16# replacement spring caution!

raypol · Post by **raypol** » February 8th, 2006, 5:18 pm

I read about many of you replacing the stock mainspring with a 14# spring. Be aware that when you lower the tension on the mainspring you are also lowering the total recoil resistance on the slide. The recoil resistance is a sum of the recoil spring and the force needed to cock the hammer. Don't cut back so much on the hammer spring that the slide slams into the frame on recoil. That might be why some of you are getting sore hands when shooting. 16# seems to work without too much damage but less may not be better overall. What we need is for Wolff to make us a heavier recoil spring to make up for the lightened mainspring.

jpb

fjblackesq · Post by **fjblackesq** » February 8th, 2006, 9:56 pm

also see the thread to canabalized HK #44325 spring to compensate for the 16# trigger spring . I still would like to know if a "nylon buffer" would do any good to ease the recoil????

saands · Post by **saands** » February 19th, 2006, 11:33 am

I think a nylon buffer would be great!

Where, by the way, were you thinking of putting it

THAT seems to be the challenge

Saands

warthog · Post by **warthog** » February 23rd, 2006, 7:21 pm

I used the 17 lb spring because the 14 made it too smooth fo rme to feel right carrying it.
I wabt a bit of resistance, especially under stress. I guess that is wierd.
Any competition I have ever done, I have used a bit more "pull" than most folks for that reason.
That said, I pretty much suck. Maybe that is the reason. ???

jboaks · Post by **jboaks** » March 11th, 2006, 9:47 pm

New member here and I am glad to of found a source for such good information. I took my P 64 t a gunsmith asking to have a #16 spring put in/ He felt this would not be safe as it would make the seconf pull way too light. It appears that many of you have replaced the spring and I was wondering how it effected the second shot? Thaks for all of your input.

JB

abwehr · Post by **abwehr** » March 12th, 2006, 5:17 am

jboaks,

First, welcome to the P-64 Forum! We hope you will enjoy your pistol and come here often with your questions.

When changing springs in a firearm, your gunsmith is correct. Many folks want to do wierd things to them, but from previous postings, the 16# spring seems to have worked out well with the pistol. As "justplainbill" stated, I agree that the 14# spring may be TOO light, and the results may not have enough resistance for the slide and will tend to "pound" the pistol too much.

If you read some previous postings, there was a thread several months ago from one of our esteemed members in Poland that stated the heavy springs were installed because the ammo they were using had very hard primers and needed the extra "oomph" to fire them. The ammo we are using today has regular primers and does not need the hard hammer fall.

Yes, your gunsmith is correct that the pistol trigger pull will be lighter, but we are not in combat situations, we follow all safety practices at the range, and the lighter pull is a welcome addition to this great pistol. The 16# spring does not produce a "hair trigger", but definetly helps the operation for most casual shooting. If I were going to shoot many thousands of round thru the P-64, I may leave the stock springs, but I shoot it occasionally, so I feel the 16# spring change is good.

jboaks · Post by **jboaks** » March 15th, 2006, 7:12 pm

Thank you for the nice welcome and great information. I may look for another gunsmith that has some experience with the P64. If not, maybe someone with some Mak experience will be more helpful. So far I love this little gun but the DA is a bear... As I would like to get my wife more into shooting, something will have to be doe; as it is now, she cannot even pull the trigger. Again, I really enjoy this site and am still learning how to navigate/search.
JB

jbailey · Post by **jbailey** » March 15th, 2006, 7:29 pm

JB (from another 'JB') - Many gunsmiths are reluctant to modify trigger actions, especially for people and/or guns they are not familiar with. They are afraid of liability issues, but are not going to tell you that directly.

If you follow the excellent directions posted elsewhere on this site, changing the hammer/main spring yourself is really straightforward. Check it out.

I know how your wife must feel, I cannot pull the DA trigger either (at least with one finger)! - John

jboaks · Post by **jboaks** » March 20th, 2006, 8:37 pm

Thanks John - I did see the post with the directions, however my tech. skills are very,very limited. I still hope to find a local gunsmith that my take it on...I will keep you posted.

JB

autom8r · Post by **autom8r** » March 23rd, 2006, 6:49 pm

JB,

I just changed my first one out to the 16 lb. spring today and the job was a piece-of-cake, took 10 minutes max and made an all new gun out of it. It's especially simple if you have someone with that "third hand" to help reinsert the pin.

Dave

jboaks · Post by **jboaks** » April 6th, 2006, 7:17 pm

Dave - Thanks for the inspiration. I may give it a try. The directions I found on this site are very clear and even I may be able to "get it". I also plan to ask around at my club to see if any ot the guys can help.

JB

rburt · Post by **rburt** » May 10th, 2006, 9:57 am

I'm fairly new to this forum having had my P64 only a few weeks, but have been reading it religiously. If I'm not mistaken, doesn't the Walther PPK have a "nylon recoil buffer" (or whatever they call it)? Would that work on the P64? I'm just wondering about it.

Going to do the spring replacement if Wolff ever gets the spings to me (been a week, I may be rushing it?). Look forward to hints on sight replacement or upgrades, spring changes, grip replacement, etc.

The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum