Need help w/ammo

unspellable · 03-07-2005, 05:20 PM

I finally gave in and got a Ruger Blackhawk with a 9 mm cylinder to burn off all the oddball crap I've accumulated.

As for my 9 mm Lugers, they don't give me any trouble if the ammo is right. In course of time I've learned that the bullet nose profile and cartrdige OAL have more to do with it than how hot the load is. A soft recoil spring will work with soft loads. But beware hot loads, they will over stress the toggle knobs. A stiff recoil spring will not correct this. The stiffness of the recoil spring has little effect on reducing the slide velocity, where it must match the impulse of the load and the slide velocity is in bringing the slide to a stop at its rearmost travel.

I have some drawings of the original recoil springs. The replacement springs sold by Wolffe do NOT match the originals. Among other things there free length is much longer than the original. Which is not to say they will not work.

Also, when mentioning hot or mild loads here, I'm talking about the impulse, not the pressure. Excess pressure may blow the gun apart but it has nothing to do with how the action works. The figure of merit for the load as far as working the action properly is the impulse.

03-07-2005, 05:20 PM	#10
unspellable User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 769 Thanks: 0 Thanked 20 Times in 12 Posts	I finally gave in and got a Ruger Blackhawk with a 9 mm cylinder to burn off all the oddball crap I've accumulated. As for my 9 mm Lugers, they don't give me any trouble if the ammo is right. In course of time I've learned that the bullet nose profile and cartrdige OAL have more to do with it than how hot the load is. A soft recoil spring will work with soft loads. But beware hot loads, they will over stress the toggle knobs. A stiff recoil spring will not correct this. The stiffness of the recoil spring has little effect on reducing the slide velocity, where it must match the impulse of the load and the slide velocity is in bringing the slide to a stop at its rearmost travel. I have some drawings of the original recoil springs. The replacement springs sold by Wolffe do NOT match the originals. Among other things there free length is much longer than the original. Which is not to say they will not work. Also, when mentioning hot or mild loads here, I'm talking about the impulse, not the pressure. Excess pressure may blow the gun apart but it has nothing to do with how the action works. The figure of merit for the load as far as working the action properly is the impulse.