Pocket 9/40 recoil spring (assembly) - how many rounds?

[Canazes9]

How may rounds would you expect to get through some of the current crop of subcompact pocket carry 9mm/40 S&W would you expect before replacing the recoil spring (assembly)?

I would expect to get fewer rounds than their full size counterparts as their diminutive size prevents enough mass in the slide to absorb the recoil, leaving increased loads to fall on compact recoil springs (assemblies). I experienced a failure of the recoil spring assembly on my Taurus 740 Slim today at about 1200 rounds - curious as to what others think. Is this premature wear? Or about what you would expect out of this pocket pistol in 40 S&W?

David

 

[Canazes9]

Anyone? Any opinions at all? Am I the only one to put this many rounds through a pocket 40?

David

 

[kokapelli]

I don't think you can make a generalization for all pocket nines because the recoil spring assemblies are different in the various brands.

 

[Canazes9]

kokapelli,

Thanks for the reply. Understood on the generalization amongst brands - wasn't what I was trying to ask.

Let me rephrase the question:

I have a Taurus 740 Slim. I've put about 1200 rounds through it - ~1000 rounds 40 S&W UMC 180 fmj, ~200 rounds Remington Golden Sabre. The gun has been flawless in function since the day I purchased it. Last range trip I was running my usual drills and was having a good day shooting a little more than normal. At about 250 rounds the pistol did not return fully to battery about 1/2 way through the magazine.

I thought "well it's just getting dirty", and gently pushed the slide fully forward. Next shot it did it again. I stopped, cleared the gun and disassembled it.

The 740 has a twin spring recoil spring assembly w/ a smaller diameter full length spring surrounded by a larger diameter spring that only goes down about 1/2 way held in place by a stop. It appears as if the end of the larger diameter recoil spring against the stop broke off and the spring subsequently jumped the stop, breaking a chip off the stop. (I'll try and post some pictures in a few minutes).

I understand recoil springs don't last forever. Advice on changing them seems to be as varied as the number of users on the internet, but my personal, limited experience indicates that they wear out causing function problems but don't usually break.

I'm curious whether anyone thinks this is indicative of a problem w/ the gun or whether the general opinion is "hey it's a pocket 40, it wasn't intended to be a high volume shooter - the broken spring assembly doesn't surprise me at all, it's about what you would expect for that round count. Replace the spring assembly and don't worry about it."

I have already ordered the spring assembly from Taurus, a $10 part, should be here in a week or so. Not bashing Taurus or the gun, just trying to determine - is this normal or is this indicative of a problem?

Thanks,

David

 

[kokapelli]

I don't think you can go wrong replacing the recoil springs after 1000 rounds on these small pistols because the slides are pretty light making the recoil spring even more important than it is in full sized pistols.

 

[Canazes9]

Pictures - Don't know why they are rotated, not the way I loaded them:banghead:....





David