Blue Recoil Spring

[Unit505]

As some of you know, I'm doing a little project with the CCI Quiets and have been working on getting the firing pin to reset. Currently the 15-22 will cycle the quiets, but will not reset the firing pin.

Today, I got my new recoil spring in and it is a blue spring that is probably 5 coils longer than the factory recoil spring. Hard to tell if it is stiffer than the factory spring, but it appears a little beefier. I ordered a new recoil spring so that I could do some adjusting on it and see if I can lighten the bolt just enough to reset the trigger for subsonic loads.

Which recoil spring is the better of the two for standard and HV ammunition? The Blue or the factory recoil spring? The better of the two is what I plan on leaving alone.

 

[CJ45lc]

My guess would be the blue spring would be the better, if I'm not mistaken it's the newest model & I don't believe S&W changed them just for the hell of it....JMO

 

[Gopher Slayer]

The blue spring is the stronger one. S&W switched to them to help with the OOB discharge issues.

Play around with the old one.

 

[tacticool22]

Reset the firing pin? There is a spring around the pin, inside the bolt that sends it to the furthest back position as soon as the hammer stops pushing on it.
You could try the JP Reduced-power springs too.
A softer recoil spring and hammer spring should allow the bolt to travel the full distance more easily. You could try putting a pistol bolt in too, or machine your current one to the pistol configuration.

 

[Unit505]

Well, I just got back from the range and have not made any changes to the recoil spring. I did the 15 minute trigger job and the result was 1-2 light strikes per mag. I fired around 300 rounds and got around 20 light strikes. Every round that fired left a deep indention in the casing and every round that did not fire barely touched the casing. Not sure I understand the light strikes on some rounds and nice deep penetration on all others. I need to order two sets of springs now. Guess I'll try the JP Yellow reduced power springs and if I continue to have light strikes, I'll go back with the factory springs and cancel this mod. If I can't have a reliable trigger, then there's no reason to pursue anything else. Pretty disappointed that the trigger pull felt fantastic, but the reliability was poor. There are a couple of you guys that have preached about the issues with the 15 minute trigger job, so go ahead and deliver the well deserved "I told you So's". Lol

 

[photoracer]

Lighter hammer springs increase the chance of light strikes because it reduces the power of the hammer. The recoil spring power does affect the ammo used. A lighter recoil spring for slower ammo.
Chances are if you respring it for SV type ammo (includes 22 match, subsonic and other ammo in the sub 1100 FPS range) you may find it will start doing the OOB issues and risk the possibility of blowing the extractors out of the bolt if you switch to HV or hyper velocity ammo. Just a friendly warning.

 

[Unit505]

Thanks for the warning. I am aware of the OOB issues. My plans were to build a completely different bolt assembly to swap out when shooting CCI Quiets and other sub sonics. The thing I love about the idea is that it only take a minute to swap out the bolt assembly. If this is something that I can get right, I'll have a dedicated bolt assembly and mag both marked for backyard plinking. When I'm done, the standard bolt and mags go back into the gun for the neighborhood zombies. Lol

 

[Gunzilla]

Here's my suggestion: SELL the subsonic ammo and shoot what the weapon was designed for.

Not sure why anyone would want to screw around with something a firearms engineer spent years to develop.

Just what are you trying to accomplish by shooting the subsonic ammo, and why is it so important that you would compromise safety?

 

[Unit505]

Number one, I have a whole other thread on this and what makes you think that I am compromising safety with such little posted information?

There are tons and tons of posts on here dealing with items that the 15-22 was not designed to do. I have taken full consideration to safety including a shooting vice with a remote trigger operation where the testing and reliability will be completed. Why do I want to shoot subsonic ammo? Because I do some backyard shooting, in a safe area and direction into a trap and don't want to hear the BS from the new neighbors that don't understand that we've been killing squirrel and rabbits and snakes in our yards for 40 years.

Nothing in this world would have ever been improved upon if you settle for what you have in hand. I WANT to see if I can IMPROVE upon the design that will allow me to interchange bolt assemblies for various ammunition.

Please don't make accusations of neglecting safety issues. You have no idea and are jumping to conclusions. I am risking nothing but the gun itself. My reliability testing will consists of hundreds of rounds, not a single round which is what you get when you send a firearm in to the manufacturer for repair.

