P229 Recoil spring breakage

[Tank229]

I was giving my p229 a once over before shooting an IDPA match tonight and noticed one wire in my recoil spring has snapped. I shot 100+rds yesterday and I'm not sure if it happened during or before. Gun functioned fine while shooting. I'm estimating between 4k-5k rounds through it. Gun was purchased in late '09.


Would this be safe to shoot? And also, is this a normal parts breakage for estimated round count and gun?


Thank you!

[Odin Bravo One]

Recoil spring should be changed at about 5k. Give or take. I am sure someone here knows the actual suggested replacement interval.

Safe to shoot? Yup.

As in, your gun won't explode.

But it probably won't work right for very long. If at all. When I broke my last 226 recoil spring, I started having a lot of malfunctions, prompting the disassembly, inspection, and discovery of said broken spring. By the time I got around to finding it, both halves were intertwined, and it was a hot mess to get the gun apart.

[ToddG]

I'd recommend changing the spring as soon as convenient. The gun will most likely function fine for many rounds as-is, but why risk a reliability problem that may cost your life? If nothing else, reduced recoil spring tension means accelerated wear on the gun.

I'd recommend changing the recoil spring every 5k rounds.

[Tank229]

No failure at IDPA. Will definitely be getting a new spring this week.

Thanks again.