Tough Kimber mainspring

alinwa

oft dis'd member
So I'm over at a friend's house, she just bought a Kimber micro nine and the mainspring is brutal. Does anyone know is there a good softer or smoother mainspring option for the micro nine?
 
So I'm over at a friend's house, she just bought a Kimber micro nine and the mainspring is brutal. Does anyone know is there a good softer or smoother mainspring option for the micro nine?
you reduce the main spring and the recoil is a B****.....
 
I assume you mean the recoil spring

I've gone as light as 11# in a standard .45 (16-18# is typical) and while it changes the nature of the recoil, I don't think it really makes it worse. I have no experience particular to the micro-nine, but my experience with similar size guns is that they need that stout spring to operate with the shorter stroke.

In 1911 parlance the "mainspring" is the spring captured in the rear of the frame which drives the hammer. If that's what you meant, disregard my comment.

GsT
 
I have no experience particular to the micro-nine, but my experience with similar size guns is that they need that stout spring to operate with the shorter stroke.
GsT

That's one of the things about those 'micro' and super light weight pistols I dislike. The Kimbers are nice guns but particularly nasty in that regard.

For people with smaller hands and most females, I steer them to the S&W 442 for a defensive and/or concealed carry gun and have them shoot one of mine.

FWIW.....-Al
 
That's one of the things about those 'micro' and super light weight pistols I dislike. The Kimbers are nice guns but particularly nasty in that regard.

For people with smaller hands and most females, I steer them to the S&W 442 for a defensive and/or concealed carry gun and have them shoot one of mine.

FWIW.....-Al


++1
 
That's one of the things about those 'micro' and super light weight pistols I dislike. The Kimbers are nice guns but particularly nasty in that regard.

For people with smaller hands and most females, I steer them to the S&W 442 for a defensive and/or concealed carry gun and have them shoot one of mine.

FWIW.....-Al
polish p64 is a mil surplus 9x18 mak
as a mil it has a heavy trigger and terrible recoil
replace the main and slide/recoil spring with aftermarket and shoot self defense
and it is a very nice pocket pistol
they use to be cheap, not so today but still less than any micro nine built today
 
This is wonderful.... My Wife and I spent the weekend with friends and sharing these responses (and PM's) made our conversations much easier! She won't probably get rid of the Kimber (it's gorgeous) but will buy something easier to rack for her carry gun.

She is very happy.

ANY excuse to buy another gun.......((My wife is hinting that her Hellcat sometimes feels a little heavy cocking too...."maybe she needs to try one of them other ones....." ))
 
In the meantime, a member here PM'd me to suggest "she can cock the hammer before racking the slide".....


the



friggin'



DUMB!!!!!




All's I could think of is "why din't I think a that???!!!!"


Well, because I'm not a pistol guy. THANK YOU all you'se pistol guys for your help

al
 
Last edited:
I've gone as light as 11# in a standard .45 (16-18# is typical) and while it changes the nature of the recoil, I don't think it really makes it worse. I have no experience particular to the micro-nine, but my experience with similar size guns is that they need that stout spring to operate with the shorter stroke.

In 1911 parlance the "mainspring" is the spring captured in the rear of the frame which drives the hammer. If that's what you meant, disregard my comment.

GsT

Thank you Gene, of course you are right. Teach me to set in the living room at a friend's house and thumbtype on my peanut-sized Atom
 
Grip

For newbies,Improper grip can cause injury to hand from recoiling slide. A simple solution is lots of practice/familiarity with firearm.

Glenn
 
Going too light on an auto's mainspring

risks imparting damage to the gun's frame or slide. Think a Colt Gold Cup, designed for mid-range target loads being shot a lot with hardball with no change in mainspring. Not a good idea. Everything is a compromise one way or the other.
 
Last edited:
wolff springs

I got some light recoil springs from Wolff for my 1911. Helps with rackin the slide. Then you gotta shoot light loads in it if your gonna shoot it much. Im pretty much one handed and I get along with it alot better. Doug
 
This is wonderful.... My Wife and I spent the weekend with friends and sharing these responses (and PM's) made our conversations much easier! She won't probably get rid of the Kimber (it's gorgeous) but will buy something easier to rack for her carry gun.

She is very happy.

ANY excuse to buy another gun.......((My wife is hinting that her Hellcat sometimes feels a little heavy cocking too...."maybe she needs to try one of them other ones....." ))

If she is married to a mini 1911 type she’d be further ahead with a SigP238. The days of inferior .380 ammo are over, the quality defensive stuff is every bit as effective as 9mm.
That said, consider an M&P shield from the Performance Center, great tuned trigger and ported for less felt recoil.
My 238 is pretty accurate for a pocket type gun and I have a Performance Center .45 that in very nice in a IWB and shoots way over it’s pay grade
 
I'm reluctant to enter the "stopping power" fight, but c'mon...

The days of inferior .380 ammo are over, the quality defensive stuff is every bit as effective as 9mm.

