Glock Springs

[wink]

OK, I am not a Glock guy, but I heard something Glock guys might find interesting or worthy of discussion. Yesterday, I went to requal with my weapon for the LE agency I volunteer for. During the briefing the instructor, a Glock armorer I know well, said that newer Glock springs are proving to have very short life spans. Up until recently modern springs (of all quality manufactures) have been very resilient, to the point some manufactures claim no need to down load a magazine to rest springs occasionally. Glock has changed the formulation in the steel used for springs, supposedly because an ingredient in the alloy was not "green". Now Glock recommends that springs, all springs in the gun, be inspected carefully for operation between 500 to 1000 rounds. Our armorer, due to the LE mission, recommended replacing all springs in the 1000 to 1500 round range. When asked which guns had newer short life springs, he said all the Gen 4's, for sure, and maybe others installed or manufactured in the last couple years.

500 to 1000 rounds is a very short life. I have shot 500 rounds a month in my Sig more often then once. I rarely shoot less than 1000 rounds in a year. Which leads to another question. Are other manufactures going to be installing similar short life springs? Anyone know more about this?

 

[scoolbubba]

Have not heard this. Put 500 rounds thru my G22 in the past two weekends, but its a Gen 3. I'd hope it's not true; something like that would ruin glocks rep as making guns that go bang, every single time...fuck being green when it's a tool that people trust with their lives.

 

[A4sForever]

*(new Glock springs may be a problem ??)* ... he said all the Gen 4's, for sure, and maybe others installed or manufactured in the last couple years.
Anyone know more about this?

I don't "know" anything specific, but I've been hearing what is basically the same chatter from multiple sources. It's one of a couple of reasons I chose a Gen 3 over a Gen 4 recently. Short term solution according to Glock certified armorers I've talked with: stick w/ GEN 3 and earlier until this issue is addressed properly by Glock.

Or ... replace all the springs w/ Wolff springs and you're good-to-go. Wolff gunsprings for GLOCK

 

[CAMike]

Maybe this is new recent information? I just detail stripped and cleaned my G17 upper receiver that I purchased in FL back in my 1985 ish JO days. If was dirty after 7000 to 8000 rounds expended over 25 years of service but it never had a hiccup in those years. I ONLY field stripped it down to Barrel, Upper, Recoil Spring and Lower until now. This year (2011) - I finally replaced the recoil spring and quite frankly it didn't need it. Maybe these newer units require higher maintenance much like the younger girls today.

What's the secret word of the day?

I enjoy the definition and it's picture in my mind- but Glocks are far more durable than most twatwaffles. Tom Cruise and Barack Obomba- You two are best defined as twatwaffles.

(Thanks Vill- You are wise.)

 

[navy09]

Or ... replace all the springs w/ Wolff springs and you're good-to-go. Wolff gunsprings for GLOCK

A4s, did you change your stuff out with Wolff hardware? How did it work out?

My springs are due for retirement -- I'm a little hesitant to use non-factory gear, but this sounds like a good option.

 

[gaijin6423]

My G22 has all aftermarket springs, and. I've put about 3,000ish rounds through it since January between practice and competitions, and have had no problems since some initial...issues that required tweaking. Basically, I had to remove the Ghost 3.5 trigger connector and go back to the factory one, due to some extremely dangerous trigger reset problems. Once that was taken care of, the gun ran great. All the replacement springs are Wolff or Ghost. There are quite a few good youtube videos on how to detail strip Glocks, and installing aftermarket parts is basically just part of reassembly. I would recommend that you get with someone who's done it before to assist, though.

500-1000 rounds is, IMO, ridiculously low of a round count to start replacing shit on a gun, and Glock should be ashamed if they're pandering to the damned hippies this way. I was planning on swapping out the internals on my wife's Gen 3 G17 for aftermarket stuff in the near future anyway, so this is just more reason to do it sooner, rather than later.

FWIW, my 'cleaning' procedure for the G22 has mostly been just been occasionally brushing out brass shavings and dumping Mobile1 on it (after I cleaned everything off prior to installing the aftermarket parts). Other than the aforementioned issues, I have not had a malfunction, and the damn thing seems to even run a bit better when it's dirtier.

 

[wink]

Replacing springs with aftermarket products is great for the serious private pistolero. But personally owned weapons used by cops are almost always restricted from modification or the use of non OEM parts for liability reasons. In the case of agency/institutional owned Glocks, where mass standardized replacement may be undertaken, the expense and time is considerable. Imagine a large military buy in the thousands. Like said before, huge blow to Glock's reputation. I a hoping other manufactures will not have this problem.

 

[Rocketman]

I'm thinking that is a gen4 thing although I can't imagine anything that would cause a spring to fail at or near 500 to 1000 rounds. I've read that many new gen4 owners call customer service after they purchase and have a new spring sent out just in case. That situation may have worked itself out by now though.

