kwesi Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) I started off using the factory installed recoil rod and spring. I started with a load that I believe equaled a factory load (did not have time to chrono) with the following recipe: 7.2 gr Power Pistol Winchester LPP 180 gr Precision Delta FMJ 1.258 OAL Starline nickel brass (not virgin) I fired 50 rounds with 2-3 FTE's and the slide NEVER locked back when empty. * I did have 1 light primer strike the finally ignited on the third attempt. * For tbe next 50 rounds I increased to 7.4 gr of PP: 1-2 FTE's The slide may have locked open once For the final 50 rounds I switched to the Wolf 20# recoil spring and fired three different recipes: 8.0 gr PP, 10.8 gr AA#7 and 8.6 gr Long Shot. The side did lock open a few times. Note: I had chron'd these rounds as follows: AA#7 1220, PP 1232 and LS 1262 BUT I realized that these were all fired out of my CA89-10 which has 4" longer barrel. My guess is that I lost around 100 fps so my rounds were not as hot as I was thinking when I installed the 20# spring. IIRC I still had 1 FTE with these hotter loads. My guess is that these FTE's are not uncommon as the gun wears in but I would love to hear others experience. As for the slide not locking open do you think the Wolf spring is too strong or is it the break in? First impressions: We were only firing at 21 feet but she was dead on! If you read my earlier posts, prior to purchasing, my two big concerns were how my eyes would handle the sights and if I was going to be able to change the brass ejection to 3 or 4:00. I love the gun, it is tight and feels solid. I did not try the FO sight tonight but I did well with the black front. *** Best of all: the bras came out around 4:00 without any modification to the ejector! Firing in lane #1 gave me the advantage of the wall that is covered with a thick synthetic sound barrier material. I was able to recover 97% of my brass! Do you think I need to increase the recipe due to the Wolf spring? I would appreciate hearing others experience as this is my first Witness. Thanks! Edited June 17, 2011 by kwesi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerritm Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Check your mags for the lockback problem. I know on my original factory 9mm replacement mags, not the one that came with it, I had to tune them to get the notch on the follower to come up high enough and press on the slide lock. The notch was not quite coming up far enough. I bent a couple of the mag springs slightly to get the angle to change and also sanded the follower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwesi Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 All rounds were fired from the factory mag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerritm Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 All of my old style 9mm mags are from EAA not after market. The original chrome plated one that came with the gun did not have any spacers and has worked perfect. The extra EAA purchased mags with the spacers all took a little bit of tweaking to get them to run. Put the empty mag in the gun and try to lock the slide back. If it won't lock back on its own then it is probably the follower not coming up high enough and the notch catching the slide lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwesi Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 All of my old style 9mm mags are from EAA not after market. The original chrome plated one that came with the gun did not have any spacers and has worked perfect. The extra EAA purchased mags with the spacers all took a little bit of tweaking to get them to run. Put the empty mag in the gun and try to lock the slide back. If it won't lock back on its own then it is probably the follower not coming up high enough and the notch catching the slide lock. No problem locking the slide back with the empty mag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealio Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Most of the guns I've purchased has had feed issues the first 200 rounds or so. My Limited and Hunter are the exceptions. If you are shooting lightened 10mm loads that may be part of the issue with the FTE and slide locking back. With the Limited you have a much heavier top end, which should eat up some of the recoil energy the 10mm generates, so you may not need to lighten them up this much. Also note that backing the charge down gives you an exponential change in velocity, not linear. I would personally wait until you get it set up in its final configuration and shoot your hot handloads through it before I did too much troubleshooting. - Nealio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwesi Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Thanks Nealio. No more light loads fir sure. My hottest loads are only appx 1130 - 1160. Hope that is hot enough with the Sprico + Wolf 20#. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealio Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Is there any way you could measure the weight of your slide? Just as is when you take it off your frame (with the Sprinco guiderod, springs, bushing, sights, etc.) Then I could weigh my match and we could see what the weight difference is in the top ends. - Nealio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwesi Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Is there any way you could measure the weight of your slide? Just as is when you take it off your frame (with the Sprinco guiderod, springs, bushing, sights, etc.) Then I could weigh my match and we could see what the weight difference is in the top ends. - Nealio I can take it over to my neighbors home and weigh it. I'll get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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