IPSC setting

[AlexOsensei]

I am a standard division shooter, pf 172

180grs lead bullet.

I am using recoil wolf 12 lbs

hammer spring 15 lbs(3 coil cut)

what do u think, I am italian, what are the tipical spring setting for limited?

thank u very much

[AlexOsensei]

I forgot, I use a sv infinity competition. 40s&W

[yoshidaex]

12 lbs recoil spring sounds about right.

Though the 15 lbs hammer spring with 3 coils cut off sounds questionable.

The primers you use must be really sensitive if they go off all the time.

[AlexOsensei]

u think it's better to have all the coils?

[yoshidaex]

If its working the way it is setup now, leave it alone.

Me, personally I use 20 lbs springs uncut because I use all brands of primers from ultra hard to soft.

No primer piercing issues and a nice 21 ounce trigger pull too.

[ParaGunner]

Recoil spring -12lbs

mainspring-18lbs

[dcalvert]

Thinking main spring is going to cause problems

ISMI 12.5 recoil spring and 17# main spring with out coils cut. Will bust Winchester small pistol and small rifle primers

without ever soft hit with all my S_I pistols with sub 2# triggers

dcalvert

[ogiebb]

i have my springs set up like Dale's

12.5 ISMI Recoil Spring

17lbs mainspring and no cut coils

[Julien Boit]

I've always used factory mainsprings in my SVs, I believe they are 19lbs.And cutting coils doesn't help that much.

12.5 Lbs for the recoil spring is Ok, 11 Lbs can work but it chews up the shock buffs too fast.

[jan13]

I use an 17lbs Main spring and 12.5lbs recoil spring. I have changed from an 11lbs recoil spring to 12.5lbs as the sights track better. Don't have any issues with setting off primers, however I do use an extended FP. PF of 175.

[Joe4d]

Thinking main spring is going to cause problems

ISMI 12.5 recoil spring and 17# main spring with out coils cut. Will bust Winchester small pistol and small rifle primers

without ever soft hit with all my S_I pistols with sub 2# triggers

dcalvert

Yeh ditto same setup here in my STI

[Dillon b]

12lb Recoil Spring

17lbs mainspring

[AlexOsensei]

I have not problem with primers I use Sellier e Berlot and winchester for competitions.

The hammer spring works fine. I use n.1 shockbuffer from egw.

Now I have bought wolf 11 lbs to test. Tille now , as I wrote, I am using the 12 Lbs wolf.

Jan13 my pf i never low then 172 but coz of the powder go max 175

[AlexOsensei]

ok I tested 11 lbs and the gun go too high on second shot.

I am back to 12 lbs.. even if I tryed the 13 lbs +sprinco

and I felt more fast..

[Pokute]

It seems to me, as an engineer and metallurgist, that as long as the spring rate is above the threshold where cycling failure occurs, there is considerable leeway for individual preference in the choice of recoil and mainsprings.

Note that when you've shot on a recoil spring long enough that it is noticeably shorter than when you first installed it, the spring force is also reduced proportional to the change in length, and there is also a reduction in spring rate.

The reduction in spring length and reduction in spring rate are both effects of low-cycle fatigue. Low-cycle fatigue is what happens to steel when it is cycled beyond it's elastic limit. The elastic limit is the maximum amount of stress that can be sustained before permanent deformation (or "set") occurs. When the stress is applied and removed at a high rate, as in the recoil spring of a gun, low-cycle fatigue can occur well below the *statically* calculated elastic limit.

So, once you do find springs that make the gun work well for you, stock up on recoil springs, because they degrade continuously in use. I don't have enough experience with mainsprings yet to be able to say whether they operate in the low-cycle fatigue regime. My gut feeling is that they do not, so they should last much longer.

[PKT1106]

Pokute- You're taking me back to college with your technical language. Is it cycle fatigue, or with the quick burst and low deflection time, more or less shock loading of the spring itself? Seems more damage could occur from the instantaneous compression of the spring.

[FightFireJay]

Another thing I would like to bring up, and this is more for striker fired guns like my M&P Pro, is spring preload.

If you are having any issues with the slide staying in battery, the spring preload (the distance or length the spring is compressed while at rest inside the gun with the slide forward) would be as much an issue as overall spring rate. So a lower rate spring that measures a little longer would give plenty of pressure keeping the breech closed but may still absorb and return less energy.

I bring this up because I recently purchased some ISMI flat coil springs in 13, 15, and 17 lbs. they each appears to be the same rate of twist but longer for the heavier ratings. To me that means they are being inappropriately labeled.

this doesnt affect a 1911/2011 shooter, that doesn't have to worry about a striker system pushing the slide out of battery, the same way it affects me, BUT two 13lb/in recoil springs with different lengths will act different.