Recoil spring replacement

B

b.thomas

New member
I've have two 9mm pistols both about 5-6 years old and probably about 1500 rounds thru them each. One is a S&W 910s and the other Ruger p95.
Not high end stuff but the both work well and for just punch holes in paper and soda cans they work just fine for me.
Question is how often should the Recoil springs be replaced?? I've been told after one K rounds by one person and another said if they work right, then just leave them alone. Both are function fine as is!
 
There are those whoi will preach spring replacement and those who do not, as you have seen. If the issue bothers you order replacment springs and install only as necessary. I have many properly functioning pistols that are 100 or more years old and still gobbling up the ammo without difficulty.
 
A worst case scenario is that you are out a few bucks for a replacement spring. If it was unnecessary, replacing it certainly won't hurt anything.

All springs are different: Some will last 100 years as Ibmikey pointed out, and some will weaken with repeated use, depending on the alloy used and the temper.

At any rate, replacing a spring is good cheap insurance against any potential spring problems. In the grand scheme of things, a few dollars for a new spring won't kill you.
 
I have an almost 100 year old Colt with the original spring and it functions perfectly.

I'm not a believer in replacing springs after X amount of rounds. If the gun functions fine you don't need to replace them. That said, it won't hurt to replace either if you feel you must but in your case and round count I wouldn't waste the money.
 
Unless you notice your spent cases flying into an adjoining county or the slide not able to chamber the next round -- either of which could indicate a weakened recoil spring -- your recoil spring is probably OK.

For a full-size gun, recoil springs are often able to handle many thousands of rounds without problems. With smaller versions of the same gun (i.e., same caliber) The smaller the gun, the more work the recoil spring must do (using less metal and fitting in a smaller space); those springs typically don't last as long. Some of the very small sub-compact guns, like the Rohrbaugh R9, call for recoil spring replacement after as few as 250 rounds... But those are special cases: very small springs fit into very small spaces!

Having a spare recoil spring on hand -- they're cheap -- is a reasonable back-up plan, but until you notice a change in slide behavior, replacing the recoil spring is arguably unnecessary.

Do what makes you feel best.
 
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Full size autos like the 45auto 5" about 5K rnds. Compacts 4" about 3K rnds. Sub-compacts 3" about 1K rnds. Always good to have multiple pieces of the same model , backup seldom used, for comparison. :o
 
745SW's post seems to make sense to me. I'm not an expert. Just been shooting a long time.

In general, full-size semi-auto's are easier on their larger springs. The springs in smaller guns have a tougher job. I can see that.

I know for my full-size 1911's, 1K rounds is next to nothing.
 
I replace my recoil springs at around 5,000 rds ...firing pin springs at about 10,000 rds .../ and the main spring ( hammer strut springs at about 30,000 ) rds...--- they're both cheap.

In the last 25 yrs ...shooting 25,000 rds a year /the only 2 springs I've had fail.....were one firing pin spring & one hammer strut - main spring. So I just keep to the approx schedule above...and keep on shooting.../ and since I've been doing that, in the last 15 yrs or so, I've never had another spring fail.
 
In general, the way you know a recoil spring needs replacement is that it doesn't work the other way, in feeding ammo from the magazine, which is really its purpose.

If I worked for a spring company, I would tell you to replace all the springs every 10 rounds or ten seconds, whichever comes first. I don't, so I will say simply to replace when it seems necessary.

Jim
 
Just replaced mine, it was twenty yrs old,the new spring was about inch longer.

Sent from my C6530N using Tapatalk
 
IF the original spring was made properly there should be no need to replace it !!
If not you may need replacement.
Apparently some of Wolffe springs are made in China ! I don't care for stuff made in China .I have too much experience with China made stuuf.
 
The newer flat wound springs are said to last much longer than the round wire type. I have seen posts from competitors saying they have 20k on the recoil spring of a few M&P pistols.

So the schedule is different based on the gun.


If you use your pistols for any serious work, like defense/carry, then replace the springs on a schedule.

If they are just range toys, replace them when you notice degraded performance.
 
All coil springs will take some "set" when left in compression for a long time. Good designers and quality springs keep that set from harming performance by compensating for it. But if spring makers accede to customer demand for the lightest possible spring to begin with, there is no room for compensation and the spring will become marginal after a short time.

Jim
 
mete said:
Apparently some of Wolffe springs are made in China !
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I'm curious about "Wolff springs are made in China". I haven't heard THAT one... and given that the spring-making process is probably highly automated, I doubt there'd be much to be saved by having the springs made half-way around the world and shipped here for sale. You may be right -- but that doesn't seem to make sense. (China DOES have a lot of steel factories, however.)

mete said:
I don't care for stuff made in China .I have too much experience with China made stuuf.
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A lot of experience, I'd bet: if you've got a tablet/notebook/desktop computer, a TV, a satellite dish, a cable box, a cell phone (like an iPhone), a radio or disk player in your car, a GPS, a fish-finder for your boat, a radar detector, a computer that keeps your car running right -- or darned near anything electronic, there's more than a small chance it came from China...
 
I have been working on, shooting, and carrying guns for 40+ years.
The only springs I have needed to replace were corroded or had been in a fire. I have guns that are nearly 100 years old, and the springs are just fine.
 
RaceDawg said:
Just replaced mine, it was twenty yrs old,the new spring was about inch longer.
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For a while, I was using the resting-spring-length (in comparison to the original length) as my way to monitor spring health. What I found was that the new spring lost some length after being assembled but NOT shot (for about a week) ... maybe about a half inch. (This was for a 18.5 lb spring in my 10mm Kimber Eclipse Custom II). After firing it (about 25 rounds) at the first range session, it lost another half inch. After that, I measured the resting length after each range trip, because I thought that would be a good way to monitor spring health. I was wrong! What I found was that there was essentially no further shortening, so I assumed that no further weakening was occurring. But MANY range trips later, the gun suddenly started showing some signs of battering, whereas none had shown up before. I replaced the spring with a 20 lb one, and was AMAZED how much stronger that spring was ... MUCH stronger than the "18.5 lb" one that I replaced, and much more difference in feel than the nominal 1.5 lb difference would suggest. Also, right before I did the replacement, I realized that the effort to cycle the slide was MUCH less than it had originally been, EVEN THOUGH the resting length had remained stable over that interval of time. What I learned is that resting-length is NOT a valid indicator of health ... the spring can somehow weaken a lot without changing the resting-length.

I think the best way to monitor spring health would be to have a force gauge that would allow you to measure the force required to push (or pull) the slide back. I haven't acted on that plan yet, though.
 
A properly designed, manufactured, and maintained spring will not get weaker unless overheated, corroded, or stressed beyond it's elastic limit.
A high carbon steel spring will only get weaker as it breaks from work hardening.
Until the spring breaks, it actually gets harder-not weaker.
I'm not trying to stir the pot, but these are facts.
 
Dakota1911 said:
With 1911s I watch how and where the pistol ejects the brass.
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Might work for .45acp 1911's, but my 10mm Kimber Eclipse almost puts the brass in orbit, no matter what weight recoil spring I'm using. I didn't see any difference in the ejection distance no matter what I tried to tame it a bit ... flat-bottomed firing-pin-stop, heavier hammer spring, and/or heavier recoil spring. I think the very fast rearward slide movement on a 10mm 1911 wears out the recoil springs much faster than for a .45acp 1911.
 
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