I recently acquired two PD trade-in P226 guns.

Each has a BRAIDED recoil spring.

One in 9mm, and with the braided ORANGE painted recoil spring.
One in .40 S&W, and with the braided green (I think) painted recoil spring. The paint is mostly worn off.

I also have a .357 SIG factory barrel inbound.

I'm an experienced handloader. I intend to load a lot of rounds for punching paper. So I probably will load some of the paper-loads pretty mild -- a little BELOW normal power. I'll also load a bunch of rounds that will be "standard" pressure. I *might* experiment with a few rounds a little hotter - especially the .40 S&W. Something with a little more jazz than Remington white-box range ammo anyway.

I'm looking at replacing the recoil springs just on the general principle of periodic replacement of springs that see lots of cycles - and I'd like to be able to "tune" the gun to account for significantly-light or significantly-heavy handloads.

My usual go-to for any gunsprings is Wollf Gunsprings.
I see they have "calibration" packs that contain several heavier springs or several lighter springs.
See https://www.gunsprings.com/SIG-SAUER+(SIGARMS)/P226/cID1/mID4/dID254

When I look at the Wollf website for the P226 guns I have two questions.

Question #1:
What's up with the "VARIABLE" recoil springs?

I googled and read some forum posts, and I really didn't see any coherent responses. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. I wasn't surprised that some of the posts stirred up prickly remarks that turned on appeal-to-authority logic that is quick to shout-down any question that even vaguely suggests that the OP might do something other than install a GENUINE SIG/SAUER part.

I don't want to install a "variable" recoil spring unless that is what I'm supposed to do. In the context of a P226, I have no idea what they are talking about in the context of "variable" recoil spring.

The Wollf site doesn't give any guidance on the issue. No information on what even makes a spring "variable."
The site just lists two choices of style of spring.
No description of what they look like, or how one is distinguished from the other after they come out of the wrapper.
**Choice #1 is "CONVENTIONAL"
**Choice #2 is "VARIABLE"


QUESTION #2:

Is there any SIGNIFICANT issue of superiority of braided springs versus ordinary "wire" springs?

I guess I'd kinda like to replace the existing braided springs with braided springs just for the sake of maintaining original appearance. But I suspect none of the Wollf springs are braided. Which gets me back to the question of "What the heck is a variable spring?"

Or is the question essentially moot because (and I don't know this for certain) SIG doesn't even use braided springs anymore because (again, I don't know for sure) SIG got a sharp stick in the eye with a batch of shit braided springs, and decided braided springs were never needed in the first place?

Random quote from discussion of this subject on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SigSauer/comments/xbwlax/sig_classic_braided_vs_solid_recoil_springs/

"I wouldn't really think anything of it... but I have AGI videos (gunsmith training videos) and they have lots of videos on specific models of firearms run by an old gunsmith who does seem to know what he is talking about.

In the sig video... he makes special mention of the braided springs and how you normally would never want a recoil spring to bind. But that the sig is designed for the spring to bottom out before the slide hits the frame. Braided springs are supposed to be able to handle this better than single wire springs.

Anyone know if using single wire leads to more wear for the frame? Does sig perhaps plan one day to revisit these springs... or are classic pistols just not much of a concern to them nowadays? Seems like the original sig design was for this to absolutely be a braided spring... and I wonder if Sig USA has decided it sucks.. but whatever.. they cant get decent springs anymore."

I didn't want to necro-post into an existing thread in any of the SIG forums, and for that matter, I don't need an appeal-to-authority lecture about the indisputable superiority of anything "original from the factory" from some guy who probably last owned a SIG 20 years ago. I prefer to stay off Reddit unless I'm looking for prons.

So am I gonna go to hell if I replace the old braided springs with new plain wire springs, and WTF is this thing about "variable" springs?

Interested in what y'all know or think about these issues.


Relevant screenshots from the Wollf Gunsprings site:

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I'll just note that i like to replace the springs on used guns i pick up.

I did a wolff recoil spring on one of my p226's, everything seemed fine until i took it to the range.

Randomly the spring would get stuck between the barrel and the slide, jamming the whole thing up.

I'll never use a non braided spring in my 226s again

Interesting.

I wonder whether that's the answer?

That is, the P226 is DESIGNED AROUND a braided spring.

Shapes matter?

So substitution with anything else besides a braided spring will result in failure because of issues with the spring SHAPE AND DIMENSION?

The mere load-carrying-ability of a different style of spring won't solve the dimensional issues that were created deliberately by the engineers of the original design?

That kind of makes sense.

Sig’s current replacement OEM spring for the .40 226 (that is shared with the .45 220) is flat wire.

The replacement OEM springs I have gotten for the 9mm 226 have all been braided.

That’s interesting.

Because I ordered springs from SIG yesterday.

9mm and .40

The pics on the SIG website showed braided springs for both.

I’ll report what I receive.

The SIG OEM springs arrived.

The 9mm springs are traditional braided - orange (easily mistaken for red)  paint

The .40/.357 springs are flat-wound - lime green paint

Still waiting for the Wollf springs

Oh hell, I just ordered some P226 and 229 springs from there. I know that I ordered standard ones but didn't notice the "variable" part. That site is a pain in the ass to navigate.

Have we figured out yet what “variable” even means on the Wollf site?

They have a FAQ about it. Do you have a specific question? Variable rate springs are used in all kinds of stuff.

Oh well hell, that's helpful. What works best in a pistol? What's OEM?

Thanks for the reference to the FAQ.

After reading that, it begs the question:
“Why would I choose one versus the other in this singular, and well-defined application?”

FAQ at https://www.gunsprings.com/index.php?page=FAQ#question1

"1. What is the difference between conventional and variable recoil springs?
The difference is both physical and operational. With a conventional spring, all the coils are spaced equally apart, except for the closed ends. In a variable recoil spring the space varies between coils with less space between coils at one end and more space between coils at the other end.

The way the two springs store energy is also different. For example if a conventional recoil spring is compressed 1/2", it might store 1 pound of energy. For every additional 1/2" this spring is compressed it would then store 1 additional pound of energy. When a variable recoil spring is compressed 1/2", it might store 1/4 pound of energy. The next half inch of compression might store 1/2 pound, the next half inch might store 3/4 pound and so on. In other words, a conventional spring stores energy on a straight line and a variable spring stores energy on a curve. If both springs are rated at 16 pounds, they will both store 16 pounds when compressed to the same working length, but the way they get to 16 pounds is different.

2. Should I use a conventional or variable spring when both are available?
The choice is often very subjective. Conventional recoil springs are particularly beneficial when shooting heavier loads where keeping the slide closed as long as possible is desired. Variable recoil springs reduce the battery load values with increasingly greater recoil load values. This results in easier unlocking, improved recoil energy storage, dampening, feeding, breaching and lockup. Variable recoil springs are particularly beneficial with compensated pistols and when using light target loads where less recoil energy is available. The "correct type" of recoil spring is best determined through experimentation and your own personal preference."

So I guess that answers that.

I guess Wolff doesn't do live inventory.

They back-ordered one of the spring packs (the lightweight set).

The heavy set arrived today. Ordinary wire wound spring (not flat or braided).

Attached File

My springs came in for my 40 P226 and 229. They are all round standard power. I looked at the sprng in the 226 and it's a braided type.