Spring has Sprong

Conjugate the noun spring: Spring

                                                  Springing

                                                  Sprong.

Yeah, I know you don’t conjugate nouns.

I shoot a bare bones Springfield Champion.  I had a beaver tail installed to give me a little more control on recoil, plus prevent hammer bite, but that’s it.  So when it started giving me stoppages, I stopped to think about it and not just blame the ammo or magazine.

It was always the last or second to last round in each and every magazine.  I tried different factory ammo, same results.  I switched mags with my wife, whose Springfield .45 runs flawlessly, same result.  In fact, my magazines ran in her gun.  It was clearly the Champion.

I pulled my parts box and discovered I last changed the recoil spring in 2014.  I had replaced the recoil spring at that time with a Wolff 22 lbs factory spec spring.  I did that again.  Wolff makes excellent springs; their people are knowledgeable and they can get you the spring you need.

The bottom spring is the new Wolff spring, the shorter spring above it is from my gun.

I field-stripped the gun and discovered my recoil spring was a half inch short.  Trashed that right then and there.  I’m not one of those kitchen table gun smiths that would pull the spring out and reinstall it.  That’s just asking for trouble.

Wolff includes a firing pin spring with the recoil spring.  I decided to replace that too.  The last thing I want is the firing pin’s inertia slamming it forward and discharging a round when the returning slide comes to a stop.

Since I had removed the firing pin retention plate, why not clean and inspect the extractor?  Why not indeed!

My Champion goes together with a little more work than disassembling it, but gets together.  I wiped down all the sliding surfaces and moving parts with an oily rag.  The rails and slides got an extra drop and I put it back together.   A quick test shows the two safeties work and the hammer doesn’t follow when you release the side.

The oil?  No, it wasn’t some mystical formulated oil from rendered unicorn horn oil.  It was 3 in 1. 

I’ll test fire it one Thursday at the range, but I have no doubt it will function fine.

If you’re a prepper, a busy shooter, depend on your handgun for daily safety or expect the zombie doomsday, make sure you have a set or two of the principle springs that run your gun.  You wheel gunners aren’t exempt from this caution either.

Remember, the tighter and more accurate your gun is, the finickier it is.  That goes for springs too.