What does an extra heavy recoil spring accomplish?

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DougB

New member
I've read quite a few recommendation to get heavier recoil springs for shooting heavy loads. Most recently, I asked (on another board) about some hot Russian Makarov ammo and several responses said it is okay, but I should get a heavier spring.

I'd always understood that the spring doesn't really impact the guns ability to handle pressure - its real purpose is to push the slide forward and chamber the new round after the shot. I'm sure it also serves as a shock absorber.

But wouldn't a gun be safe to fire even if it didn't have a recoil spring installed? Obviously the slide would hit the frame pretty hard and not chamber another round, but I understood that the mechanical lockup (or mass of the slide in a blowback gun) is what keeps the action closed until pressure subsides. If so, does the heavier spring really serve a purpose with heavier loads? Is it just a better shock absorber? Or is this just a misconception that sells springs and makes people feel safer shooting hotter than normal loads?

Doug
 
On a delayed blowback pistol like the 1911, there is still--and must be, in order for it to cycle--a good deal of pressure to "blow it back".

A heavier recoil spring can deal with two factors: The primary intent is to reduce the impact--and thus battering--when many rounds of full-power ammo are fired. The other benefit is to ensure locking into battery, if the ammo or magazine lips might be a bit "off".

Conversely, when "squib" loads are used--for instance, at the Steel Challenge match--lighter springs are used to allow the pistol to cycle with the lessened blowback force.

Hope this helps, Art
 
You've basically answered your own question there - you just need some assurance that your inferences are correct :) It's not so much a matter of safety as a matter of shock absorption, like you say. The stiffer the spring is, the more lightly the slide will strike the frame. Also, the locking block/link/whatever will take less of a beating with a stiffer spring since it will be unlocking more slowly. If your spring is too weak for the loads you're using, your pistol will simply take more of a beating and wear out faster. At the very LEAST, you want to be sure your spring is stiff enough to hold the slide CLOSED so your pistol won't be tempted to fire out of battery. Specifically, this can be an issue with Glocks since they can fire when *slightly* out of battery (although I've never seen a recoil spring that was so weak that it wouldn't reliably drive the slide home every time). And another point is that if your loads are too hot for your spring, the slide may cycle too fast and cause feeding problems. HTH

By the way, about the only thing you risk by using an over-stout recoil spring is reliability. If the slide can't move far enough back to eject the spent casing and get behind the rim of the next cartridge in the mag, you're gonna have problems.



[This message has been edited by ether (edited October 18, 2000).]
 
I was told by an 1911 enthusiast that using a recoil spring that is too heavy causes battering of a different kind as the slide slams closed. Any truth to this?
 
G13, your friend is right. A recoil spring is a way to reduce slide velocity, but going to a heavy spring causes the slide to slam forward with too much force. All that is needed is enough force to strip a round from the mag and seat it in the chamber. On a 1911 the heavy spring causes cracks in the frame around the slide stop hole.
 
I think the major downside of heavier recoil spring is unreliability, rather than possible damage. A 1911-type pistol can strip a round from the mag and reliably feed it into the chamber with a spring as light as 8# - 10#; if you use a spring much heavier than stock (16# - 18#), you can screw up the timing of the feed cycle - the round doesn't need a lot of force to feed, it needs adequate time to rise in position in the mag, then slide up the breechface as it is caught by the extractor, then break-over on the barrel throat. A heavy spring tries to pound the round into the chamber, which is counter-productive.
 
Golgo-13 - If the loads you are shooting are powerful enough to blow a really stiff recoil spring all the way back, you NEED a stiff recoil spring hehe. I'd rather my locking block/link take a little more of a beating when the slide closes than for my frame to take alot more beating from the slide slamming into it too fast. It's just best to find that happy recoil spring medium where your pistol functions 100% reliably, while taking minimal punishment. Luckily the gun manufacturer usually takes care of all the guesswork for you, and stock springs are adequate in most situations.
 
Wolff (gunsprings.com) has some pretty good guidelines on their website about proper recoil spring weights. I experiment a lot with different calibers from the same platform and pretty much go by Wolff's advice and my own experience as to reliability. Basically, you don't want you slide speed so fast that you're ejecting brass into the next county.
 
On a striaght blowback design like th Mak the spring is what slows the slide down and returns it to battery. I really wouldn't worry about the heavier spring though. I have a Russian Mak, wouldn't the stock spring be able to handle whatever Russian ammo I can find to feed it? I think so and so far no problems. Maybe if you were handloading or something, but so far mine has been 100% reliable with stock springs. I'm not worried about wearing it out. They are built like tanks.
 
Springs 'n things...

I seem to remember that for the Delta Elite to even SURVIVE it needed a double recoil spring...

1cm powergun.. nicely packged.
 
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