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Which main spring for reliable ignition?


Adam P.

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I just picked up an SP01 9mm. I've got some rounds through it and I think I'm ready to tinker with it. I've been reading a lot of threads I found while searching about changing out the main spring to obtain a lighter DA trigger pull weight. I've narrowed my choices down to #13 and #15 springs. I'm only shooting factory ammo (all brands and cheapest in most cases). Which main spring would be the most reliable for ignition of all the various ammunition (Agulia, CCI, Federal, Winchester, Wolf, etc.). My SP01 is completely stock as of right now. Your thoughts?

Thanks

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I think it's generally accepted that #15 is reliable with all types. That said you can go lighter to a #13 or even an #11.5 with extended firing pin and reduced power fp return spring

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I run CZ's Competition trigger job which drops the hammer spring to 11.5# and a reduced power trigger return spring; there are a few points to polish internally as well. This set up does not eat the harder primers, but I only use this for competition and I am picky on my ammo I feed her. She eats Atlanta Arms 147GR which uses Federal and CCI primers. Federal primers are the softest on the market. I was out of ammo yesterday and tried Winchester White Box 115GR. I found out She eats Winny primers as well. However the load is too hot and she bottom out due to a reduced recoil spring.

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A tuned setup with a 13# MS generally yields 7.5 to 8.5 DA pull. It will break hard primers, but I would still recommend an extended firing pin and a reduced power firing pin spring. CGW as a great kit for this.

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A tuned setup with a 13# MS generally yields 7.5 to 8.5 DA pull. It will break hard primers, but I would still recommend an extended firing pin and a reduced power firing pin spring. CGW as a great kit for this.

CGW kit is what I was looking at. I was just trying to see which one was more reliable. I'm leaning towards the #13, but just trying to do some research before I drop the cash. Thanks for all the replies.

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A well-tuned gun with a 13# spring can be in the mid to high 6lb DA pull range. (Both my shadows are in this range) For a more or less stock gun, expect 8.5ish.

Both of my shadows have run perfect with 13# mainsprings. After a few thousand rounds, I did add the extended firing pin for a little extra insurance.

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DO NOT cut firing pin spring!!! There were way too many cases where gun would fire without trigger been pulled (but on slide going forward), and just due to combination of inertia of firing pin and weak firing pin spring AND soft Federal primers.

If you do, you'd better know what you are doing.

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DO NOT cut firing pin spring!!! There were way too many cases where gun would fire without trigger been pulled (but on slide going forward), and just due to combination of inertia of firing pin and weak firing pin spring AND soft Federal primers.

If you do, you'd better know what you are doing.

The kit I'm getting comes with the reduced power FP spring. I won't be cutting anything since there is no need to.

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I run a 11.5 with a extended FP and reduced FP spring and it lights federals and winchesters no problem. I think if I wanted it to run everything I might use a 13# and extended pin but you never know until you try.

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My Shadow has an extended firing pin and ligher FPS too. With the CGW 11.5 mainspring, it will light off any primer I've ever used. With the CGW 8.5, it will run Federal without any issues and I've only had one light strike with anything else.

Either a 13 or 15 should be able to reliably light off anything with deeply seated primers.

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Sorry, no easy answer. Order 'em all from Angus and start testing...

The answer is pretty clear 15# with a std firing pin and 11.5# with an extended firing pin and reduced power return spring..

My personal gun runs an 8.5# spring with an extended firing pin and light pin return spring. I found that reducing the pull length on the DA trigger pull made it much easier and faster to get the first shot off. I used the disconnector from the Cajun Custom Gun Works extra short reach kit. According CCGW the 8.5# only sets off Federal reliably, however mine runs Win SPP reliably.

It is a crying shame to torture your barrel with BiMetal bullets, sure to cause extreme premature loss of accuracy in a fine gun. That wolf caca ammo has an ultra thin coating of copper which when fired thru the gun is cut thru by the lans in the barrel and you have steel on steel (those bullets have a steel jacket). I was ignorant to that once myself then after 3K rounds of Wolf thru a Bushmaster AR, it went south from a <1" group new to a > 8" group after only 3k rounds. I didn't save any money it cost me more to replace the barrel.

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Sorry, no easy answer. Order 'em all from Angus and start testing...

The answer is pretty clear 15# with a std firing pin and 11.5# with an extended firing pin and reduced power return spring..

My personal gun runs an 8.5# spring with an extended firing pin and light pin return spring. I found that reducing the pull length on the DA trigger pull made it much easier and faster to get the first shot off. I used the disconnector from the Cajun Custom Gun Works extra short reach kit. According CCGW the 8.5# only sets off Federal reliably, however mine runs Win SPP reliably.

It is a crying shame to torture your barrel with BiMetal bullets, sure to cause extreme premature loss of accuracy in a fine gun. That wolf caca ammo has an ultra thin coating of copper which when fired thru the gun is cut thru by the lans in the barrel and you have steel on steel (those bullets have a steel jacket). I was ignorant to that once myself then after 3K rounds of Wolf thru a Bushmaster AR, it went south from a <1" group new to a > 8" group after only 3k rounds. I didn't save any money it cost me more to replace the barrel.

I haven't fired any Wolf through it yet...I just mearly threw it into the mix when I was thinking of ammo manufacturers. So far its only been fed Augila, Speer lawman, CCI bronze, and Independence. I don't load 9mm, so I buy in bulk what is cheapest so I've been buying that Augila from AIM Surplus because I think it's the best bang for my buck.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I haven't fired any Wolf through it yet...I just mearly threw it into the mix when I was thinking of ammo manufacturers. So far its only been fed Augila, Speer lawman, CCI bronze, and Independence. I don't load 9mm, so I buy in bulk what is cheapest so I've been buying that Augila from AIM Surplus because I think it's the best bang for my buck.

Adam, steel ammo components are especially deadly to AR15s because their barrels are made of softer metal than most, but the best advice is to stay away from steel altogether (which I'm pretty sure includes Augila, Tula and Wolf). If you watch AIM, surplus ammo com, lucky gunner and cheaper that dirt you should be able to catch good deals.

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Does CZ Custom sell 11.5 lb springs? I don't see them on their website...

As far as the reduced firing pin spring, I've had two of them sort of wear out to where they weren't reliably popping the firing pin out of back of the gun. I was thinking of cutting coils off of the stocker to try and get the same effect - is it REALLY not safe to cut coils from the stocker?

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If you want reliable, go 15#.

Different combinations of springs and firing pins will get you lighter and reliability but you have to check and maintain it.

One of my old guns with a fp block would run 5# da, 2# sa with all primers. My gun that I experiment on right not is running just under 4# da, 2# sa and will light off Fed and Win primers. But this is a b slide w/o the block and a worked over firing pin.

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If you want reliable, go 15#.

Different combinations of springs and firing pins will get you lighter and reliability but you have to check and maintain it.

One of my old guns with a fp block would run 5# da, 2# sa with all primers. My gun that I experiment on right not is running just under 4# da, 2# sa and will light off Fed and Win primers. But this is a b slide w/o the block and a worked over firing pin.

I agree if you want certain 100% reliablity then 15lbs. I have two shadows, both with extended FP and reduced power FP springs. One is 100% on CCI primers with a 13lb spring, the other is 100% only with a 15lb spring. I can even swap firing pins and FP springs in the guns and the results are the same.

If you are going to run federal primers exclusivly you can run an 11.5 with with extended FP and reduced FP springs.

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