Browning Hp 9mm Recoil Spring

[justicentyme]

I recently purchased a new Browning HP 9mm (the one with the low mount rear LPA sights) for my wife.

She has advanced RA and therefore her hand strength is minimal and her tolerance to recoil is also less than it was years ago.

I will be loading up either a 100 grain cast TCBB at about 875-900 fps or a 120 grain cast TCBB at about 785-800 fps.

I am NOT concerned with power factors, recoil impulses or fast double taps.

There are only two things which are to be considered.

1.) She must be able to manipulate the slide (after pre-cocking the hammer)

and

2.) the gun must feed and function without any problems and not be damaged with too light a spring.

I talked to the Wolff tech and he was pretty non committal. It seems that there have been people blaming them for purchasing springs that didn’t work out and wanting to be able to return them so now they (Wolff) offer very little in the way of suggestions.

I have removed the mag disconnect and polished the feed ramp. The trigger pull is currently greater than the five pounds which my RCBS trigger pull gauge goes to. She has no problem with the trigger pull and doesn’t want it real light for safety's' sake. I will install a 26# mainspring and that will reduce it a little and it will probably smooth out with some use. In 47+ years of shooting I have never seen a mainspring as stout as the one on this gun. It is supposed to be 32#.

The factory recoil spring is supposed to be 17# and Wolff offers 8#-16# reduced power recoil springs. At about $8 per spring I don’t want to buy an unnecessary amount of them searching for the ‘correct one’.

Here’s my question, “Has anyone used bullets in this range and at these speeds? And if so what springs worked best for you?”

I am thinking of getting 12#, 13#, & 14# in hopes that one of them would work. Of course for her ease of slide manipulation I would like to be able to use something in the 9#-10# range but that seems awfully light. I know that if I went with a stronger mainspring I could go lighter on the recoil spring but then it is too difficult for her to pre cock the hammer prior to manipulating the slide.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

James

[Bill Nesbitt]

I ran a 9mm Hi Power in IDPA for a couple of years. I think I used a 15# recoil spring. My load was 147 grain bullets at 900 fps. I would think you could go a good bit lighter than 15# with your loads. The mainspring was what ever C&S put in the gun when they built it in the 1980's.

[Gary Stevens]

Be careful with the Hi-Power on too light a recoil spring. While the Browning is a great gun, the slides are very soft. Too light a spring and you will lose the locking lugs in the slide. Unfortunately I know this from experience after having to replace the slide on my C&S Browning Ouch!

I would just shoot the factory spring 17 lb. and see how the gun functions. If it ejects the brass sufficiently and functions you should be good to go. I would only go down one pound at a time and test it out for function and reliability. You don't want to ruin a good gun and have to repair it like I did.

You might want to look at one of the Sprinco recoil systems also.

Gary

[Patrick Sweeney]

Since you're talking about a power factor in the 90-100 range, my suggestion would be to go with the #26 mainspring and a #15 (or perhaps a #14) recoil spring. Add a shock buffer and you're probably good to go. Softer springs are not a panacea. You can go so soft that the pistol will short-stroke if your wife's grip is too weak to firmly hold the frame. Back when I was shooting PPC at the local sheriff's department, I built a 1911 in .38 Super. I had it sprung super-light and shot 125s at about 850 or so. None of the deputies could shoot it. I had a firm grip, and the pistol cycled fine for me. They had less-solid grips, and would short-stroke it once a magazine.

At $8 a spring, it isn't going to break the bank to get a few to experiment with. But going super-low, like #8 pounds, probably won't work very well.

The newest BHPs are much tougher. I just got done doing an endurance test on a new FN BHP: 23,000+ rounds without a problem.

[BritinUSA]

What about a racking lever ?

[Duane Thomas]

justicentyme,

I realize your question was about the Hi-Power, but I thought I'd just mention this. If you want an auto pistol that's has an easy to rack the slide right out-of-the-box with no need to play around with different after-market springs, you might consider one of the Ruger 9mms. They're the most lightly sprung full-power auto pistols I've ever seen. I've had students who literally couldn't even break the action on a Glock who could easily cycle the slide on a Ruger without even cocking the hammer first. Trigger pulls are surprisingly light, as well.

[tfs]

justicentyme,

I realize your question was about the Hi-Power, but I thought I'd just mention this. If you want an auto pistol that's has an easy to rack the slide right out-of-the-box with no need to play around with different after-market springs, you might consider one of the Ruger 9mms. They're the most lightly sprung full-power auto pistols I've ever seen. I've had students who literally couldn't even break the action on a Glock who could easily cycle the slide on a Ruger without even cocking the hammer first. Trigger pulls are surprisingly light, as well.

Hi Duane,

How would you rate the Ruger 9mms in terms of reliability and durability? What's the difference between a P89 and P95? I've had limited experience with Ruger pistols when I was still living in the Philippines. My wife had a Taurus PT92 and she was comfortable with it. It has a 14 lb recoil spring.

Edited January 22, 2006 by tfs

[tfs]

I think the MK III's slides are cast and are better than the old Hi-Powers. I had one in the 90's and used Wolff 18.5 lb conventional spring on it. Never had a jam.

[Patrick Sweeney]

How tough are Rugers? That's like asking how durable is an anvil. You can't hurt a Ruger pistol with a ball-peen hammer. But they are bulky, so if your wife has small hands she may find them too big.