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Old January 10, 2019, 06:36 PM   #26
Walt Sherrill
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dahermit
These steels are generally low-alloy manganese, medium-carbon steel or high-carbon steel with a very high yield strength.
I noticed that you left off the LAST part of the sentence you quoted... Was that an accident? The part you didn't quote fully said: "These steels are generally low-alloy manganese, medium-carbon steel or high-carbon steel with a very high yield strength. " Not all high-carbon steels have a very high yield strength. The High-Carbon steels that don't have a high yield strength (the ability to be compressed or stretched but return to it's original form) can be brittle, shatter, or break easily. That is not a good trait for a magazine spring.

The same article goes on to say that spring steels have very predictable yield points -- and that is not the case for ALL high-carbon steels. Most coil springs apparently are made of alloys and the manganese is one of the metals used n the mix to allow more flexibility.

Bill DeShivs uses high-carbon steel in the springs he makes, but I wonder how many magazine springs he routinely makes? I know he makes springs for knives and some older guns, but he hasn't talked much about his experience with magazine springs.

Coil magazines springs, by design, both bend and twist, and the work done is spread more uniformly throughout the spring material than is the case with leaf springs.

Wikipedia also says:
High Carbon Steel. High carbon steels, as their name suggests, are steels with high carbon content. ... It also makes it less ductile and weldable than ordinary steel, and it becomes much more brittle as a result of its impurities.
As best I can tell, most of the high-carbon steels used in gun spring applications are alloys, with other metals used to give them the flexibility/ductility needed to create a reliable and long-lived spring.

Last edited by Walt Sherrill; January 10, 2019 at 07:24 PM.
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Old January 10, 2019, 07:52 PM   #27
dahermit
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No, I did not leave off "the rest" for any nefarious reason. I am just getting tired of this line of debate. The issue is, are some springs made from high carbon steel (plane or alloy), and the answer is yes, they are.

Quote:
Bill DeShivs uses high-carbon steel in the springs he makes, but I wonder how many magazine springs he routinely makes? I know he makes springs for knives and some older guns, but he hasn't talked much about his experience with magazine springs.
One can envision him making relatively large springs (larger than magazine springs) out of high carbon steel. However, in case you do not know, fine wire springs as in magazines are not shaped and forged with heat, but wound cold around a mandrel.

But, if you want the last word, go ahead and take it.

Last edited by dahermit; January 10, 2019 at 07:58 PM.
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Old January 10, 2019, 08:37 PM   #28
lll Otto lll
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Originally Posted by cw308 View Post
Using this magazine for practice only , I only load 5 in the magazine anyway so I was thinking if I dropped a block 1/2" high at the base of the mag wouldn't that tighten the spring to fire the fifth round 100% until new springs arrixe ?
Huh? Don't you stock spare mags for your pistols? I cant imagine why anyone would want to jerry-rig a magazine.
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Old January 10, 2019, 10:09 PM   #29
cw308
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To use it until the springs arrive , I have two mags , instead of ordering the springs when the first spring weakened , I'm the jerk that waited until the second went . Won't happen again.
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Old January 11, 2019, 07:49 PM   #30
Walt Sherrill
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Originally Posted by ||| Oto |||
Huh? Don't you stock spare mags for your pistols? I cant imagine why anyone would want to jerry-rig a magazine.
I wouldn't jury-rig a magazine spring either, but I don't keep a bunch of spare magazines springs on hand -- I keep spare magazines on hand. (And when a mag spring goes bad, that's when I order a couple more springs.)

Our poster, however,doesn't have extras mags or extra springs -- but he learned why that's a better option.

Last edited by Walt Sherrill; January 14, 2019 at 12:19 PM.
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