Ballistics Question

Re: springs

I read a lot of other forums and the overwhelming concensus is that springs will lose their 'spring' much more quickly with use than if they stay compressed.

A lot of the comments were substantiated by people who have a good back ground in metalurgy.

They say that the flexing of the spring is what causes the resistance in the metal to eventually fatigue and that keeping it under pressure is not much worse than leaving it in its natural unsprung state.

This seems to be born out by old magazines that have been left loaded for 50-100 years and they still function fine.

Also consider that recoil springs in semi pistols weaken after x number of rounds and need to be replaced occasional for dependable service.

I agree with this based on the logic of the stuff I've read over the years.
 
Coyote33 said:
Nickle said:
... the 9mm may be marginal in a military application, but fully functional in a civilian application, assuming the shooter is a decent shot. ...

Wait, I thought the military chose 9mm after a lengthy period. Are you saying they were wrong in doing so?

It's a matter of pro's and con's. I'm not going to sit here I say I know why the military choose 9mm but a few things make sense.

First off, 9mm is Nato. And, by such, is in a greater number of supply in almost any part of the world. This is a serious consideration when needing to find ammo for your side arm (or long arm 5.56) in some shit-hole part of the world. It is lighter to hump (carry, to you civillians) and allows for more mag. capacity.

The down fall is the type of bullet the U.S. military is regulated to carry. The 124 gr. hard ball is just not the best. Still, as an overall weapon and round, I would choose the 9mm. However, in a specialized scenario - short term contact with plenty of resupply - I would probably choose an accurized .45.
 
(Is it better to hit someone with 3 puny rounds, or 1 round that knocks them out of the fight?)

The above is bunk.

The rest of the article pretty much goes in line with what I learned and experienced in the Corps.
 
I believe that was meant to be question for the reader.

Quote:
(Is it better to hit someone with 3 puny rounds, or 1 round that knocks them out of the fight?)

I was already back to being a civilian before all of the testing was done but wasnt part of going with the 9mm to have a standard nato round?

Just curious because I didnt see that mentioned in the article.
 
Coyote33 said:
Wait, I thought the military chose 9mm after a lengthy period. Are you saying they were wrong in doing so?

Yup. They're starting to as well. They're looking into 40 S&W, but since they change so slowly, don't bet on it happening soon.

Remember, though, military use and civilian self defense use are totally different uses. I use a 9 for my carry weapon, and I would rather have a better set-up than an M9 for military usage. The Beretta is OK, though I don't care for it, but a 40 would be better.
 
And, as to storing loaded mags, I agree with Tony. I use different mags for practice and carry. I leave the carry mags loaded, and unload/reload them every few months, just to check the ammo.
 
Background: The 9mm Pistol Program was a Congressionally-directed Non-Developmental Initiative to standardize DoD with NATO and field one handgun for all United States armed services.

Well congress directed it so it must be good. [roll]
 
There is one problem with leaving your carry Mags loaded and rotating every few months. The problem is that each time a round is chambered the bullet will or may set back a small amount. If you chamber the same round a number of times and compare it with an new unchambered round, you will, most likely, find that the round is shorter. This will vary with the ammo maked and lot. The safest way to ensure that your carry ammo is good to go, is to never chamber more that once. For me, once a round has been chambered it is never to be used as carry ammo and is used for practice.
 
That doesn't sound bad... Then every time you unload your gun, you end up with an extra round of "Practice Carry Ammo" to shoot the next time you do practice with your carry ammo which should be fairly often RIGHT FOLKS?!?!
 
Jim,

We used to use the same round and chamber it manually (drop in the tube and relaese the slide) until it was noticably set back. This ensures no feed problems by having a 'shorty' in the stack.
 
Speaking of that...

I was reading somewhere that loading your first round in that manner could damage the extractor. The correct way of chambering a round to run in full capacity of the gun, would be to fully load the mag, insert into gun, release the slide, drop the mag and add one more round back in...

I think I read this in my Kahr manual... Just wondering if it's because of their proprietary extractor system, or if it could damage the extractor on any weapon...

Adam
 
Adam_MA said:
Speaking of that...

I was reading somewhere that loading your first round in that manner could damage the extractor. The correct way of chambering a round to run in full capacity of the gun, would be to fully load the mag, insert into gun, release the slide, drop the mag and add one more round back in...

I think I read this in my Kahr manual... Just wondering if it's because of their proprietary extractor system, or if it could damage the extractor on any weapon...

Adam

Depends on the extractor. Most modern guns (long and short) tolerate it. Just so you know, 98 Mausers, Springfields and 1917 Enfields do NOT tolerate it.
 
Adam_MA said:
Speaking of that...

I was reading somewhere that loading your first round in that manner could damage the extractor. The correct way of chambering a round to run in full capacity of the gun, would be to fully load the mag, insert into gun, release the slide, drop the mag and add one more round back in...

I think I read this in my Kahr manual... Just wondering if it's because of their proprietary extractor system, or if it could damage the extractor on any weapon...

Adam

I knew this would come up. I, nor anyone I've know of has ever had a problem doing this for years. Along with using the slide release to release the slide.

Maybe we shouldn't shoot bullets through them - it leads to high chamber pressures and my eventually wear out barrels, springs, etc.

(The above sarcasm is not directed at you, Adam.)
 
Adam_MA said:
That doesn't sound bad... Then every time you unload your gun, you end up with an extra round of "Practice Carry Ammo" to shoot the next time you do practice with your carry ammo which should be fairly often RIGHT FOLKS?!?!

Actually I don't with the 9mm. My carry ammo is pricey, and the stuff I make is close to the same.

I do rotate rounds, though, so I don't continuously use the same first round. But then again, I don't live in a high crime area where I have to carry all the time.
 
Nickle said:
But then again, I don't live in a high crime area where I have to carry all the time.

The area I live isn't considered a high crime area, however I choose to carry all the time..

With my luck, the one time I say to myself (naaa I don't need it, I'm just running to the store) will be the one time that some crack head junkie freak will run into the store and start killing people one by one...

But that's just me
Adam
 
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