The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

Hi to all, and many thanks to all who have responded to my other thread that started off with safety questions.

My Wolff replacement springs came in yesterday and I'm in the process of changing them today.

The replacement hammer spring went in ok. I got the Wolff 3-pack with 18, 19 & 20 lb springs, so I wasn't able to try a 17 lb. The 18 lb hammer spring was about an eighth inch longer than the original but it was a bit softer so I put that one in and the DA pull is definitely better than original.

Now I'm changing the recoil spring. I ordered a 20 lb & 22 lb recoil spring, and I was in the process of installing the 20 lb spring when I noticed two things:
1) the Wolff 20 lb recoil spring is a good half inch longer than the original recoil spring
(the 22 lb Wolff recoil spring is the same size as the original recoil spring) and
2) both ends of both of the Wolff recoil springs are rough, meaning that the tips and ends
are not ground smooth and flush like the original recoil spring.

So two questions:

.) Is the longer 20 lb replacement recoil spring ok, or should I discount it and go with the 22 lb which is the same length as the original?

.) Should I file/grind the ends of whichever replacement recoil spring I install to get it similar to the original? With repeated cycles it doesn't look like either of these replacement steel recoil springs will be very kind to the mating surface on the P-64.

Many thanks in advance,
Marty

Edit: I went ahead and used the dye grinder to smooth the 22 lb spring and will use that for now. It being the same length as original and receiving another response on my other post from another who likes the 22 lb recoil, it seems like a good place to start. Tomorrow I'll try to get time to smooth the 20 lb spring to possibly use that at the range this weekend too.

Yes, you do have to make the two ends flat or you will have problems getting the slide off.

Thanks PA-Joe, the flat ground (on both ends) 22 lb recoil spring is installed and the 18 lb hammer spring is in too. Much better but I went ahead today and ordered a 17 lb hammer spring to try it out. So this weekend there should be several different combos to try if needed.

You may want to give it a few hundred rounds. The trigger gets lighter.

Thanks PA-Joe, very glad to hear that. I wondered if it might ease up a little. The 17 probably won't get to me before this weekend so that will give me a range weekend to see what the 18/22 combo does. The slide is pretty stiff now with the new 22 recoil.

Marty, I also use the 18/22 lbs springs , and is happy with it. You may have notice that on single action or if the hammer is cocked, the trigger pull is very light, so be careful.
You may want to try it out first before puttng the 17 lbs spring. There has been some report of mags dropping out of the pistol from those using the lighter spring. The hammer spring also work as the mag lock/release.

Thanks gemini1, great to hear on the spring combo and the timing is good. The 17 springs haven't arrived and I'm planning on going to the range this weekend to put 100 or so rounds through it. I hope it will still work after my fiddling with it and I also hope my wrists and hands will hold up... I've read that anything beyond about 50 rounds at a time with the P-64 might not be as much fun as the first 50 rounds...

Will the new recoil & hammer springs be pretty much broken in to their on-going tension after 100 rounds or so (planning to do a lot of DA pulls too working with the safety)?

I dont think those new springs will be broken in in with just a few hundred rounds. I'm close to shooting 500 rounds on mine and the recoil spring is still much stiffer than the original one. But quite frankly, I dont notice any difference when I tried shooting the pistol using both factory and the Wolff recoil spring. All three types of ammo brands plus my reloads works well with either spring. I just kept the Wolff in since I already bought it (might as well use it).
Yeah I hear you, this pistol is not a range toy, the first couple of mags shooting it and I went out to the counter and grab a Hogue rubber grip. With regular use however, you'll get use to the recoil and find a way to hold/grip it comfortably. I now just use a bicycle inner tube, since the Hogue grip is a little fat, and I like the slim grip better.
It does gets tiring shooting the P64. So what I do is shoot it alternately with my 3rd Gen 9MM and 22LR. The only setback is, I sometimes I get confused with the mag release, trying to release the mag of the S&W at the grip bottom, when its at the side. lol