[Topgun]

Hi, my name is Topgun and I'm a spring stupidholic.

I am presently acclimating myself to yet another "spring myth." That of not leaving my High Standard .22 auto .........cocked when I put it away.

It just FEELS wrong......BUT....it is the recommended way to do it.

So, group, let's all drop our preconceived notions about SPRINGS and become enlightened.

The same guys who worry about carrying a 1911 "cocked and locked" will carry an 870 all day and not even THINK of the compressed mainspring.

The idjits like me will worry about keeping a pistol cocked but think NOTHING of carrying CCW auto with ammo in the mag.

So........let's all remember..........SPRINGS ARE SPRINGY!

They are MADE to be extended, compressed, relaxed, stressed, and WORRIED about.

But almost every gun has some spring under some tension at ALL times.

So.....chant the mantra..........

"A SPRING IS MEANT TO BE SPRUNG"

All reading and not posting a ...."repeat".....are still in denial.

:D :D :D

[C.R.Sam]

A properly designed, engineered and manufactured spring needs no pampering.

Like Art says.....look at what your car engine springs go through...for years.

Sam

[RocketMan]

Car engine springs... Car engine springs?
Would that be the wind-up variety of car engine?

[Moparmike]

No, valve springs. They compress when your camshaft lobes press against the lifters, which then press against your valve rods (cant remember the name of them...), which press against your rocker arm, which then press against your valve spring and compress it as the valve opens to let air/fuel in or exhaust out. The springs keep the valves closed.

There is a different process for OHC engines, but it essentially does the same job.

[RocketMan]

Moparmike,

After I posted that answer, I realized I should have added a big grin smiley.
That's what I get for trying to be funny. (And maybe a smarta??, too? :D )
Oh, well.

[hansolo]

I thought Springs followed Summers?

[Topgun]

The auto spring analogy is very good. Let's stay with that for a while. Very good work.

We CAN overcome our anxieties.

Springs are made to be sprung.

Ommmmmmmm......

good.........good..............goood................

[Standing Wolf]

I've been leaving semi-automatic .22 caliber pistols cocked for about three decades now without ever encountering a problem, and that includes my High Standards. It's worthwhile to have all of a High Standard's springs replaced with genuine Wolff springs about once every fifteen or twenty years, especially if your pistol has original Hamden or East Hartford springs. Wolff's are better.

[blades67]

valve rods (cant remember the name of them...),

Those would be the pushrods Mike.:neener:

[C.R.Sam]

Desmodromics, hie thee from here.

Sam

[Parker Dean]

We mustn't forget the good old piston return springs (http://www.kalecoauto.com/perf.htm). LOL!

(scroll down about halfway)

[marsh]

I always thought that springs followed winters. At least that's what my mammy taught me.

[Art Eatman]

My father dug out an ammo can full of WW II souvenir pistols, a couple of years ago. He always kept all magazines loaded, in every gun he owned.

All the pistols' magazines functioned just fine, after having been stored for some 50 years. All the ammo functioned. No misfires. Mauser, Beretta, 1911, Woodsman, Radom, Lilliput, Walther...

I have a couple of 1911 mags I converted to eight-round capacity. Part of the deal is cutting a "Z" out of the spring. This reduces the upward pressure on the cartridges. Since they function properly, I have to assume that any "weakening" of a mag spring is immaterial...

:), Art

[TheeBadOne]

Piston Return Springs? :D

[Topgun]

The main source of income for blonde mechanics.

:D

[Dr.Rob]

No! No! My revolver is better because the springs are relaxed until its ready to use.

Right?

My single action is even more better, right?

I just unloaded 10 BHP mags I had laying around in my range bag, along with 2 Colt 380 mags, 5 1911 magazines, a luger magazine, a mag for a Colt .25, and a pile of 223 ak magazines.

Funny I never worry about my speed loaders like that.

Those &^%$ AK mags are pain to unload.

[Bravo11]

Hi, I'm megcatia and I'm a spring-a-stupidholic.
I unload my magazines and swap them out periodically so I dont wear out the springs.

[Art Eatman]

megcatia, if the spring in a magazine "wears out" from that little dab of compression, it's made from some pretty low-grade, sorry stuff.

:), Art

[Bravo11]

I know that those springs in my mags aren't getting worn out especially since their not being compressed and relaxed repeatedly but for some reason I feel the need to give them a break.

[Bravo11]

Oh, and just a note on spring failure.
Not gun related but I had a spring on my garage door go out last month and you would have thought the house exploded.

[sm]

"To avoid hangovers-stay drunk" -WC Fields.
Kinda applies to a lot of life stuff.
I keep mags loaded always, I never worried about springs. I inspect and maintain, replace as need.
Besides if you keep mags loaded your not apt to get crazy and want to clean them...that's what dropping them into puddles,or shooting in the rain is for. Yep, now you know, shoot in the rain and let nature have it. I like simple. :)

[Archie]

How this composite myth keeps coming back.

The ONLY springs to ever go "bad" were the original twenty round magazines in the early M16s. If they were loaded to full capacity (20 rounds) and left to set for an (undefined) extended period of time, the springs would, in some cases, take a set and the final couple rounds would not feed properly. Some experimenting determined that loading with 18 rounds would not harm the magazine.

From that, the myth grew that if an M16 were loaded with more than 18 rounds, the spring was ruined.

For years, the armed services issued 45s with magazines loaded with five rounds. The qualifications were fired in five round strings; multiples of five are easier to track administratively; and some troops didn't have to use both hands to count the rounds. Couple that practise (issuing five rounds per magazine) with the M16 magazine myth and then it became detrimental to load 45 magazines with more than five rounds.

Heck, since M16s and 45s are the "prime examples" of rifles and pistols, it must follow that all rifles and pistols have the same failings.

Don't bother mentioning all the submachine guns with 30 round magazines from WWII. That just confuses people. Forget the BAR; it used 20 detachable box magazines and never fell to the "load 18" practise.

All that said, changing the springs every couple years cannot hurt a thing except your wallet. But they aren't that expensive.
And unloading magazines and rotating them will not hurt anything either. Even if the springs are not effected, cleaning out the mouse droppings and navel lint will be advantageous.

[blades67]

-Piston Return Springs-
KaleCo has produced the highest quality piston return spring to date! High temperance material coated in a thick rubber sleeve resists engine temperatures up to 2500'f. KaleCo piston return springs FORCE the pistons back into the motor, no longer rely on gravity! This effectively increases your revs, horsepower, and peak torque! You must buy one return spring per piston. Rotary engines require some cutting of rubber sleeve. A Chevy 350 showed 15hp / 15ft-LB gains from this mod!


:D

[Topgun]

Be sure to leave the cylinder cranes OPEN in your revolvers.

Those springs in the littlle underlug thingie and the one that gets compressed to an UNBEARABLE degree back in the frame where the cyl pin sticks in.........LOOK OUT!

Those can give way at ANY TIME! Usually when you need it most!

BEWARE!

:D :D

Now the SAA...........well..........hmmmmmm

antiquated, obsolete, unpopular, ugly, old fashioned....

Shouldn't even HAVE one of those.

;)