igolfat8 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I was sorting through some recoil springs and thought some “felt” a different rate than others in the same rate. I needed a way to measure spring rate but couldn’t find an simple method in the search function. So .... I took my pistol cleaning rod (minus the jag) and slid a flat washer on it and then a recoil spring. I placed the spring vertically on my digital postal scale. Then I pressed down on the flat washer to compress the recoil spring on the pistol cleaning rod. I read the weight on the postal scale and darn if it wasn’t pretty close to the rated spring weight. I measured all of the springs I had and most were very close, within a few ounces. A couple were a pound to pound and a half off. At least this gives me a method to compare and measure my recoil springs now. Perhaps this method has been used before by others but if not give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolcw1987 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thanks for the info i have some unknown springs and would be great if i could label them with a weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Climbhard Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 What is the compressed length of a spring for a 5” 1911? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igolfat8 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 6-1/2” free length of a 9# spring, compressed length is 1-7/16”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmantwo Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 How do you find/know the compressed length? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrysuperhawk Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Uhm, compress it? I suppose you could mic the wire and multiply by coils but that seems like math....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igolfat8 Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 +1, ^What he said ^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueBulletBeaker Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Oh snap this is a good idea. I'm going to try this over the weekend. I have a ton of unknown springs in my kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treeclmbr Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Great idea, guess im going to find a postal scale now to try this. Ive often wondered what the actual spring weight is after its had 2-5000 rounds shot, and when they loose there set poundage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norther Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 On 1/12/2018 at 7:17 AM, Climbhard said: What is the compressed length of a spring for a 5” 1911? The length 5” 1911 springs are rated at is 1.625”. Commanders are rated at 1.125”, and Officers at 0.70”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthrader18 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Never thought about that. Kudos and I'll be using this in the future for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedahlenius85 Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Thank you for this idea. I tried it and it was pretty accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmaniac Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Nice tip! I'm interested in using this method to measure when I need to replace the recoil spring. So, can anyone provide data on how much a worn spring is reduced compared to a newer one? Others from this forum suggested replacing when old spring is 3 coils shorter than the new one. Just curious. One way to answer my own question would be with a set of various spring weights and seeing which weight was too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banacek Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 6:35 PM, igolfat8 said: I was sorting through some recoil springs and thought some “felt” a different rate than others in the same rate. I needed a way to measure spring rate but couldn’t find an simple method in the search function. So .... I took my pistol cleaning rod (minus the jag) and slid a flat washer on it and then a recoil spring. I placed the spring vertically on my digital postal scale. Then I pressed down on the flat washer to compress the recoil spring on the pistol cleaning rod. I read the weight on the postal scale and darn if it wasn’t pretty close to the rated spring weight. I measured all of the springs I had and most were very close, within a few ounces. A couple were a pound to pound and a half off. At least this gives me a method to compare and measure my recoil springs now. Perhaps this method has been used before by others but if not give it a try. That is brilliant, I am going to check my known ones with a few that I have laying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Try this one... https://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar16.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinimon Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Nice! Gonna have to give this a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Just an fyi, for anyone with a Dillon press, the large pistol primer tube is the exact od to fit perfectly into a 1911/2011 recoil spring. Makes for real easy measuring and most of us have one laying around probably not in use. Slap on a washer, grab a food scale or postal scale, go to town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, tcazes said: Just an fyi, for anyone with a Dillon press, the large pistol primer tube is the exact od to fit perfectly into a 1911/2011 recoil spring. Makes for real easy measuring and most of us have one laying around probably not in use. Slap on a washer, grab a food scale or postal scale, go to town. Why do we have to go to town? Can't we measure it at home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Only if old and feeble and can't go to town ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 lol. its more fun to go to town than just stay at home and be old lazy bones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuJudge Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 There's also this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/142770080129 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 6 hours ago, NuJudge said: There's also this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/142770080129 That's actually really nice looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHAVEGAS Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 On 3/31/2018 at 2:57 PM, Zmaniac said: Nice tip! I'm interested in using this method to measure when I need to replace the recoil spring. Before it breaks. I never replace recoil springs. Only issue I have ever seen is a broken spring in a compact 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 i have found that as my splits start getting worse and worse ill replace the spring and it tightens things back up (open gun). usually happens every 4k or so rounds. realistically i could get probably 8 or 10k out of it but they are super cheap so i swap them out regularly. more of a precautionary swap than anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigamortis Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I use a 5/8" deep wall socket without any gun disassembly. Place the socket square drive side down on your scale. Place your pistol muzzle over the top of the socket and press down just shy of bottoming out your slide travel. Your barrel will simply extend into the deep wall socket unhindered. Observe your scale reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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