Posted: 12/6/2011 8:15:03 PM EDT
| so ive been reading different articles from different people and im confused so maybe someone can help me out. do you want to use a lighter or heavier spring to help reduce recoil. ive got a gen 4 glock 17 |
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You want a recoil spring that will permit your pistol to function reliably. Usually, that means a recoil spring that will provide just the right slide speed to eject brass about 6-8'.
Whether going with a really light spring reduces felt recoil is really subjective. I like to use the heaviest recoil spring I can for the caliber/loads that I'm shooting. Others like the quicker snap provided by a lighter spring. Some of the Gen4 Glockenheimers found the factory spring to be too heavy and reliability suffered. A spring that's too heavy will also exacerbate grip and stance weaknesses. |
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Most of the recoil spring talk/debate comes from "gamers" (ie USPSA,etc participants) who are tuning the gun for the lighter ammo they load. A heavy spring will have a tendency to "drive/push" the nose of the gun down when it returns to battery. They (gamers,etc.) are chasing a perfectly flat recoil trait with a combination of spring/projectile.
It also must be noted that there must be a balance between recoil spring weight and striker spring weight. If you were to dramatically reduce the recoil spring weight (say, to 11lbs from the factory 17lbs) you would be running the risk that the stock striker spring (when the trigger is pulled) would overcome the resistance of the 11lb spring and fire the gun out of battery. No way in hell would I put a heavier than stock spring in a 9mm Glock. A good weight that I would recommend (that doesn't require you to change striker springs) would be 14lbs (vs stock 17lbs). |
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Fike, excellent post.
For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why every full-size Glock came from the factory with a 17lb recoil spring. Glock 17 shooting 9mm 115gr Winchester white box? 17lb spring. Glock 31 shooting .357Sig 125gr Corbons? 17lb spring. Glock 20 shooting 10mm 200gr DT XTP? 17lb spring. Glock 21 shooting .45ACP 230 ball? You guessed it! That just didn't make sense to me since I was running a 16lb spring in my .45ACP 1911. Now I run 13lb ISMI springs in my 9mm Glocks. I run 15lb Wolff springs in my .40S&W and .45ACP Glocks. I run the stock 17lb springs in my 10mm Glock. As Fike noted, I do run a reduced power striker spring in the 9mm Glocks to avoid light primer strikes and OOB discharges. |
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Quoted:
Most of the recoil spring talk/debate comes from "gamers" (ie USPSA,etc participants) who are tuning the gun for the lighter ammo they load. A heavy spring will have a tendency to "drive/push" the nose of the gun down when it returns to battery. They (gamers,etc.) are chasing a perfectly flat recoil trait with a combination of spring/projectile. It also must be noted that there must be a balance between recoil spring weight and striker spring weight. If you were to dramatically reduce the recoil spring weight (say, to 11lbs from the factory 17lbs) you would be running the risk that the stock striker spring (when the trigger is pulled) would overcome the resistance of the 11lb spring and fire the gun out of battery. No way in hell would I put a heavier than stock spring in a 9mm Glock. A good weight that I would recommend (that doesn't require you to change striker springs) would be 14lbs (vs stock 17lbs). Disagree a stronger spring insures return to battery (especially on 40 S&W ) the whole sight dives down thing is over done plus when using +p+ it don't hurt to help prevent frame battering |
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Quoted:
A higher grip on the frame will do alot to reduce muzzle flip... As far as recoil...it's a 9mm...there is no recoil Totally agree with CopM4 here. Grip and technique play a huge part in recoil control. You can't cheat physics thinking a different spring rate is going to reduce recoil. It may change the way you perceive the recoil or how the gun acts, but energy is energy. Quoted:
Disagree a stronger spring insures return to battery (especially on 40 S&W ) the whole sight dives down thing is over done plus when using +p+ it don't hurt to help prevent frame battering Is there a problem with .40S&W Glocks going into battery? Maybe I was lucky, but I've never had a problem, even when I was running a 14lb Wolff spring in my G35. If anything, I've found the loose chambers are pretty good insurance against any return to battery problems. I don't even gauge my reloads anymore once I found some that stuck in the gauge but dropped right into my chamber. As for the sights dipping, there was a difference in *MY* splits between the stock 17lb recoil spring and the 13lb ISMI I run now.... especially on my G34. I think part of the faster splits was the sights tracking better (less dip) and part was the faster slide speed. I would run an even lighter spring, but I feel the 11lb recoil spring is on the ragged edge of reliability in a Glock. Thanks, -Randy |
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my 24 came with a stronger recoil spring.
