Yellow Paint on Front part of Recoil Spring M&P9C

[Bengal07]

Does the yellow paint on the front of my M&P9C recoil spring serve any function----or is it there to prevent an old 68 year old man like me from doing something stupid like putting the part in backwards. Sort of like trying to zip your fly before holstering your weapon (disastrous results)

I ask because the paint has been peeling off mine since the first day I cleaned it------it is only 3 months old

 

[patbelly]

I don't think it serves any function. My M&P40c is less than a year old and the paint n the recoil spring has worn off quite a bit. BTW, funny post.

 

[SurgicalShark]

The paint on the spring is for the assembly line, easier to sort that way.

ie. Different parts for different guns

S&W M&P FS 9/357/40/45, 40PRO, 40C, All perfected with Apex!

 

[lanman_cw]

The 40c also has yellow paint. The FS has blue, I believe, the 45c has red paint and I'm not sure about the FS 45 but it is to sort the springs easier.

 

[Fastbolt]

S&W has color-coded many of their recoil & magazine springs for years.

Sometimes the whole spring is painted, and other times just part of it.

As has been mentioned, the color makes it easy to identify the correct recoil spring assembly for the different M&P pistols during production.

I wouldn't use the painted end to identify front/rear orientation when installing the recoil spring assembly after field-stripping, as I've seen the painted ends of the spring end up at different ends of the assembled units. I was told that this might occasionally happen when the vendor makes batch runs for S&W.

FWIW, the flat wound recoil springs used in the 3rd gen CS series have always had the entire spring painted (but they're rather short). The 3913/CS9/4040PD magazine springs used to be completely painted (light red), but the last few batches I've received have only had one half painted.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Does the yellow paint on the front of my M&P9C recoil spring serve any function----or is it there to prevent an old 68 year old man like me from doing something stupid like putting the part in backwards. Sort of like trying to zip your fly before holstering your weapon (disastrous results)

I ask because the paint has been peeling off mine since the first day I cleaned it------it is only 3 months old

I believe it is a way for the assemblers at the factory and the parts department to readily tell the correct recoil spring assembly from one model to the next, but I am not completely sure of this, and someone who has been to the factory can and will probably chime in and correct me.

 

[BIGMAC116]

The first time I field striped mine, the yellow paint flakes were all over the place. Now there's no yellow anywhere.