Over the past 4 decades I have always ordered and kept in my personal stock, most of the common wear parts, springs, and screws for each firearm I own. This is because the ease and practicality of getting them when needed is many times an issue (due to discontinued or out of stock small parts). This holds true especially for obsolete models or guns no longer in production. I like to have the ability to just reach into my tool box of parts, pull out the proper replacement part and install it. For the most part, this has been a great practice and gets me back up and running instantly.

Yesterday I was out shooting my M1 Carbine and I was using up the last case of my Wolf steel cased ammo. I bought the Wolf ammo years ago and fully aware that steel cases sometimes do not play well with extractors and after 500 - 800 rounds fired, chips and/or wears them to the point of not properly extracting the spent cartridge case. This is what happened to me yesterday and having had to replace this extractor several times over the years while shooting Wolf steel cased ammo is not really a big deal. You will know when it needs replacement due to the issue of improper extraction and hang ups. The USGI extractor costs about $5 bucks and I saved way more than that per box of 50 rounds, so this is a no brainer. USGI extractors are available, inexpensive and so I had a few in stock. I do have the special bolt disassembly Armorers tool to this and it usually makes the job very quick & easy.

When I got home and cleaned the carbine I took the bolt apart with the tool, thoroughly cleaned it and started replacing the worn extractor and two springs in the bolt. Since I had the Wolff Spring rebuild kit in stock for the carbine, I selected the proper (2) springs for the bolt. After a minute trying to install said extractor spring it would not compress fully and I could not seat the tiny plunger into the bolt. A quick inspection revealed that the spring was the proper wire gauge but too long by 1.5 coils and the ends were raw - not ground flat like they should have been. No way it would fit into place without doing so as it was too long and not sitting flat. OK, for me that is not a big deal, and took me all of 1 minute to get it to the proper size and grind the ends flat - but what about regular guys and gals who simply don't have the knowledge, tools and ability to figure that out? They want a specialty spring company to manufacture direct replacement parts of the correct size and dimensions and not need to modify them to work. And yes, this was the proper spring selected from the the Wolff spring kit.

I have noticed this a few times before with Wolff Springs and this is not the first time I have encountered some of their "unfinished" or improperly sized springs. I also know Wolff sometimes makes replacement springs from slightly thinner diameter steel and adds a coil or two to compensate. In this particular case, a longer spring will simply not fit as the hole is shallow and will only allow the spring to compress so much with the plunger on top of it! Unfortunately, sometimes we do need their products simply because they could not be purchased elsewhere. Again, not a big deal for me, but I know some would not have been successful at getting this done quickly and properly without assistance. Why Wolff has let their QC "go to the Wolves" is unknown to me, but I can definitely see a trend. Like I said, this is not the first spring of theirs I've had issue with! Am I just unlucky or has anyone else here noticed this? I would bet professional Gun Smiths and a handful here on the Forum who routinely do their own work know exactly what I am talking about here.

Anyway, long story short, the extractor and two springs have been replaced and the carbine should now be back in action. It will get it "proofed" over the next week or so. I can't wait to finish up the Wolf steel ammo as this is the only type of ammo that causes the extractor to wear so fast! Thankfully I still have one more left still in the Cosmoline and waxed paper. I will seek out an better USGI spring set if still available. I know there was a guy online a few years ago that was still selling GI surplus parts. I believe their company was or still is Orion.

Anyway, I just had to mention this so guys here can be aware that sometimes replacement springs are not just drop in and do need a little fitting for proper fitment. I would expect that from a secondary small parts manufacturer that states ("parts might need to be fitted"), but not form a prominent spring manufacturer that doesn't. Needles to say, I was a bit disappointed in Wolff once again.

Ironic that you have posted this.

I just bought a service pack for a 1922-vintage Colt 1903 .32ACP I got earlier this month. The magazine spring is really long; I'm going to compare the coil count to the original when I disassemble the magazine. Also, same for the recoil spring, although I know it is longer than the 101-year old original. The extractor spring looks okay. However, the firing pin spring is longer, larger diameter, and smaller wire size than the original, so we'll see if it even fits on the firing pin and in the slide itself.

Update: I was only able to use the recoil spring and the firing pin spring from the service pack. The extractor spring was too big to fit in its hole, and the magazine spring had too many coils and once installed, was way too strong to load cartridges. I have some P38 recoils springs on backorder. Now I'm a little leery of how they'll be.

So out of the bazillion springs they produce, you maybe got one that was not correct.
I have purchased many springs from them over the years and never an issue. They are also the OEM for many brands of firearms


A real first world problem..Call them and explain the issue.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I too have bought many from them - but the point of the post was how the current QC seems to be slipping. I have gotten 4 or 5 bad springs over just the past 5 or 6 years. Up to 6 years go - none were ever bad. Yes, they replaced them but that was not the point - the QC is.

One of the springs I bought (for inventory) I had given to a friend that needed one for his M41. The spring severely damaged the gun and he had to fight with Wolff for a week or so before they agreed to pay S&W to repair and refinish his gun. That was way more than just getting them to send out a new one!

Up until recent times I would agree that Wolff was a top shelf manufacturer and while every manufacturer has a bad day once in a while, it is something I did not expect to see from Wolff. All I am saying is closely inspect what you get before installing. I wish this wasn't the case!

I'm the next one to say they've had a problem with Wolf-
I agree with OP.

To people ( one so far) who have NOT had a problem- good, you shouldn't have a problem.

Don't expect it to continue from the look of things over there, though.
It's the world we live in now.