[FCross7]

I'll finally be picking up my Springfield Loaded on Thursday. These last two weeks since I put it on layaway have just crawled by. I was browsing through Brownell's last night looking at what all they have just to see what there was. I have a question though. I know many of you guys have a parts box on hand full of the things that may need replacing. What are some of the parts that you guys keep? I would assume at least one extra set of all the springs, maybe an extractor and an ejector, but what else? I'm looking to put together one of these parts boxes, but I"m not sure what all I should keep on hand.

Thanks for any help.

-Fred

[danf_fl]

Immediate needs:
Springs

Then I look at what is used a lot:
Thumb safety,
Slide release
Extractor
Firing pin
Hammer
Sear
Disconnector

And last:
everything else

[NGIB]

Dan covered it very well. A couple of sets of springs are a must, as is an extractor and slide release. The other parts are important as well but these are the must haves.

You're going to have fun with it Fred and you'll be stunned at how good a shooter you are...

[FCross7]

Sweet. That's kind of what I was thinking, just wanted to be sure. Once I get it and get the initial 500 rounds through it, there are some things I'll be swapping out, the first being the MSH and all related parts. Namely because I want to get rid of the ILS, and also because I want to drop down to a 23# hammer spring from the 28#.

The next thing on the list will be some of the MIM parts, probably the sear and hammer first, then on to the slide stop and thumb safety. I know that Springfield uses some of the best quality MIM parts, and chances are they would never give me any problems, but I still would rather not have them.

Another thing I wanna switch out is the FLGR. It's not that I have anything against them, and I know that some people prefer them, but I don't like the idea of having to have an Allen Wrench to disassemble the weapon.

One question I have though is for the sear, hammer, slide stop, etc; between Ed Brown, Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Custom, is there one manufacturer I should go with over the others, or are they all fairly comparable?

Thanks again for any info.

-Fred

[CA357]

When it comes to quality parts, I think it becomes brand loyalty more than differences in quality. Those are all top of the line names. Let me throw another one into the mix: Cylinder & Slide.

Wolff is my personal preference for springs. You can buy a complete spring kit from them if you'd like.

I'd also suggest a full set or two of pins. Brownell's, Midway, Numrich or whoever your favorite parts outfit is will have them.

Springs and pins are cheap in the long term.

[FCross7]

Originally Posted by CA357

When it comes to quality parts, I think it becomes brand loyalty more than differences in quality. Those are all top of the line names. Let me throw another one into the mix: Cylinder & Slide.

Wolff is my personal preference for springs. You can buy a complete spring kit from them if you'd like.

I'd also suggest a full set or two of pins. Brownell's, Midway, Numrich or whoever your favorite parts outfit is will have them.

Springs and pins are cheap in the long term.

I've got a couple things bookmarked from C&S, but will definitely give them a better look. I was also looking at some stuff from EGW. I was just using those 3 as an example. But I figured all the big names companies make a high quality product.

The thing that made my decision in some cases was the finish they had the parts in. For instance, Nighthawk was the only company I saw that had a blued hammer, all the others I saw were stainless, and I figured since I was going with a Nighthawk hammer, I'd just get a sear from them. The MSH I went with is an Ed Brown, there quite a few Wilson parts as well as a couple from EGW and C&S. So I'll get a chance to see products from all the big companies.

I'll ad a set of pins to the list as well. That's a good one that I didn't think of.

-Fred

[M14sRock]

Bear in mind that an SAI does not use a standard 1911 (.45) firing pin. Brownells has them, though.

I prefer the Ed Brown parts above all else, but C&S is good stuff.

My spare parts box is full of everything but spare frames. It is a sickness...

Enjoy the ride.

[danf_fl]

When you reduce the weight of one spring in the setup, are you aware of the result?

The hammer spring is used with the recoil spring to reduce the force the slide has going to the rear. Also, a lighter hammer spring could induce lighter hits on the primer.

[Gloves]

Wait, wait wait. ...

How often do you need to repalce these other parts (excluding the main spring)?
Are these just incase of damage? Or do these parts have a service-life that I don't konw
about and the manual doesn't mention?

[DrumJunkie]

It's not very common in my instances to have to replace a main spring. I do keep spare(s). The main things I've found are must have are recoil springs. I have to ALWAYS have at least one new one to use as a comparison to the one I"m looking at from in a pistol. It gets three coils short it has to go. I will usually always have things in my box to replace everything once. But from my
experiences it's that one spring that I'll be replacing long before anything else looks to become a problem.