Does more lock time = more accuracy?

[Cy Soto]

When shooting a plastic gun and irrespectively of perceived recoil, will using a heavier recoil spring (thus increasing the pistol's lock time) produce more accuracy than using a lighter spring?

[Jay870]

I don't see how a heavier recoil spring affects lock time...

[Cy Soto]

I don't see how a heavier recoil spring affects lock time...

In the case of the Glock, since the locking tab is part of the barrel and held closed with the help of the recoil spring, the lock up time would be increased with a heavier spring (or so I think).

[warpspeed]

I thought lock time was the time from when the trigger is pulled until the firing pin strikes the primer.

Not sure how a recoil spring would affect this ?

[Cy Soto]

I thought lock time was the time from when the trigger is pulled until the firing pin strikes the primer.

Maybe I am using the wrong term. I am talking about the barrel being locked for a longer period of time.

Edited to add:

This is the Lock Time I am referring to...

Lock Time

In it’s simplest terms ‘Timing’ in a locked breech pistol is the period during which the barrel and slide remain together after the ignition of the cartridge relative to the point at which the barrel starts to separate from the slide.

Information taken from here: http://www.pistoldynamics.com/BBL_Timing.html

Edited November 4, 2011 by Cy Soto

[Chuckdee]

I see what you are trying to say, but I beleive the bullet exits the barrel long before it "unlocks" from the slide. I'm not sure if increasing the guide rod spring a couple pounds would make a difference. Anything above and beyond would cause failure to feed issues.

Have you ever seen those 1 million FPS cameras filming handguns being fired? The bullet exits before the barrel has time to shift down and unlock..

[Cy Soto]

...but I beleive the bullet exits the barrel long before it "unlocks" from the slide.

Good point!

I was thinking that it would because I was under the impression that, when an aftermarket Glock barrel is fitted to the slide, the end result is a a tighter fit which I thought resulted in a longer lock time. Now I am not so sure...

[smokshwn]

Cy,

The answer is yes you can probably keep the barrel locked longer by either tighter fitting, springs etc but the as it has been said the bullet is long gone out of the gun by the time this happens anyway. I don't see a benefit to mechanical accuracy.

[Cy Soto]

Cy,

The answer is yes you can probably keep the barrel locked longer by either tighter fitting, springs etc but the as it has been said the bullet is long gone out of the gun by the time this happens anyway. I don't see a benefit to mechanical accuracy.

One less experiment to do (when the snow finally melts in June). Thanks!

[dskinsler83]

...but I beleive the bullet exits the barrel long before it "unlocks" from the slide.

Good point!

I was thinking that it would because I was under the impression that, when an aftermarket Glock barrel is fitted to the slide, the end result is a a tighter fit which I thought resulted in a longer lock time. Now I am not so sure...

Well the "barrel lock up" as you are reffering to above can improve accuraccy if I'm thinking correctly because the barrel will not move down out of lock up in the hood to breach area as easy as a non fitted or factory barrel which in turn and "theory" will leave the barrel in a straight bore line longer keeping the bullet flying staright out of the muzzle before it drops out of lock up upon recoil. Does that make any sense or help at all??

[LPatterson]

With a Glock the primary purpose of the recoil spring is to insure that the barrel does not unlock when the striker moves. Part of the safety test for a recoil spring is to cock the empty gun and point it straight up, when the striker is released the barrel should not move. With the trigger still to the rear, rack the slide and slowly let it forward until the slide touches the barrel. If there is enough force the recoil spring will over come the force of the striker spring. Different Glocks lock with different recoil/striker spring combinations. To say a certain weight spring is what works is inappropriate because every Glock is different. At least the ones I have handled.

[Pezco]

This sure sounds like a gunsmith question which is not me, but here goes my 2 cents!

The tight tolerance of the locked breech allows the pistol to replicate the previous shot fired, hence greater accuracy. That is typically handled by the slide to barrel fit in a Glock, which is why "fitted" barrels produce better groups in Glocks. I agree with the other in that the recoil spring would have no noticeable impact on lock time.

[smokshwn]

Cy,

The answer is yes you can probably keep the barrel locked longer by either tighter fitting, springs etc but the as it has been said the bullet is long gone out of the gun by the time this happens anyway. I don't see a benefit to mechanical accuracy.

One less experiment to do (when the snow finally melts in June). Thanks!

Now, conversely. Anything you can do to shorten "lock time" as it refers to the time from the sear releasing the hammer or striker until that firing pin hits the primer and ingnition happens is a huge benefit to accuracy from the standpoint of less time for the sights to move from being on target to the time the bullet exits the barrel. This time is much more significant both in duration and sight movement relative to the infinitessimal time the bullet is in the barrel.

Edited November 4, 2011 by smokshwn

[Smokecloud]

recently when working on my dads, G19, we were shooting some hot 9mm and found that the cases were bulging at the feed ramp. A quick test of the recoil spring assembly showed it would not pull the slide up (performing the traditional test). The spring had became so weak, it created a unsafe condition that was allowing the gun to unlock prematurely when firing. a new spring assembly cured it, even with the +p+. More on topic, accuracy didnt seem to suffer, just safety.

[Bob Hostetter]

Lock time is a term normally used to describe how much time passes from the moment the striker/firing pin is released from the sear or whatever until it strikes the primer. In rifles there is the concern that the rifle might move slightly from when the firing pin is released until the primer is struck causing the groups to open up. In a pistol, especially one used in USPSA type events this is a non factor.

Using a heavier recoil spring in a semi auto pistol has the 'potential' to increase mechnical accuracy but not necessarially for the reasons suggested above. The extra spring pressure pushing the slide/barrel forward into battery tends to reduce the possibilty of dimensional variations in the lock up position of the barrel relative to the slide which can be caused by anything from a poor fit to debris in the lock up areas. In a striker fired pistol you have the additional consideration of the recoil spring relative to the striker spring, which work in opposition to each other.

The key word here is 'potential' and the most important consideration would be; is the 'potential' accuracy gain enough to improve your stage factor over the 'potential' loss of stage factor due to more percieved recoil and/or muzzle flip?

Of course this is just my opinion ...