Bent Recoil Spring?

Crosswind

Crosswind

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I'm a picky guy when it comes to firearms consistency. So every time I disassemble my pistol for cleaning I'll follow the same ritual for disassembling, cleaning, and reassembly.

One thing I always do is to orient my recoil spring in exactly the same way every time. However, after shooting over 8000 rounds, my recoil spring is noticeable bent if unsupported by the guide rod. Yet, so far, the gun has remained extremely accurate and consistent.

I know the cause of the bend is due to the barrel tilting (part of short recoil design).

My question is: Should I have regularly rotated or even flipped my recoil spring to extend its service life?

What are other peoples views on recoil spring preservation/replacement?

Appreciate any responses or advice!
 
do you straighten your wet noodles prior to eating so that they go smoothly down your digestive system?

also, i would guess that the bending has nothing to do with the barrel tilting and lots to do with the fact that the outside of the spring is unconstrained, so it's free to buckle as it needs to during compression, esp if its ID is any larger than the OD of the guide rod.
 
Most recoil springs (e.g. 1911) have one end with a flattened coil that fits against the base of the guide rod and a more open end that goes into the plug. They should not be flipped. They should be replaced every so often, however, and it sounds to me like yours is due for replacement.
 
Some pics will give a better idea of what I'm trying say...

Here's a pic of my recoil spring and guide rod combo:
2010_0723recoil0002.jpg


Here's a pic of my recoil spring and guide rod apart:
2010_0723recoil0003.jpg


As you can see the bend is near the base of the guide rod; the recoil spring is painted on one to indicate that end should be to the rear.

The question I'm asking is: should I have regularly rotated the recoil spring about its "length axis"?

So far I've always oriented the recoil spring with the tip facing up when I place the recoil spring and guide rod back in the slide. Like so...
2010_0723recoil0004.jpg
 
what the hell kind of spring is that??? why is it made from twisted wires?
 
not all springs are made from a single wire (most usa made springs are single strand)
CZ usually have twisted springs and i have seen some other imports as well

i would not shoot it with that spring

i think one of the strands is broken
 
All of the springs in my own firearms have gotten "bent" while either assembling or disassembling at one time or another, none of which has led to any reliably issues.
 
I'm surprised you've kept using the same recoil spring for over 8000rnds. Your spring is worn IMHO.
I'd suggest not worrying about the direction of the spring when reassembling and instead buy a few spares springs and replace them at 5000rnds (I replace mine at 3000rnds).

Crosswind said:
I'm a picky guy when it comes to firearms ... I'll follow the same ritual.
Click to expand...
My ritual is to keep a small supply of replacement springs and a spare firing pin and extractor for all my guns :p


~Cheers
 
That appears to be a Sig P226 9mm recoil spring. Sig recomends replacing the spring at 5000 rounds and you appear to have exceeded that by quite a few rounds. If you look at the spring you will see that one end has a smaller diameter and that end goes on the guide rod first. You should not be flipping the spring around and really there is no need to remove the spring from the guide even for cleaning.
Your best bet is to pick up a "parts" kit as you are approaching the round count (10000) where Sig recomends changing the decocker spring and trigger spring. Those two springs may be fine for more rounds than what Sig recomends but they come in the parts kit so changing them couldn't hurt. That recoil spring definetely needs to be changed now though. You are risking malfunctions or actual damage to your frame or slide.
 
Good eye kxc223, it is in fact a P226 recoil spring. I never really thought about recommended practices in terms of replacement of parts (the 8000 rounds seemed to have crept up on me sooner than I thought).

Frame and/or slide damage due to a weak recoil spring is definitely something I should be conscious of...
 
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