Smokin Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I have an STI Edge 5.0 and am considering sending the slide to Gans Guns to have some lightening done. So far a local smith has one the trigger, hammer, extractor, and tungestn guide rod. So far the gun runs great. Will lightening the slide cause any detrimental problems? Will I potentially be in for a tuning nightmare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnyglock Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Not in my experience. You should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
818-DVC Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 No. It should only cycle faster and recoil less with less reciprocating mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 i am very confident that his work is only going to improve the cycling. and it looks sweet! win win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueOvalBruin Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 No. It should only cycle faster and recoil less with less reciprocating mass. Gun should cycle faster but will recoil slightly more. For a given momentum level, less mass equals more energy (P=MV --> KE=.5MV^2). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Recoil more? Most people have told me it will recoil less. The theoretical physics behind your equation also assumes a fixed mass. The mass has been reduced causing an increase in velocity. I'm not sure how that turns into increased felt recoil. What has been the "real world" experience of most? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Lightening the slide will change the feel. The recoil pulse changes I wouldn't call it more recoil but it seems snappier. Since you have a tungsten guide rod, you can simulate having a lighter gun by putting an aluminum guide rod in it, while not exaclty the same feel it will give you an idea. I had a lightened SVI, and shot a Brazos, at the end of the day I prefer my HPF Edge, it is just the feel of the pulse, the ligher slide felt more like a 9 mm and reacted faster. IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Hmmm. That may cause me to rethink the entire idea of lightening the slide. My STI started with a recoil master and my "favorite" change to the firearm has been the guide rod. I wa hoping that the lighter slide would help with felt recoil since it ia reciprocating mass (guide rod is fixed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pivoproseem Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Generally, a heavier slide can run with a lighter recoil spring and a lighter slide needs to have a heavier spring.Too little slide mass in major PF guns must be made up with higher spring rates. I had the slide of my Limited gun lightened by an ounce, and I had to increase the spring rate by at least a pound to get the "optimum" recoil characteristics. IMHO, lightened slides are more appropriate in minor PF guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 My "intuition" would say that a lighter slide would require even less force to bring the slide back into battery. Why would you need a heavier spring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Hello: A light slide uses a light spring If you like a quick reacting pistol then get your slide lightened. If you like the slow push then leave it alone. I find that a full length pistol like the edge is like walking in deep snow while the lightened slide short dust cover is like skating on ice. That is if you can skate Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40S&W Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 If the gun runs great as you say then why mess with the slide? If you reload, find a major PF load that works for you with the gun as is. Learn to shoot the gun as best as you can. Then if you think a lightened slide will allow you to shoot more accurate & faster then lighten the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 It does run great, but I am wondering if I can make it run better (faster and with less recoil). Never hurts to have better equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 (edited) I lightened mine and I'm considering adding a tungsten guide rod. In the end, I'll probably simply have moved the weight, rather than removed it completely. Make sure you really want a lighter gun before you lighten yours, anywhere. I shot a stock Edge the other day and it felt softer (to me) than my lightened, bull barrel Eagle (although there is 2 ounces of frame up front on the Edge that I don't have). I like a heavy gun. I think that for me, a heavy gun with less reciprocating mass is probably the ideal choice. But I paid money to remove weight and now I'm considering paying money to add weight somewhere else. Does that make sense? I'm not sure it does. Edited August 19, 2011 by twodownzero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 I think that is the dilemma for me now. I already have the extended dust cover on the Edge and added additional weight via a Tungesten Guide Rod to the firearm to help reduce felt recoil. This weight is all at the muzzle end and is "fixed". I guess the dilemma is whether the lightened slide will help reduce felt reocil or if it will increase recoil. It doesnt seem that there is a definitive answer. Honestly, I dont care of the weapon really cycles faster, I am more concerned on reducing muzzle flip. Ive heard some here say that reducing reciprocating mass will help while others are saying that it will make the weapon "snappier". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueOvalBruin Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Recoil more? Most people have told me it will recoil less. The theoretical physics behind your equation also assumes a fixed mass. The mass has been reduced causing an increase in velocity. I'm not sure how that turns into increased felt recoil. What has been the "real world" experience of most? When the gun fires momentum is conserved so the slide will have the same momentum whether it’s heavy or light. To keep the momentum constant, a lighter slide would need a higher velocity. When you plug those mass and velocity numbers into the kinetic energy equation (KE = m * v^2) you’ll see that momentum balances that are biased towards velocity will cause the kinetic energy to increase. That small amount of extra energy will get dumped into the shooter. But the lighter slide will make the gun react quicker which is a tradeoff many folks are happy to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriojas Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Your best bet would be next time your at a match ask one of your fellow shooters with a light limited gun to put a few rnds through it. Shoot as many as you can and determined weather you like the feel or not. Their is not a magic gun out their that will make you shoot faster or accurate. If your gun shoots good invest some time and a lot of ammo and put in some good practice. Before you know it recoil will be the last thing on your mind. Try to focus more so on grip and stance to manage recoil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konkapot Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Lots of good stuff but I would point out that "It does run great but I'm wondering if I can make it run better" is usually followed by postings in the "What's wrong with my gun?" part of the internet, sometimes followed by postings in the "Gun for sale" part. Dryfire. Livefire. Repeat. FY42385 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkelso Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Lots of good stuff but I would point out that "It does run great but I'm wondering if I can make it run better" is usually followed by postings in the "What's wrong with my gun?" part of the internet, sometimes followed by postings in the "Gun for sale" part. Dryfire. Livefire. Repeat. FY42385 Go to the Brazos website and read the article on just this very subject. You may find it helpful. I did. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I had the slide done on mine and Love the way it feels. Mine was a factory 6 inch gun. If I decide I want more weight Ill add the tungsten guide rod. For me the 6inch slide had too much mass going back and forth especially in the nose and whipped around more. I shot a 5 inch factory gun to see the difference and it wasnt as bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Well I sent my slide in. Hopefully I'll have it back within the next two weeks. I'll post pics as results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Finding a good load that makes PF and isnt too violent makes a big difference in the feel of the gun. Some powders are harsh when used for .40 major. I had a Brazos HP Edge that I had some slide lightening work done on. First improvement was ditching the RM for a standard stainless guide rod and a 12lb recoil spring. Gun felt sluggish with the RM. Next I had EGW do some lightening cuts as I figured I'd try some slide lightening next. The gun had a different new feel when it came back. Really like how the gun handled and shot. New Limited gun is basically an Edge with a chopped up slide; a little muzzle heavy for stability but reacts quick. I really like the lightening cuts Gans has for the Edge, real slick. Id like to see the pictures when its done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PINMAN44 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Gans will make that gun sing. In my opinion he is the best around. His slide lightening is effective and does not compromise the integrity of the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 also had no issues with reliability after I had the slide lightening done; its the shooter with the issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atmar Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 can i run a 12lb spring and shoot major pf on a lightened slide? what is the lightest (slide) i can go? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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