I lost count of how many rounds I've put thru my gen2 Glock 19. I used to clean it every now and again but now I almost never touch it. (aside from shooting the hell out of it) I'd buy a gen3 Glock and bet my life on it in a second.

 

[A4sForever]

A4s, did you change your stuff out with Wolff hardware? How did it work out?

My springs are due for retirement -- I'm a little hesitant to use non-factory gear, but this sounds like a good option.

It worked out well, I suppose ... I've done it on Colts, Glocks, H&K ... also done it on some 'old' pistols that I was going to shoot which had original springs in them for 70-80+ years. The aftermarket springs on modern pistols were mostly for competition and to try different spring weights with different cartridges. I also 'prefer' steel guide rods to plastic ones.

But like Wink says, while it's O.K. for a 'private' guy to try & tweak his pistols ... uniformed LEO's need to stick w/ OEM. Actually, same for the private-guy who carries ... liability reasons & all.

There's too many lawyers out there -- and unless you can get them all w/ one magazine + mebbe a reload, you're gonna' meet at least one in court & you'd be wise to stick w/ OEM for carry/personal defense purposes.

 

[Sapper!]

I don't get it, 500-1000 rounds is not going to work at all for pistols that are dedicated to training duty either. That just jacks up operating costs for a department. Not going to go well for Glock, wonder if they will release some sort of bulletin on the issue. Speaking of I had a squib with some surplus winchester ammo in a glock 33 the other day, even ammo seems to be dropping in quality and I hear crazy things, like QC is down at ammo plants due to high production rates (the great obama scare) etc. Sometimes the gun community has some crazy rumors as well, most well founded though. Heck at least AR prices came back down some....

 

[Rocketman]

.....I had a squib with some surplus winchester ammo in a glock 33 the other day....

Good thing you were paying attention! I saw a Marine in the field (when I was at 29 Palms) follow a squib with a live round while shooting his personal M1A. It blew a dime size piece of the bolt down thru the loaded mag and into his thigh. The guy bled like a stuck pig and got an unexpected helo ride back to mainside. Screwed up his fitness report too.....

Heck at least AR prices came back down some....

Yup. If anyone is looking for a Colt LE6920 now's the time.... http://www.gtdist.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PartNumber=COLT-LE6920

That my friends is dirt cheap

 

[Sapper!]

Good thing you were paying attention! I saw a Marine in the field (when I was at 29 Palms) follow a squib with a live round while shooting his personal M1A. It blew a dime size piece of the bolt down thru the loaded mag and into his thigh. The guy bled like a stuck pig and got an unexpected helo ride back to mainside. Screwed up his fitness report too.....



Yup. If anyone is looking for a Colt LE6920 now's the time.... http://www.gtdist.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PartNumber=COLT-LE6920

That my friends is dirt cheap

Jesus! That is terrible, hope the guy was alright! Sucks that it would kill his fit rep, so how does that work out? I mean is it just "hey he fired a weapon and wasn't paying attention" = bad marks or is it "didn't follow procedures etc" = bad fit rep?

That colt is darn cheap! Can't tell if it is the 14" 1:7 barrel, do you know?

I put an M4 together the other day for 720 after tax, sitting under my bed. There is guy down in Slidell, LA that had a handful of complete kits going for 650 I think, the catch was it was in pieces and you have to go pick it up. The receivers are forged and you just get a plain old 1:9 barrell 16 incher, but that is nothing to make fun of at that price.

 

[Rocketman]

Jesus! That is terrible, hope the guy was alright! Sucks that it would kill his fit rep, so how does that work out? I mean is it just "hey he fired a weapon and wasn't paying attention" = bad marks or is it "didn't follow procedures etc" = bad fit rep?

That colt is darn cheap! Can't tell if it is the 14" 1:7 barrel, do you know?

I put an M4 together the other day for 720 after tax, sitting under my bed. There is guy down in Slidell, LA that had a handful of complete kits going for 650 I think, the catch was it was in pieces and you have to go pick it up. The receivers are forged and you just get a plain old 1:9 barrel 16 incher, but that is nothing to make fun of at that price.

Don't want to hijack the thread but short version is that no personal weapons weren't allowed in the field. This guy was a brand new 01/02 platoon commander. The leg injury was pretty serious and his left forearm and face got peppered pretty good with brass etc. The rest is pretty predictable.

The Colt LE6920 is their standard "issue" M4 with a 16" 1-7 barrel and no burst capability. Pretty much as close as you can get to a "real" M4 without signing up. For anyone who likes ponies it's one hell of a deal at $1,000 bucks.

Back to Glock springs......

 

[Sapper!]

Roger...

Ok I remember hearing a while back that the problem with 9mm G4 glocks was that the springs were way too stiff and people would always jam them limp wristing, anyone else hear this? Was it that they were using the same springs for multiple calibers maybe? Anyway, how do we go from too stiff to wearing out too quickly? I know in some applications, springs that oscillate at high frequency wear out rapidly if too stiff or cause damage to other components. Thoughts?