Riiiiiiigggggghhhhht... And modern 9mm is just as good as .45 ACP and modern .45ACP is just as good as .44 Mag, and modern .44mag is just as good as... ... .50 BMG... ergo, modern .380 is as good as .50 BMG."

If you want to carry .380, that's a personal choice. But if you want to ***pretend*** that a smaller, slower, lighter round is just as good as a faster, more massive round, you're delusional. Period. You can pick .380 for convenience or carry-ability, but it is not, and never will be, equivalent to (even) a 9mm. It is inconceivable that a round with lesser energy, driving a lighter bullet, could beat out or equal a round with greater energy AND greater mass. That's more absurd than the folks that perennially think that 9mm is better than .45, even though reality slaps them in the face every few years.

GsT
 
Riiiiiiigggggghhhhht... And modern 9mm is just as good as .45 ACP and modern .45ACP is just as good as .44 Mag, and modern .44mag is just as good as... ... .50 BMG... ergo, modern .380 is as good as .50 BMG."

If you want to carry .380, that's a personal choice. But if you want to ***pretend*** that a smaller, slower, lighter round is just as good as a faster, more massive round, you're delusional. Period. You can pick .380 for convenience or carry-ability, but it is not, and never will be, equivalent to (even) a 9mm. It is inconceivable that a round with lesser energy, driving a lighter bullet, could beat out or equal a round with greater energy AND greater mass. That's more absurd than the folks that perennially think that 9mm is better than .45, even though reality slaps them in the face every few years.

GsT

Well the thing you need to do is, uh, educate yourself.
I tend to read American Handgunner and in particular the great articles by Masaad Ayoob who writes exclusively on law enforcement gun issues, after action gun reports, FBI tests, and on and on.
Multiple tests, many by the FBI on stopping power have reported on this, time and time again, so what I am is informed there old guy.
And although I own a .45 carry gun, because I am a big guy and shoot it well, the difference in stopping power between a 45 and 9 with proper defensive ammo is a lot closer than you’d imagine and between a380 and 9, much to my initial surprise are almost identical. So, true to fact, I have studied extensively on the subject rather than to put myself in foolish harm with a carry choice and you can pretend to be smart.
Hint… it is a pantload less about mass than ultimate terminal balistics. Lots of LE used to carry 45’s until it was realized, with regularity, they made nice clean holes through and through, those smaller, often better, slugs,expand dramatically and stop internally with full impact of energy absorption.
 
Well the thing you need to do is, uh, educate yourself.
I tend to read American Handgunner and in particular the great articles by Masaad Ayoob who writes exclusively on law enforcement gun issues, after action gun reports, FBI tests, and on and on.
Multiple tests, many by the FBI on stopping power have reported on this, time and time again, so what I am is informed there old guy.
And although I own a .45 carry gun, because I am a big guy and shoot it well, the difference in stopping power between a 45 and 9 with proper defensive ammo is a lot closer than you’d imagine and between a380 and 9, much to my initial surprise are almost identical. So, true to fact, I have studied extensively on the subject rather than to put myself in foolish harm with a carry choice and you can pretend to be smart.
Hint… it is a pantload less about mass than ultimate terminal balistics. Lots of LE used to carry 45’s until it was realized, with regularity, they made nice clean holes through and through, those smaller, often better, slugs,expand dramatically and stop internally with full impact of energy absorption.

Ayoob is a boob, and has been for a long time. His imaginings (like those of many gun writers) have little to do with reality. Neither is shooting techniques nor his legal advice have had much merit. His heyday was in the 80's - and he's pretty much ignored these days. Yes, I am an 'old guy', but I learn new tricks pretty well. You'll have to show me those "multiple tests and FBI 'stopping power' studies and all that other blather. If it's been reported on "time and again" it shouldn't be too hard to cite. I've seen many studies - none of them with your conclusions.

I'll skip past all the various (and admittedly arguable) studies that show that this round is better than that and get very specific: How on earth do you image that one round, of a specific caliber, is equal to another round, of the same caliber, that is capable of driving a larger mass at a higher velocity? I suppose you could argue that the .380 has the ideal mass and velocity, but doing so is the same as pretending that a .30-06 and a .380 are equivalent - and if you believe that, I'm wasting my breath.

Having shot a lot of targets, animate and inanimate, *I* am 100% certain that the .380 isn't even close to the 9mm, which has repeatedly demonstrated its inferiority in spite of the routine claim (that's been made every decade since the 80s) that magic bullets have evened the score. I pretty continuously evaluate handgun ammo for efficacy, and I'll admit that Hornady Critical Duty levels the playing field like no other, but it still doesn't make a .380 as good as a 9, nor a 9 as good as a .45. It *does* give them near-equal penetration (with the .380 falling a bit short), as well as expanding well after penetrating other materials, but what that (or any) technology does to improve a small caliber, it does to improve a more powerful caliber, so the .380 will never equal a 9 and the 9 will never equal a .45 and the .45 will never equal a .44 and so on...

GsT
 
Back
Top