been messed with before. That's why I chose to remove and replace triggers and springs.
 
I can't change the wire diameter most of the time, at least not to a combination of spring diameter, wire diameter, and coil spacing that will work.
So, I cut coils.

I can get a custom spring made for $90-150.
Or I can take the existing spring to my belt grinder and make an adjustment in about 2 minutes (including the long walk to the grinder, and back).

Cutting coils means you are going to reach the maximum rating of the spring with less travel. But if you are not reaching coil bind, I don't see why it matters.
 
I couldn't find video to show the process.

The instructor showed us how to thin spring wire in an existing spring on belt sander. Basically a rod, such as the stem of a screw drive, is put through the spring, so that the coils are free to rotate on the rod. The whole assembly is then fed to a belt sander at an angle. The coils are rotating while being evenly thinned by the sanding belt.

That's the preferred method to weaken a spring. Cutting coils is frowned upon.

Cutting a spring too short could make it unsprung when installed. This is obviously unacceptable. Let's assume its cut length is longer than its installed length.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
so that we won't get bogged down by some prolonged back and forth.
Click to expand...
I don't look at it that way--i saw it as two very highly knowledgable professionals using their assessments in arguing different viewpoints of highly technical information that 99.99% of us don't understand or have the opportunity to have explained to us. The use of personal "attacks" I didn't see as especially threatening to either one, they are both big boys and secure in their confidence and experience. I personally was disappointed in the convo being cut off, but I understand the priority of maintaining a G rating.:)

You like to stir the pot a bit, too.:D
 
stagpanther said:
I don't look at it that way--i saw it as two very highly knowledgable professionals using their assessments in arguing different viewpoints of highly technical information that 99.99% of us don't understand or have the opportunity to have explained to us. The use of personal "attacks" I didn't see as especially threatening to either one, they are both big boys and secure in their confidence and experience. I personally was disappointed in the convo being cut off, but I understand the priority of maintaining a G rating.:)



You like to stir the pot a bit, too.:D
Click to expand...
What I meant is we couldn't move on to other topics until the current one was settled. It would be better to split into different sub-threads. It is good thing the discussion could continue. We don't have to agree to everything we read. But at least it would be a good opportunity to exercise our mind and understanding. In the process we can pick up something new.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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