 

[Unit505]

I ordered a second set of fcg springs today from S&W. $6.50 shipped. I should have those By the first of next week. My local tactical shop will have some firing pin springs in today or tomorrow. Once I find a reliable balance, if I do, I'll order another bolt assembly and have it marked for standard ammo and the modified bolt marked for subs. Thank u for the input.

 

[Plumbago]

Unit 505: Since you have lightened your hammer spring, you will most likly need to lighten the fireing pin rebound spring to get past the light strike issue.....If I were to try to make the weapon fully functional with the CCI Quiets, I'd get a couple spare recoil springs and simply try and reduce the bolt tension by removing a coil or two at a time until the weapon fires the Quiets as desired.....Be sure to replace the spring(s) with factory springs to return fireing standard or high velocity rounds....best regards Plum

 

[Unit505]

Unit 505: Since you have lightened your hammer spring, you will most likly need to lighten the fireing pin rebound spring to get past the light strike issue.....If I were to try to make the weapon fully functional with the CCI Quiets, I'd get a couple spare recoil springs and simply try and reduce the bolt tension by removing a coil or two at a time until the weapon fires the Quiets as desired.....Be sure to replace the spring(s) with factory springs to return fireing standard or high velocity rounds....best regards Plum

Thanks for the input. I'm not worried about putting HV ammo through the rifle with this modification because I will be utilizing a completely stock bolt assembly including the recoil spring and firing pin spring when I'm not sitting in the window plinking into my bullet trap or zapping squirrels. If the rifle walks out of the house it will have a stock bolt assembly ready to handle standard and hv ammo. I will have 2/TWO bolt assemblies. One will be clearly marked - SUBS ONLY and One clearly marked - STOCK BOLT. If I elected to go with a single bolt assembly, it would create the issue of having to swap coil and firing pin springs anytime I wanted to swap ammo types and that would not be worth the time and effort

 

[photoracer]

Thanks for the warning. I am aware of the OOB issues. My plans were to build a completely different bolt assembly to swap out when shooting CCI Quiets and other sub sonics. The thing I love about the idea is that it only take a minute to swap out the bolt assembly. If this is something that I can get right, I'll have a dedicated bolt assembly and mag both marked for backyard plinking. When I'm done, the standard bolt and mags go back into the gun for the neighborhood zombies. Lol

Ok I can understand that. I suggest you mark each one different visually so that you can tell which one is in the gun by just looking into the ejection port. And tell anyone else who will be around it so they will know also. I'd much rather read your posts than read about you in the news.

 

[Unit505]

If it works out, I've got a friend that works at an engraving shop. I'm going to have the modified bolt engraved with professional looking "Subsonic" where it can be seen with the bolt closed.

 

[Gopher Slayer]

Have you talked to Smith and Wesson about buying a spare bolt assembly?

I didn't think they would do that.

 

[Gunzilla]

There are tons and tons of posts on here dealing with items that the 15-22 was not designed to do.

Maybe, but I've not seen any that are trying to drastically change the ballistic shooting characteristics of a factory design.

If all you're doing is killing pests it would seem you need another tool for that job if you plan to shoot sub-sonic ammo....it surely beats making modifications to a weapon that poorly meets the accuracy standards required for the task.

Why would anyone need a semi-auto .22 for the task at hand, especially when there are far better choices? Think about it....If you do miss with the first round most targets will be long gone (or sprinting for cover) before you get a second chance.

My guess is you'll eventually spend enough money and time to have afforded a nice little .22 pump or bolt action rifle that would have better accuracy and require no mods to get it to work.

Being a mechanic I can best relate this to 'using the proper tool for the job'.....and only making modifications if that tool is not currently on the market.....but that's just me.

...and if you're serious about using it on neighborhood 'zombies' then you truly have selected the wrong tool. The best thing about the 15-22 is that it is the best training tool for those owning an AR15, it should never be considered a primary weapons system for any SHTF situation.

 

[Unit505]

Have you talked to Smith and Wesson about buying a spare bolt assembly?

I didn't think they would do that.

The guy I talked to when I ordered the fcg springs said that it was available if needed. I didn't get a price yet.