recoil spring for witness .38 super....

[jhb]

anyone own and shoot the witness steel full size in .38 super? what recoil spring weight do you find works best with factory ammo loading....the 14lb it comes with or 15lb or 16lb?

i saw mentions all, over of changing the recoil spring since the factory ones are too "weak." i didn't find any advice other than someone saying buy a bunch of springs and start with heaviest and work downward until you find the right one. i assume this was advice for reloading more so than factory ammo. any insight would be appreciated.

i searched all over the web for any insight and all i kept finding was recoil springs of converting to 9x23 with the .38 super pistols.

 

[ATLDave]

It really depends on the load, the particular gun, and even your grip. As a starting place, here's what Henning (a competition shooter and manufacturer of all kinds of trick-out parts for Tanfos) has to say about springs and the power factor of various ammo:

http://henningshop.com/products/tanfoglio-recoil-spring-by-wolff-gunsprings

Wolff 6lb Recoil Spring (all caliber: 120 - 140 power factor, light 9mm loads)
Wolff 8lb Recoil Spring (all caliber: 140 - 160 power factor, typical 9mm spring)
Wolff 10lb Recoil Spring (typical 9, 38, 40, 45 caliber major loads in 160 -180 power factor)
Wolff 12lb Recoil Spring (major loads 180 - 200 power factor, 40 S&W, 45 ACP)
Wolff 14lb Recoil Spring (45 ACP)
Wolff 16lb Recoil Spring (Heavy 45 ACP, 10mm )
Wolff 18lb Recoil Spring (Heavy 10mm)
Wolff 20lb Recoil Spring (Heavy 10mm)

 

[jhb]

Appreciate that chart...but all im gonna do is shoot factory ammo......not league shooting with various power levels. Just off the shelf .38 super like armscor and s&b, etc

Any idea if factory spring is good enough? Thank you.

 

[ku4hx]

Wolff shows a 14# spring as the factory weight: http://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?page=items&cID=1&mID=19

I assume "Super 38" is the same as "38 Super". For factory fodder. I'd trust EAA's judgement.

 

[ATLDave]

jhb, just calculate the power factor of factory ammo (which requires only knowing the bullet weight and velocity). Here's an online calculator: http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmpf-5.1.cgi

 

[jhb]

good info all. thanks very much......