Posted: 12/7/2008 5:40:10 AM EDT
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Got a photo album from my family. In the middle was a picture of a new M9 surrounded by a happy birthday banner!
w00t! So, M9 experts, school me. What do I, as a new M9 owner, need to buy for my new toy? I'm also planning on suppressing it eventually. What cans do you all recommend? 
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Congratulations. Personally I’d want a few more mags, 10 being my minimum number per pistol. A holster and plenty of ammo should do you as far as what else you need.
I’m not going to recommend a specific suppressor because there are a bunch of nice ones out there and you need to decide for yourself what matters. If this is your first then I’d recommend sticking with a name brand. You should do your best to hear as many as you can before buying since suppressors are pretty much a life time purchase. The pistol has an internet reputation for not needing a booster but that’s only partly true. If you’re going with something really light like an AWC Titanium Abraxas (under 4 oz) then you can get away without one. If you go with something heavier (and most dry cans are going to be) then get one with a booster. If you don’t then you’ll end up swapping out to a lower weight recoil spring to get the gun to cycle. This may be fine when shooting suppressed but you better not forget to switch back before shooting without the can or you’ll be beating your new M9 to death. Overall the gun itself is very suppressor friendly. The factory barrel can be threaded, which saves you the cost of a new barrel. As well, the gun cycles smooth and easy. I’ve got some softball loads I use in my M16/9 that won’t cycle my suppressed Glock 19 at all. They work fine in the M9. It’s an economical load that’s easy on the guns and it’s nice to be able top use them in a pistol. |
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A DAO mainspring will make your trigger pull a LOT more user friendly. They're available from Wolf Gunsprings. These are easily swapped in by anyone whom can normally detail strip a 1911, IMO.
As for a can, ditto on there being multiple brands. I do suggest you get one you can take apart & clean yourself instead of sending it back to the factory. Paying a factory $60+ to clean something I can do myself isn't MY idea of a good investment. My .o2 |
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I’d hold off on swapping any springs until you’ve shot the gun for awhile, especially if you’re looking to suppress it. I suspect the folks over at the Beretta factory know a thing or two about gun springs and chose the ones they did for a reason. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
The resistance of the main spring is part of what slows down the velocity of the slide opening, something that suppressed fire tends to increase due to blowback and the function of the booster (if you use one). While you may or may not have a problem, if you do go to a lighter main spring then it might be a good idea to increase the weight of the recoil spring to compensate. Remember that the proper function of a pistol is dependent on a balance of all of the parts working together against the force generated by the fired round. If you add the weight of a silencer to the mix you change the dynamic in a significant way. Monkeying around with the springs at the same time you’re adding 4 -8 ounces of suppressor to the end of your barrel will, at the least, make trouble shooting of any cycling problems just that much more difficult. As to buying a suppressor you can take apart, no one I know thinks you need to take apart a center fire can unless you’re shooting a lot of lead (unjacketed) rounds through it. As well, there aren’t many 9mm you can take apart and none of them are known for how quite they are compared to the sealed cans. I suppose you need to decide if you’re buying a suppressor for easy maintenance or quite shooting (pick one). Don’t take my word for this, go ask around in the suppressor forum in the Armory section. |
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Quoted:
The resistance of the main spring is part of what slows down the velocity of the slide opening, something that suppressed fire tends to increase due to blowback and the function of the booster (if you use one). While you may or may not have a problem, if you do go to a lighter main spring then it might be a good idea to increase the weight of the recoil spring to compensate. Remember that the proper function of a pistol is dependent on a balance of all of the parts working together against the force generated by the fired round. If you add the weight of a silencer to the mix you change the dynamic in a significant way. Monkeying around with the springs at the same time you’re adding 4 -8 ounces of suppressor to the end of your barrel will, at the least, make trouble shooting of any cycling problems just that much more difficult. Isn't the main spring the one under the hammer behind the grips? I think what you're talking about is the recoil spring under the barrel that would affect the slide. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The resistance of the main spring is part of what slows down the velocity of the slide opening, something that suppressed fire tends to increase due to blowback and the function of the booster (if you use one). While you may or may not have a problem, if you do go to a lighter main spring then it might be a good idea to increase the weight of the recoil spring to compensate. Remember that the proper function of a pistol is dependent on a balance of all of the parts working together against the force generated by the fired round. If you add the weight of a silencer to the mix you change the dynamic in a significant way. Monkeying around with the springs at the same time you’re adding 4 -8 ounces of suppressor to the end of your barrel will, at the least, make trouble shooting of any cycling problems just that much more difficult. Isn't the main spring the one under the hammer behind the grips? I think what you're talking about is the recoil spring under the barrel that would affect the slide. No, I was talking about the main spring. You’re correct, the main spring is the one under the hammer behind the grips. This spring provides power to the hammer to fire the pistol AND resistance to the slide when the slide cycles. The harder it is to cock the hammer (the heavier the main spring) the harder it is to cycle the slide. Bob’s suggestion to lower the main spring weight (go to a “D” spring) has the effect of lowering the trigger pull weight, which a lot of folks consider a good thing. However, doing this also lowers the resistance the hammer provides to the cycling action when the pistol is fired, which may not be such a good thing. If you are going to use a lighter main spring then you should probably increase the weight of the recoil spring to compensate. However, increasing the strength of the recoil spring may or may not present problems when using a suppressor. I'm not saying you should never play with the springs in a pistol but I'd be inclined to change one thing at a time and then shoot the gun. If it works ok then move on to the next thing you want to change. A heavier recoil spring, as an example, will slam the slide forward harder then a stock recoil spring. Is that a good thing or are you beating the gun? Just understand that every change you make is in all likelyhood going to have an impact on something else. |
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Quoted:
A heavier recoil spring, as an example, will slam the slide forward harder then a stock recoil spring. Is that a good thing or are you beating the gun? Point taken, but counterpoint: the gun moves back from recoil a LOT faster than it moves forward from a recoil spring. In addition the act of feeding a rd will also cushion (somewhat) the kinetic energy of adding a 2-3lb higher recoil spring. Mfgrs strive to build a gun that will handle EVERY ammo, thus they have lots of leeway for tweaking when one shoots a narrow parameter of ammo. In my case, since I shoot almost nothing but standard FMJ ammo, I almost always bump up my recoil springs in my non-polymer framed guns by 2-3lbs. Function is never affected & this obviously offsets the dropping to a DAO mainspring in a 92FS gun as well. I should've mentioned this in my previous post about changing the mainspring, thanks for catching it. 
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New mags arrived at home! Parents sent me a picture of my dog guarding them, I'll post it here once I'm home and can upload to photobucket. Can't wait to take leave and actually shoot them 
ETA I think I won't mess with the springs for a while. I'll break her in a bit first. |