Beretta 92fs mainspring tuning

[pdoggeth]

Hi folks

Long time lurker, just recently joined the forums and had a question for people who like tinkering with their Berettas. I have a Beretta 92fs with an Elite II hammer. Like everyone else here who's shot 92s, I don't like the long DA pull (and sometimes the SA pull). I have polished the action to where it's no longer gritty, but that heavy pull is still there. I've switched out first to a Wolf 16# pound main spring, which I mistakenly thought was the same as a "D" spring 16#. From what I've read, the two are not the same, and the wolff is supposed to provide a noticeably heavier pull than an actual "D" main spring.

I actually don't do competitions much, so it's mostly just for range use, but I would like to know people's recipes to get a light DA pull but no light primer strikes on hard primers (ie Tulas or CCIs). I have read the past forum posts but the posts seem to be pretty old and no updates since a few years ago. Maybe things have changed in these years.

Here's what I could make out are possibilities :

1) Real D Spring, no modification

2) Real D Spring, 2 coils cut

3) Ed Brown 1911 Competition Spring, no modification

4) Ed Brown 1911 Competition Spring, 2 coils cut

Something tells me #4 will only work on federal primers, but could I be mistaken? I've heard the Elite Hammer II solves some light primer issues due to higher acceleration.

Also I'm wondering if I cut coils off, do I need some sort home-brew space since the springs are shorter?

Anyways, thanks in advance and I appreciate any help. I do love the aesthetics of my Beretta, and it was my first centerfire handgun that I will keep and pass on, but I would like to show it some love and fine tune it so it's a much more optimized shooter.

[alecmc]

Might want to get in touch with dave olhasso, he has some beretta parts listed on his website.

http://olhasso.com/PS/parts.htm

[xotech]

Here's how to change out your D spring and trigger. Not sure how much difference this steel trigger would make though. You could put in a short reach trigger from Wilson Combat if you have smaller hands or shorter fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5zncTNsXUM

[pdoggeth]

Thanks guys, maybe I'll contact Dave to see if he has any advice about springs, cutting them, and light primer strikes. I actually do know how to change out the spring and trigger (and I forgot to mention I do have the short reset trigger installed already).

I suppose I could always purchase a few of these 1911 springs and the D spring, cut some, and give feedback about how it performs. However, I was hoping that it was done already by some courageous person to save me from having to do it ;P

[bountyhunter]

Back when I bought my 92 (1995) the D spring was the same spring type as standard but was about 0.35" shorter. So you could make a D by shortening the stock spring. I did on mine (cut the stock spring by 0.35" as I recall).

Later, I read they went to a lighter spring type of same length (?) At any rate, the standard is a 20# spring so a 16# spring should be about the same as a D spring. Even with a D spring, the DA pull is going to be heavy. I think it will be in the 8 -9# ballpark even with polishing. Going lighter can cause misfires.

If you are going to cut stock springs, you want to reduce by not more than about 20%. You have to know how much the spring compresses from free length including "pre load" of installing. Take the compressed length and reduce the spring length 20% of that.

Edited June 20, 2015 by bountyhunter

[pdoggeth]

Here's an update after some testing with these springs. I tested with some Tula primers, which are supposed to be relatively hard, though I don't know if it's harder than CCI.

1) Real D Spring, no modification -- Result: GOOD

2) Real D Spring, 2 coils cut, -- Result: GOOD

3) Ed Brown 1911 Competition Spring, no modification -- Result: GOOD

4) Ed Brown 1911 Competition Spring, 2 coils cut -- Result: BAD

So it seems like the springs did all well except for the Ed Brown springs with 2 coils cut. That failed to light primers except in DA mode. I also noticed the dents it was making in the primers were very very shallow, almost like a pin prick. So unfortunately that was no go (though the pull weight was excellent!). I will try to experiment with 1 coil cut off , since I have 3 more of the 1911 springs.