Mattv2099 tries it out:
I am actually surprised this worked. I’m surprised because as he demonstrated the slide doesn’t go all the way forward, and it’s just sloppy and flops around.
Thoughts?
Firing A Glock Without Recoil Spring
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I love it when it’s just sloppy and flops around.
1911Tuner (a moderator over on TheHighRoad) has mentioned several times that he has fired 1911s without recoil springs repeatedly to prove that it can be done, and that it does not cause added frame damage.
The truth about recoil springs, is that their primary reason for existence is to return the slide to battery, NOT protect the frame as some people think.
How often is repeatedly?
You could fire an AK without a recoil spring, but the bolt hitting the rear trunnion going to cause peening quickly. It’s a common problem seen on overgassed builds.
In one instance, a little over 100 rounds with an alloy framed Commander.
One of the points he has always tried to get across is that extra-power recoil springs and recoil buffers you see some people buying are not needed to protect the frame, as the frame was designed to take the impact.
Seems like a fun way to try and have an out of battery detonation. I’m not familiar enough with Glocks to know if they have a disconnect, but I’d be very hesitant to fire a pistol that wasn’t fully locked up.
I’m with you. I was half expecting that thing to come apart in his hands. Part of the job of the recoil spring is to keep the chamber closed until the pressure in the chamber is enough to lock the gun up when the case jams the slide against the locking block.
Other than needing to use it to keep from being eaten by a bear, while I was cleaning it and just dropped my only recoil spring down a well, I don’t see any practical application to knowing this that I would risk trying it in my own bare hand.
A gun vice and long string would have accomplished the same thing at lower risk.
The fact that while the breach was locked the slide and barrel didn’t go fully forward means there is a slight time delay provided by the spring before the barrel begins to cam down and unlock. A really hot load might cause case rupture, if not in the 9mm with a fully supported chamber, then certainly with the .45ACP where the feed ramp creates a gap under the round. I’ve seen photos of .45 brass blown out near the rim, from hot handloads. The 9mm has much thicker case webs than the .45ACP.
Every microsecond counts in chamber pressure dissipating before the breach unlocks. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS.