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Posted: 5/5/2012 10:34:52 AM EDT
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I have been unhappy with the unpredicatable service life of some of the carbine action springs I have used. Though the Colt springs are generally pretty good I have been particularly unhappy with Brownells, LMT and Armalite actions spring. I have had LMT springs measure under spec in as little as 300 rounds and brownells springs that lasted as little as 2,000 rounds.
I decided to try the springco "blue" spring. The Springco spring measures 11 1/16" when new. By way of comparison other new "GI" springs in my spare parts bin measured 10 7/8", 10 3/4", 10 1/2". I installed the springco spring in a well worn parts gun that has a 14.5" brl, carbine gas sytem and H2 buffer. Retracting the charging handle is noticably stiffer than with any GI spring i have tried. My initial concern was would the combo of the heavy "blue" spring and H2 Buffer result in short stroke type malfunctions? 
Round count at start of test: 11,249 rounds I did the initial test fire with Federal XM193 ammo. I figured if it wouldnt run with this then there was no point in trying any weaker .223 pressure ammo. The carbine fired all 28-rounds and locked the bolt to the rear on the empty mag. Once establishing this baseline I moved onto lower quality ammo. I just aquired a 1,000 round can of Georgia Arms "canned heat" 55Gn FMJ reloads in trade. Today i fired 84 rounds loaded 28 rounds per mag. There were no stoppages and the bolt locked back on a empty magazine each time. It appears my concerns of the H2 buffer and "blue" spring inducing short stroke stoppages is unfounded. My intention is to fire the remainder of the can of GA ammo over the next several weeks without cleaning the carbine. I will however add lube as needed via the ejection port. If sucessfull I'll clean the carbine at 1,028 round mark then repeat the test with Wolf WPA 55Gn. |
| Hmmmm. What does "unpredicatable (sp) service life" mean to you? I have never measured a spring nor had a function problem with any of my (7) carbines in over 34,000 cumulative rounds fired. What kind of functional problems are you having? I really don't believe that "trick" buffer springs are necessary. I have been playing with M-16/ ARs for alot of years now and have never had a problem with this spring. Just curious here. |
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Quoted:
Hmmmm. What does "unpredicatable (sp) service life" mean to you? Unpredictable means 1 new milspec action spring might last 300 rounds when another from the same manufacturer last 3,000 and another last 10,000. Most common stoppage caused by a weak/short action spring is failure to go fully into battery. Other issues caused by weak/short action springs are increased impact between the rear of the buffer and the action tube resulting in increased felt recoil and damage to the polymer bumper on the end of the buffer. Per the TM carbine action springs shall be replaced when they measure less than 10 1/16" |
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