Beretta 1301 Tactical

[OlongJohnson]

When I spent three days visiting a German spring making factory, they told me that if a spring is made right in the first place, it will never sag.

[TCinVA]

Is this where the consensus is back to in the gun world? "compression wears out springs" vs "compression/expansion repeated wears out springs"?

I've been in the latter camp for a decade or two now...

All springs are not created equal.

The spring in a typical shotgun like the 870 that comes from the factory is as cheaply made as a spring can be, and they can absolutely become a problem. I run into weak mag springs causing problems in pump guns on a regular basis. They are typically thin music wire with a shitty heat treat.

Beretta uses better quality springs...but semi-autos are also even more sensitive about springs in good working order.

There is more than just the spring to be concerned about. With the spring fully compressed, there is no longer any give in the spring to absorb something like impact or vibration from the stack of shotgun shells sitting nose to tail. This can lead to the hulls being damaged over time and result in hulls mushrooming or splitting, neither of which is going to be good for function.

If you can fully load the magazine tube and then you cannot move the last shell forward at all, you have a situation where any impact is smashing those shells into one another with no relief of the pressure. On a 1301 with the Nordic tube in it loaded to capacity (which seems to be the direction most in this thread are going) you can't press the last shell forward. In the factory magazine tube with the factory spring, there's still almost 1/2 a shell's worth of movement. That is there for a reason.

Good to know. Do you recommend loading the tube fully and then hitting the shell release to get one shell onto the loader in order to save wear on the spring?

That's what I do with my own gun.

[TCinVA]

When I spent three days visiting a German spring making factory, they told me that if a spring is made right in the first place, it will never sag.

How the spring is made is the key there. Most shotgun magazine springs are made as cheaply as possible. Meaning that as a general rule, you shouldn't be counting on them having been made right in the first place. To be brutally honest, the springs going in most shotgun magazine tubes are not really suited for the purpose.

Some manufacturers are better than others. Beretta's factory magazine springs are far superior to, say, Remington's. A Wolff or Wilson upgrade on the 870 would be a marked improvement in terms of performance and longevity.

Even so, you still want to change them out once a year on a gun you rely on for defense to keep it from being a problem should you need the gun. Especially if the gun rides around in a vehicle.

I'm certified as an armorer on the Remington 870, the Mossberg 500/590 and the 1301 and the magazine spring is one of the key maintenance items mentioned heavily in all three programs.

[OlongJohnson]

If you can fully load the magazine tube and then you cannot move the last shell forward at all, you have a situation where any impact is smashing those shells into one another with no relief of the pressure. On a 1301 with the Nordic tube in it loaded to capacity (which seems to be the direction most in this thread are going) you can't press the last shell forward. In the factory magazine tube with the factory spring, there's still almost 1/2 a shell's worth of movement. That is there for a reason.

So it might be a good idea to use a standard +2 tube instead of the one that comes with the 1301 kit?

https://nordiccomp.com/categories/be...extension-kit/

[TCinVA]

So it might be a good idea to use a standard +2 tube instead of the one that comes with the 1301 kit?

https://nordiccomp.com/categories/be...extension-kit/

I have that kit on my gun. If you want the mag tube to fit flush with the barrel...and there are good reasons for that...you are essentially stuck with +2 as a max.

[GearFondler]

I have that kit on my gun. If you want the mag tube to fit flush with the barrel...and there are good reasons for that...you are essentially stuck with +2 as a max.

Is there a preferred +2 spring for replacing on an annual basis?

[TCinVA]

Is there a preferred +2 spring for replacing on an annual basis?

You can use the factory 1301 spring in the Nordic extension without trouble.

Nordic's springs have given me good service, although they do need to be properly trimmed.

Don't tell anyone, but I've even put a Wilson 870 spring in a 1301 before and the world did not end.

[OlongJohnson]

I have that kit on my gun. If you want the mag tube to fit flush with the barrel...and there are good reasons for that...you are essentially stuck with +2 as a max.

I currently have the kit as well.

Probably already been discussed before, but I'd be interested in hearing the reasons again, or being pointed to them. I remember someone (GJM?) talking about liking the extension to be slightly longer to protect the muzzle from damage, at least in an outdoor carry situation. Not planning on using it for breaching.

ETA: Just to be clear, I can understand having the tube stick out significantly past the barrel, as gamers do, could have downsides for defensive use (weapon retention, possible - though argued by some - risk of damage to the tube, etc.). But the 1/2-inch proud that Nordic says the standard tube would result in doesn't make the downsides obvious to me.

[flyrodr]

Don't tell anyone, but I've even put a Wilson 870 spring in a 1301 before and the world did not end.

But we could feel the disturbance in the Force . . .

[TCinVA]

I currently have the kit as well.

Probably already been discussed before, but I'd be interested in hearing the reasons again, or being pointed to them. I remember someone (GJM?) talking about liking the extension to be slightly longer to protect the muzzle from damage, at least in an outdoor carry situation. Not planning on using it for breaching.

ETA: Just to be clear, I can understand having the tube stick out significantly past the barrel, as gamers do, could have downsides for defensive use (weapon retention, possible - though argued by some - risk of damage to the tube, etc.). But the 1/2-inch proud that Nordic says the standard tube would result in doesn't make the downsides obvious to me.

My big concern would be damage to the magazine tube if the protrusion snags or hits something. While the muzzle getting filled with mud would suck, that's more easily dealt with than the magazine tube being bent, kinked, or ripped because the mag tube turned into a lever subjected to the weight of the rest of the gun.