It works, it works

[Guest bulm5]

Went to a 14# recoil spring in my 40 CAL and boy did it make a difference. The gun did flip a little bit more but the sights did not dip after each shot.

[Philip Dedmon]

Keep testing, you will learn allot.

[warpspeed]

Blum5,

i'm curious, what were you using before?

I used to use a 14# but went to an 11# w/ a shockbuffer. I like it so much better than the 14#. I assume that you are shooting IPSC major loads, right?

[Guest bulm5]

16# with ZERO JHP VV 320 5.2 to 5.3grs. Believe me, I was a skeptic since I didn't wanna beat my frame up.

[warpspeed]

If you do not want to beat up your frame an slide, then you must put in a shock buff!!!  $5.95 vs. $300+ ? no question about it if you are shooting major loads.

[Rich Bagoly]

Ahh, but some guns don't run with the shock buff.

[Matt VDW]

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Quote: from Rich Bagoly on 3:16 pm on May 7, 2002

Ahh, but some guns don't run with the shock buff.

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Not even the thin Hiett buffs?

[Rich Bagoly]

I took the buffer out, the gun ran.  It still felt the same.  I left it at that.

The buffer was a C P.

[Guest bulm5]

oh yeah, I am using a comminoli guide rod ( tungsten).  No question about that.

[dave pasos]

the thing is its not so much the shock buff but the LENGTH of the spring.     Granted you have to use a lighter spring but when you add a shock buff you elimated the distance or area that   the spring  was using when the slide was opening.

Think of it as a stock car spring used on a lowered car.    The full length car spring is too long for the reduced distance of a lowered car.

So the length of the spring needs to be tailored to the amount of distance that is remaining when you add shock buffs.

It is not uncommon for speedters to use a 12 or11 lb springs cutting 3 coils and using the .120 or whatever it is Hiett makes.   You  can get to a point where you can tailor the length of the spring by watching how much of an impression the slide is leaving on the SB.

Otherwise is you dont do this the spring is compressing on to it self.   Your ruining the spring.

[Rich Bagoly]

Adding the shock buff does not change the length for the spring to compress.  Only the at rest length will be slightly shortened.

The buffer will reduce the slide travel.  This may affect the function of some guns.

[no whiners]

So if I use a 14# spring and the slide cuts through the shock buff (like a cookie cutter) in a 130 round match, But with a 16# spring the buff looks fine after 300 rounds, what am I to deduce? I shoot 45's in limited 10. I don't see how going back to a 14# spring without a buff can be anything but hard on my guns. Am I missing something?

[dave pasos]

No Whiner, first be sure that your springs  do not have any coils cut.   In the case of the 16 lb spring since the SB has no marks I would think that the spring is collapsing onto itself.  Not even getting close to the SB.  the SB is doing no good, your just using up space that the spring can use.

With the 14 lb spring take a look at how close the slide is cutting the SB.   Is it cutting it all the way through?  If so try a 15 lb spring and see what results you get.  

Remember the SB is an indication of how far the spring is allowing the slide to travel rearward.

For the SB to be effective  there should be alittle indentation from the slide on the SB.  Can you in picture this in  your mind of how this works?

To get an idea of the space being used try a simple measurement.

With no spring and move the slide to the most rearward position and place a piece of tape on the dust cover where the front of the slide stops.

Then assemble the gun with spring and SB.   Do the same move the slide to the most rear position and place another piece of tape where the front of the slides stops.

You can use this as a guide of how much spring needs to be trim so that the slide is using the most of its rearward travel and not beat up the SB.   With the proper weight spring.

This is what I look for but then I use a 14 lb spring with no SB.

But I know its not slamming on the frame not like a 13 lb would.     Maybe Iam wrong but these are some of what I ve seen with my trial and error.