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Old May 28, 2012, 09:39 PM   #1
praetorian97
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Reloading for lightened slides

Springfield claims the following:

The Lightening cut in the slide reduces reciprocating mass which allows for faster cycling and allows a larger variety of loads to be used.

http://www.the-m-factor.com/html/compseries.html

So my question is how does the lightening of the slide allow for a wider range of loads and whats that mean?
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Old May 29, 2012, 01:23 AM   #2
zippy13
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Okay, I'll take a SWAG at it: With short recoil pistols, the reciprocation is governed by the recoil energy of the cartridge, the mass of the slide and the rate of the recoil spring. With the typical pistol, the mass of the slide and the selected spring determine the recoil range of the ammo. If the round is too light, it will fail to cycle and if it's too hot, it will slam the slide into the frame. We've all heard of using lighter springs for lighter loads.

It's the mass of the slide, hammering the frame, that causes damage. You can combine a lighter slide with a heavier spring to be equivalent to a heaver slide with a lighter spring. They will respond the same to a minimum load, but as the load increases the heavier slide will start to damage the frame before the lighter one does. So, the lighter slide allows the pistol to function over a wider range of ammo. Does that make sense?
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Old May 29, 2012, 09:15 AM   #3
praetorian97
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You lost me after Okay, I'll take a SWAG at it:



I know you typically want "hot loads" so you don't get disqualified with a low chrono as well as hotter loads give you a higher velocity.

What does a higher velocity do for you?
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Old May 29, 2012, 11:06 AM   #4
zippy13
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Quote:
What does a higher velocity do for you?
Nothing -- the most accurate load is what I'm after. I don't shoot PF events. I'm not sure why you asked your slide mass question in the reloading section, unless you were thinking that a lighter slide would let you load to a higher maximum pressure. This is not the case.

Consider a second scenario:
You have two slides and springs selected to allow the gun to cycle, without slamming the frame, at the maximum SAMMI pressure. As you lower the pressure, the heavier slide will cease cycling before the light one does.

I'm guessing, when Springfield's spec sheet says the XDm's lighter slide will allow a greater variety of loads, they mean it will function with lower power loads than a typical pistol, not that it's some sort of +P.

In the shotgun world there are a greater variety of loads typically available than with metallic cartridges. An auto shotgun that will happily shoot 3-1/2" maxi-mags will likely falter when fed 2-3/4" target loads and a gun that will cycle the new super light target loads will likely be pounded by the maxi-mag. There is quite a bit of competition among the shotgun makers to develop auto guns that will digest the broadest range of shells.
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Old May 29, 2012, 05:33 PM   #5
praetorian97
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Quote:
zippy13 -I'm not sure why you asked your slide mass question in the reloading section
I dont shoot competition but was talking to a competitive shooter that pointed it out to me. Never got around to asking why though.

Ive only been reloading for about two years and it didnt make sense to me why a lightened slide would allow me to use a hotter/higher velocity round. To rephrase that question - Why is a hotter/higher velocity round desirable? More accurate?
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Old May 29, 2012, 08:44 PM   #6
zippy13
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Quote:
it didnt make sense to me why a lightened slide would allow me to use a hotter/higher velocity round.
Your instincts were correct.
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Old June 1, 2012, 02:44 PM   #7
Ethan.G
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Quote:
What does a higher velocity do for you?
Quote:
Nothing -- the most accurate load is what I'm after.
Hahahahah oh man, best reply ever. i think this is the reply from 99% of reloaders
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