4/10/08 - Sprinco USA, also known as Tactical Springs LLC, hails from Texas and manufactures high-quality springs and recoil reducers amongst other products. Featured here are some of Sprinco's Recoil Reducer kits. Note that we're talking about felt recoil; and more importantly muzzle jump/flip. Generally speaking, in order to reduce the recoil of a weapon, you either need to add weight to the weapon, or utilize a compensator on the barrel that redirects some of the gases to angle backwards to counteract the rearward motion of the gun (Newton's third law applies). Guide rod replacement systems like these are more 'Recoil Management' systems rather than recoil reducers, as they do not reduce the actual recoil force of the pistol.

How a firearm moves in relation to the shooter depends on quite a few variables. The height of the bore above the grip determines the moment arm which contributes to muzzle flip. For example, if you have a 10lb weight and hang it off a 1-foot long stick, it'll take much more effort to hold the stick horizontal than if the weight were hung only 2 inches from your hand. The weight hasn't changed, but its distance from you will affect the force needed to hold it out there. Where the weight of the firearm is concentrated also makes a difference - if it's closer to the hand or out by the muzzle. Adding weight at the muzzle helps reduce movement of the muzzle from recoil. That's why heavier guide rods like tungsten do work to reduce muzzle flip.

Sprinco's Recoil Management Guide Rod Systems work by utilizing a secondary spring to manage the peak recoil forces within the handgun. The secondary (or sub spring) assembly is incorporated onto a full length, heat treated, stainless steel guide rod to cushion the slide to frame impact. As the slide moves rearward, instead of bottoming out on the frame, it contacts a sleeve on the guide rod and pushes it back, compressing the secondary spring just prior to impact. This decelerates the rearward slide velocity and some of the recoil energy that would have been transmitted through the frame from the impact is used to compress the secondary spring. It's supposed to work like the shock absorbers on your car - the road vibration is absorbed by the shock instead of being transmitted to the frame of the car, so your ride feels smoother. The graduated sub spring is engineered and critically positioned in each model to ensure normal cycling and reliability. The secondary spring concept is not unique and I've seen numerous similar-looking kits. However, Sprinco's look to be the best made out of all those I've seen.

Sprinco's kits are made of 17-4 heat treated stainless steel polished to a mirror finish. In the past, I've tried a couple of other recoil reducers of similar designs, but have been turned off by the low quality and malfunctions that they induced. Sprinco's kits are of the highest quality. The polish is so good on them that some people have mistaken them for chrome plating and wonder if it'll flake or chip off. So, as far as quality of manufacturing goes, the Sprinco kits are impressive.
There are minor differences between each kit for different pistols, but in general, the guide rod necks down to a smaller diameter towards the rear. A sleeve rides on the smaller diameter portion and partially encloses a secondary chrome silicon spring which keeps the sleeve tensioned in the forward position. The sleeve and secondary spring are retained by the end cap/button which is threaded onto the guide rod and is not user-removable.

Sprinco makes kits for most popular handguns out there. Shown below are the Sprinco recoil reducer kits I got to try out:

• 1911 Full length guide rod - this comes with a replacement guide rod plug with a hole
• 1911 "short" CMP/Tactical - This is a shorter guide rod that is CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) legal. As for the 'tactical' use, the short version functions like the standard USGI guide and allows clearing of jams/stuck rounds by placing the muzzle of the pistol against a hard object (barrel over object) and pressing the slide backwards to clear the jam, if it's too difficult to rack the slide manually. You can't perform this with a full length guide rod. The standard plug is used.
• Para-ordnance P14.45 - this is the same as the 1911 full length guide rod, just marked for the specific weapon to avoid confusion.
• Glock 19/23/32 - non-captured chrome silicon standard spring included. Guide rod length for the mid-size Glock pistols
• Glock 17/22/24/31 - longer guide rod for the full size and long slide Glocks, recoil spring included.
• Browning Hi-power - Includes chrome silicon recoil spring.
• Sig P226 - replaces stock guide rod and uses stock spring.
  

Shown below are the handguns I installed the kits in.

• Stock Kimber Warrior .45 - FLGR kit
• Custom Colt 'MARS' 1911 .45 - short 1911 kit
• Custom Para-ordnance P14.45 - FLGR kit - extensively worked by Aaron Harris from Smoking Hole pistols for match use; it has a Cominolli tungsten full length guide rod in it.
• Glock 19 9mm
• Glock 24C (ported barrel) .40 S&W
• Browning Hi-power 9mm
• Sig P226 9mm

Installation of the Sprinco kits is generally as easy as installing the stock guide rod system with no modification to the firearm. They basically drop in as replacements. The full length guide rods install like any other FLGR in the 1911, and the short one installs like the standard guide. As far as full length guide rods go for the 1911, there are those that think that they're less than worthless, and are more a liability in a 1911 than an improvement. The main argument against them are the inability to do perform the clearance procedure mentioned above, and also that it's a solution to a non-problem (spring binding, etc). However, there are many other pistols that utilize full length guide rods like the Sigs, S&Ws, Glocks and Berettas in service with both the military and law enforcement and that hasn't been cause for issue. Granted, the 1911 wasn't designed with one, but there are tons of aftermarket parts it wasn't originally designed with. I'm ambivalent - if it works as good as or better than before, than that's good enough for me. But it HAS to work and not be the cause of malfunctions.

