Spring Replacement

[garand]

I have a number of guns both pistol and rifle that have had many thousand rounds run through them. They work flawlessly but a friend commented that I should replace the springs due to the high round count. Is this something that I should do or just wait until failures start?

Thanks

 

[madcratebuilder]

don't fix what ain't broke!

Unless you use your firearms in a life or death situation. I would maybe keep a spare spring on hand that is known to fail, other than that, just keep shooting

 

[rcmodel]

It depends.

Springs do weaken and wear out after many thousands of rounds, or even way less on some guns like snubby 1911's and such.

Weak springs eventually result in malfunctions of some kind, again depending on what gun you are talking about.

But way before that, semi-auto guns are beginning to take a beating because the recoil spring & hammer spring are not up to the task they were designed for, which is partially to protect the firearm from excess battering.

I think it is cheap insurance to replace the springs on any older semi-auto's I acquire, just to help prevent excess frame or receiver battering for instance.

Other guns like bolt-action rifles, pump shotguns, and revolvers will go a life-time on the same springs they came with.

rcmodel

 

[Jim K]

I generally don't replace springs unless there is a problem. IMHO, more troubles are caused by replacing springs and other parts that don't need replacing than by worn parts.

Of course, many 1911 clones are trash to begin with and the springs collapse in a short time. In those cases, new springs may keep the trash working until something else goes bad.

Jim