What is the deal with slide "lightening" cuts?

[ATLDave]

Yeah, but in the context of a discussion about whether "the factory engineers know best, change nothing" is a universally-applicable perspective (it ain't).

 

[Sunray]

"...kind of like the so called blood grooves..." And fluting on rifle barrels. Primarily decoration.
"...reducing muzzle flip due to..." Holes don't do that without there being matching hols in the barrel. Holes in the slide just alter the slide's weight and change the characteristics of the pistol. Needs a different weight turn spring.

 

[tark]

You can, however, shoot a 1911 without a recoil spring and the gun won't be harmed,

You do that a few hundred times and you will trash your gun, if it lasts that long. That recoil spring does slow the rearward movement of the slide a significant amount. To say it does not is to defy the lays of physics. The spring provides resistance to a moving object and any resistance to any moving object will retard and slow the movement . Without the spring the slide will crash into the frame with the same speed it started with and that will not do the gun any favors, believe me.

At the shop, I tried a little experiment with a Ransom Rest and a 1911, fired with and then without the recoil spring installed. After firing the muzzle was pointed much higher in the air with the spring removed. Holding the gun in hand the recoil sensation was very different. Without the spring the gun felt like a single shot pistol. With it, the return movement of the slide under spring tension tended to pull the muzzle back down a bit, as the slide slammed into battery. In other words, it felt like it was supposed to. While the sensation of the recoil was different, I will honestly say that the amount of recoil seemed to be about the same.

But that wasn't my point, which was, If you shoot an automatic pistol very many times without the recoil spring you're gonna' break something.

 

[tarosean]

Or use other mods or parts lIke metal guide rods when the gun comes from the factory with a "captured" recoil spring assembly (that has a plastic guide rod). I can understand other non-visible changes and action work being allowed -- if for no other reason than such mods are hard to identify when they're not standard or factory.

First thing I do to all my 4th gen Glocks is ditch the RSA.
My G34 (production legal) uspsa backup gun runs a 11lb recoil spring w/ Jager heavyweight guide rod (metal) Jager lightened firing pin, Vanek trigger.
It shoots a lot flatter than stock, yet not near as flat as the heavy CZ's and Tanfo's. There is a reason the best glock shooter in the world adds pounds of weight front and back to his G24 limited gun.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

But that wasn't my point, which was, If you shoot an automatic pistol very many times without the recoil spring you're gonna' break something.

We'll have to take your claim as an article of faith... until you show us signs of wear or breakage from having done so.

That said, I don't know why anyone would want to do that -- it's not certainly a practical way to shoot a gun with a magazine.

As for "breakin' something," 1911Tuner has been doing the sans-recoil spring drill with a 1911 from time to time over a period of years for unbelievers, often using the same cast frame/cast slide gun seen in the Video (shown in reply #40, above). I'd say there was reason to do THAT unless you're desperate to shoot a critter and the recoil spring isn't working or you simply want to show that things are the way they tell you they are.

1911Tuner's point in similar discussions (and his reason for making the video) was to show that the 1911 frame, barrel, and slide design is more robust than most realize, and the way pressure is created and released when firing a round, while explosive, is NOT fundamentally destructive to the gun if the recoil spring isn't there. (John M, Browing didn't call lt a recoil spring -- he viewed it as a power-source [a "reaction" device] used to strip and chamber the next round.)

 

[Walt Sherrill]

But having a "lightened" slide allows a longer sight radius and does permit a gun that most will perceive as flatter-shooting... particularly when the springs are matched to the load and the shooter.

The lightened slide of the 34 wasn't matched to any loads, and it uses the same recoil spring as the 17, and that suggests there can't be a LOT of difference in slide weight. (The hotter .40 and .357 SIG models with the same frame size also use the same recoil spring assembly, but use heavier slides. I think the 37/38 use the same recoil spring assemblies as the other guns using the same frames.)

A longer slide could change the balance of the gun, but Glock said it they built the 34 that way to make the 34 feel and handle LIKE the 17, and I'd be surprised if it shoots a lot flatter than a 17 (given what must be a similar slide weight). I've had both, and never really noticed a difference -- but I wasn't really paying attention to THAT characteristic.

I'm sure a longer sight radius is useful, but that's really a different issue, done for different reasons.