it would NOT function with WWB ammo. it constantly failed, every single round would hang FTI. i ordered a standard 17lb spring, and it instantly went back to normal functions. i assume the previous owner was loading hot rounds for it, or something to that effect. |
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Quoted:
Fike, excellent post. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why every full-size Glock came from the factory with a 17lb recoil spring. Glock 17 shooting 9mm 115gr Winchester white box? 17lb spring. Glock 31 shooting .357Sig 125gr Corbons? 17lb spring. Glock 20 shooting 10mm 200gr DT XTP? 17lb spring. Glock 21 shooting .45ACP 230 ball? You guessed it! That just didn't make sense to me since I was running a 16lb spring in my .45ACP 1911. Now I run 13lb ISMI springs in my 9mm Glocks. I run 15lb Wolff springs in my .40S&W and .45ACP Glocks. I run the stock 17lb springs in my 10mm Glock. As Fike noted, I do run a reduced power striker spring in the 9mm Glocks to avoid light primer strikes and OOB discharges. The reason those can share the same weight spring is because the slides weigh different amounts. It isn't magic. |
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Quoted:
http://www.gunslot.com/files/gunslot/imagecache/full/images/61700.jpg See how high the grip is on the pistol grip..? This transfers the energy more efficiently and relates to less muzzle flip Yes, Jesse! |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Fike, excellent post. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why every full-size Glock came from the factory with a 17lb recoil spring. Glock 17 shooting 9mm 115gr Winchester white box? 17lb spring. Glock 31 shooting .357Sig 125gr Corbons? 17lb spring. Glock 20 shooting 10mm 200gr DT XTP? 17lb spring. Glock 21 shooting .45ACP 230 ball? You guessed it! That just didn't make sense to me since I was running a 16lb spring in my .45ACP 1911. Now I run 13lb ISMI springs in my 9mm Glocks. I run 15lb Wolff springs in my .40S&W and .45ACP Glocks. I run the stock 17lb springs in my 10mm Glock. As Fike noted, I do run a reduced power striker spring in the 9mm Glocks to avoid light primer strikes and OOB discharges. The reason those can share the same weight spring is because the slides weigh different amounts. It isn't magic. Agreed, no magic, but there are physics involved. Since we're talking about Browning-type actions, slide weight has more influence on unlocking time. Glock uses heavier slides on pistols with higher pressure rounds for increased inertia to delay slide unlocking. This slide weight inertia is there regardless of recoil spring weight, so a G35 set up for USPSA Limited runs on a 13lb spring or a 19lb spring... neither unlocks too early because the slide mass is the same. Regardless of slide weight, too heavy of a recoil spring can compromise reliability. The point of my post wasn't that I was mesmerized by some Glock magic. The Glock 17 was designed around the 9mm NATO-spec round, which is considerably hotter than its SAAMI-spec counterpart. Maybe that's why they originally went with a heavier spring that just about every other manufacturer of full-size 9mm pistols under the sun (including other manufacturers of military issued handguns). I've seen plenty of Gen4 Glock 17 pistols jam on factory ammo because the RSA was too heavy. What I am mesmerized by is the belief that the heaviest recoil spring you can find is the best solution. I think this was perpetuated with some custom 1911 makers putting heavier recoil springs in their guns to increase reliability when they use very tight chambers and slide-to-frame fits. Some of these guns are so tight they quickly get dirty and jam up unless they have a heavier spring to push past the residue or dirt. This isnt the case with Glocks. I've shot at least 8K rounds out of Glocks this year, and learned from people that shoot way more than I do that a heavier spring is not faster or more reliable. Just my experience... 
-Randy |
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Quoted:
Most of the recoil spring talk/debate comes from "gamers" (ie USPSA,etc participants) who are tuning the gun for the lighter ammo they load. A heavy spring will have a tendency to "drive/push" the nose of the gun down when it returns to battery. They (gamers,etc.) are chasing a perfectly flat recoil trait with a combination of spring/projectile. It also must be noted that there must be a balance between recoil spring weight and striker spring weight. If you were to dramatically reduce the recoil spring weight (say, to 11lbs from the factory 17lbs) you would be running the risk that the stock striker spring (when the trigger is pulled) would overcome the resistance of the 11lb spring and fire the gun out of battery. No way in hell would I put a heavier than stock spring in a 9mm Glock. A good weight that I would recommend (that doesn't require you to change striker springs) would be 14lbs (vs stock 17lbs). This is subjective if fed a steady diet of +P+ a 19 or 20 pound spring would be ok |