Battle of the Budget Wide Bodies. BUL vs Springfield Armory!

[Tokarev]

ISMI 14# recoil spring and ISMI mag springs received.

The recoil spring is thinner wire and something like four additional coils. I assume, at least in theory, the additional coils will mean a more consistent force throughout compression.

In any case, I can't feel any difference working the action by hand. Is there enough difference in strength to help overcome whatever might otherwise stall the gun out?

What's significantly different is the mag springs. 11 coil vs 10. And they are probably 30% longer out of the tube. Granted these are brand new and un-worked. But it isn't like the Duramag springs have been through thousands of compression cycles or anything. They are essentially new also.

Loading the mags is notably different for the first three or four rounds. Quite a bit more force on the follower. And then getting the 17th round into the mags is now a huge chore. I've essentially made these into 16 round mags.

I'll leave the mags loaded over the weekend and switch leaving them snapped into the pistol to maximize compression and take some load off the feed lips. I'm sure they'll get back to being 17 rounders in a day or two.

The down side is more upward force on the feed lips also likely means more drag on the cartridge against the feed lips during feeding. But the proof will be in the shooting I guess.

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[Tokarev]

[Videol]https://youtu.be/OdnZuf7dukU[/video]

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[Tokarev]

Uh oh!

This is one of my tweaked feed lip mags with the ISMI spring. Coincidence or QC problem with Dura Mag? My bet is QC issue....

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[Tokarev]

So just north of 600 rounds fired. This includes some reloads with a 135 Berrys (USPSA minor load), a few 147 HSTs, a few Winchester Ranger 147s and a few 124 Gold Dots.

The gun runs now. I have not had a single malfunction since the 6 initial failures during my first shooting session.

Mags used are four Dura Mags. All four with feed lips set at about .350 rear and .360 front. 2 with 11-coil ISMI springs and 2 with factory springs.

The rear sight plate wants to shoot loose as does the Nightstick light. Both probably need a dab of blue thread locker. I'll probably put a dab on the screws after I give the gun a good cleaning.

Was the ISMI 14# recoil spring necessary? Probably not. But I'll leave it in the gun for now.

Not sure what to make of the cracked feed lip as pictured above. I will call SA tomorrow to see if customer service has any insight.



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[Jim Watson]

I cracked both my original Devel magazines there.
Alloy or temper.

[Tokarev]

All clean.

Partial idiot scratch during reassemble. Damn!



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[Tokarev]

Uh oh!

This is one of my tweaked feed lip mags with the ISMI spring. Coincidence or QC problem with Dura Mag? My bet is QC issue....

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I called Springfield this morning and explained that a mag had cracked. They are going to send me a new one. [emoji106]

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[Tokarev]

139 rounds fired. One malfunction which was a failure to chamber. I attribute this to a fat reload.

Ammo used was more of my 135 Berry's loaded to USPSA minor.

The issue of the iron sight plate screws was not resolved with blue locktite. Maybe applicator error. I will try again.

So probably hovering around 750 rounds total. I'm going to say no issues now in 500 rounds. Or, more correctly, no issues I attribute to the gun.

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[Tokarev]

Add another 55 rounds today. 21 of which fired from a 20rd Duramag.

F**king sight screws just won't stay tight!

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[mongooseman]

Here's a bit of info on 2011 springs. Granted he's talking mostly about the P series gun so it may or may not carry over.

Internet rumor is that the 4.25" guns are running a 12# spring and a 9# spring in the 5" guns. Either gun would probably be just fine with a spring that's two pounds heavier.



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Thanks! The last 1911 I owned was a Smith and Wesson used for duty carry. Loved everything about it except the capacity and the weight, and after a little over a year switched to HK 45s because of those shortcomings. The Prodigy will probably send me back down that rabbit hole of 1911 ownership. My round count is at 700 now and there haven’t further issues.

I contacted Springfield to get the diameter of the fiber optic for replacements (.60 if anyone needs to know). I know this was minor, but the customer service was quick and professional, and the nice young lady sent me free replacement package.