has anybody tried using the LC9 recoil springs in the LC380 ?
I really like the LC380 and so far have the galloway trigger kit installed (awesome) and their steel guide rod which weighs 9g vs plastic 2g so that should reduce recoil a small amount
now I'm going to try swapping 1 or 2 of the LC380 recoil springs with the LC9 recoil springs for less recoil
galloway sells a 20lb recoil spring for LC9 and says the factory recoil spring is rated at 16lb
since the 9mm is about twice the recoil pow factor of the 380 I'm guessing the LC380 factory recoil spring is somewhere around 8-10lb. Does anybody know for sure or have some tool to measure it ?
anyway those those springs are cheap $4 for both and I will try swapping 1 or the other at the range to see how some basic 95gr fmj ball ammo shoots. clearly swapping both springs likely would not work at all, but swapping 1 of the 2 springs should work
Correct me if incorrect but, a recoil spring is used to dampen the effect of recoil caused by the power of a given cartridge thus affecting the cycle rate of the pistol. In other words, a higher power cartridge needs a heavier recoil spring while a lesser powered cartridge would not need a heavy spring to cycle the action. A heavy recoil spring would therefore cause the action not to cycle properly on a cartridge like the .380. An example of this would standard velocity .22LR ammo failing to cycle some .22 autos.
i think what you typed is accurate but missing something about the range of spring rates that will properly cycle for a specific cartridge
ex: when brand X 95gr fmj ball fires it pushes out the bullet at 940 fps this recoil energy in the LC380 can properly cycle a range a recoil spring ratings from 8lbs up to 14lbs (just guessing at the numbers)
by properly cycle I mean the spent cartridge will be ejected when the slide moves back and a fresh cartridge will be stripped from the magazine and pushed into the chamber when the slide moves forward
for an 8lb spring the slide velocity moving back & forward after firing the cartridge is faster than the 14lb spring, this faster slide velocity is what the person holding the gun feels in the grip as the slide slams back/forth
because clearly if what I typed is incorrect then galloway would not be able to sell a 20lb recoil spring for 9m when the factory recoil spring is rated at 16lb, that is a 25% increase and yet galloway claims on their website the recoil spring will function fine with basic ball ammo - plus this just seems like physics stuff, force moving mass etc
since the ruger lc380 & lc9 are both dual recoil springs, i'm guessing that if i just try replacing 1 or the other instead of both, this will be some reduced value - whatever I will try this & see what happens
I ordered both inner & outer recoil springs for LC9 from ruger $10 well spent and $6 of that was for shipping. An oddity at the ruger site was the LC380 recoil springs are not listed, I sent email got reply to call them to order because serial# of pistol is needed, it looks like ruger changed the recoil spring rates for the 380 during production.
The 2 recoil springs for the LC9 were about 1/4" longer than the 2 recoil springs for the LC380. I tried compressing them by hand and could not tell any difference between the 9/380 springs but my fingers are not a good spring gauge.
I figured what the hell first let's just try both 9m springs in the 380 and see what happens. Surprise it cycled the ammo fine, I shot about 50rds of low budget "geco" target ammo and the recoil was reduced enough to be noticable but not hugely so with the 9m springs, and even more noticable for the last round when the slide locked back. With stronger 380 loads the slide should cycle fine too. Racking the slide by hand with 9m springs was fine I didn't pay attention but don't remember it being much different.
So I'm glad I tried this project and definitely recommend swapping the 380 recoil springs for the LC9 recoil springs. I don't know about what ruger changed for the 380 recoil springs per serial# mine starts with 326-
Stiffer springs mean that the slide will be hitting the barrel breach harder than Ruger intended. Might want to watch it over time to see if there are any ill effects to barrel or slide.
hmmm... ruger also sells the 9m conversion kit for lc380 which includes a new slide. I wonder if the 9m slide is heavier than 380 slide or does it just have different markings ? The weight listed at ruger website is same for both 380/9 = 17.2z The 9m recoils much more than 380 per the genitron.com website, 380 = 3.7ft/lbs 9m = 7.7ft/lbs which is quite a big jump. The conversion kit also includes a new barrel but still i'm hoping the lc380 barrel will be able to handle the 9m springs. I guess I will find out sooner or later
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