The Glock kits include springs, and the springs are non-captured. The Sig P226 kit includes a small metal forward bushing/donut that's installed onto the slide before the guide rod and spring.

When racking the slide to it most rearward position, you can feel that the slide contacts the secondary spring just before it stops, cushioning the slide to frame contact.

At the range - Seven handguns and ammo is a lot to lug to the range, so I decided to do this in two sessions and take the .45's first and try the others at a later date. I also just sent out my BHP for some gunsmithing, so I'll have to wait for that to come back.

I brought 100 rounds per pistol of .45 230gr ammo (300 total). It's amazing how quickly I went through that - it wasn't really enough. The main purpose of the test was to determine whether I could perceive any difference in felt recoil or muzzle jump. The second was to see if the kits induced any malfunctions. Note that I'm by no means a 'competition/competitive' shooter. I've shot in a few IDPA and IPSC matches, and local club steel matches, but I'm more of an average enthusiast than a very experienced or good shooter. So, when it comes to perceived recoil and muzzle jump, I'm writing from my average Joe frame of reference, who doesn't put a thousand rounds down range per week.

I didn't have a shot timer to measure split times, so this was just going to be based on my subjective 'feel'. My plan was to load up as many magazines as I could, fire one or two mags, then change out the stock guide for the Sprinco kit as fast as I could and shoot the again for comparison. I kept the same recoil spring in the pistol. I repeated the process for a few different holds - one handed, two handed, and different speeds of firing. I stuck to one pistol at a time and kept switching the guides back and forth between stock and Sprinco kit.

One handed - This is where I thought (incorrectly) that a recoil reducer would make the most difference. I fired all three pistols carefully, trying to notice before and after muzzle jump, recoil and twist, and I really couldn't make out a difference. The P14.45 had the tungsten Cominolli guide rod which puts 3 oz of weight up front, so switching it out with the Sprinco kit actually added a bit of muzzle jump as the Sprinco FLGR is lighter.

Two handed - I first started with single shots, slow fire, observing and trying to 'record' in my mind how much the pistol recoiled and jumped in my hands by carefully observing the front sight in relation to the target. I used my normal hold, squeezing with the support hand quite firmly. This is where I perceived a slight change in the impulse. It felt like the impluse was not quite as sharp as with the stock guide, on both the Warrior and MARS 1911. With the P14.45, I could not discern any difference - the Sprinco kit seemed to work identically to the heavy tungsten Cominolli rod, which has two shock buffs on it. As far as muzzle jump, I did not notice a difference with slow fire. Moving onto controlled pairs and then to faster strings, I tended to grip the pistols a bit more firmly and found that it made a difference in how it felt. I believe that I did perceive a subtle reduction in muzzle jump/recovery. Later on, when I discussed my experience with Sprinco's Alan Dugger, he said that I had discovered for myself that the firmer the shooting platform, the more efficiently the secondary spring performs. I wouldn't say it was a big difference, and it took running a few mags though repeatedly, then changing the guide out to notice the difference in impulse once I was used to how the gun felt. One or two mags wasn't enough. I expended my ammo coming to a conclusion that the Sprinco kits reduced the sharpness of the recoil stroke I felt, and a very subtle reduction in muzzle jump due to that. Not a big difference, though.
A couple of weeks later, at another range, I brought only one pistol (the MARS 1911) to concentrate on and ran another 200 rounds through it rather quickly. Again, I felt the slight difference in impulse transmitted to my hand, and subtle difference in muzzle jump, but not enough to make every shooter immediately notice. I'd estimate the difference to be a bit more effective than installing shock buffs on a guide rod, except that the Sprinco kit will never wear out or result in pieces of shock buff material coming apart in the gun.

I did not experience any malfunctions of any kind with the Sprinco kits, and I was able to 'slingshot' release my slides, even though it took a slightly more forceful tug on the slide to compress the secondary spring and push the slide stop down. All slides locked back on the last shot as well. Do the Sprinco kits reduce slide to frame impact? I'd say that they do, which I feel is a good thing. So, for the .45s, I did feel that the Sprinco recoil reducers reduced the sharpness of the slide to frame impact, and I felt that there was a very small reduction in muzzle jump/follow up shot recovery. I'll update this writeup on my findings with the 9mm and .40 pistols when I head out to the range next time.

Besides recoil reducers, Sprinco also makes .45 chrome silicon springs, which are all colour coded (shown below). Very good idea, as it helps keep track of what's and out of the gun. They also manufacture extra power buffer and extractor springs for the M4/AR15. I've installed a couple in my carbine and mid-length ARs to see how they perform and have had no problems with them (I had no problems with my stock buffer springs either, though, so that's not saying too much). Sprinco also makes Machine Gunners Lube, which is an extended duty firearms lubricant. It's carried by LaRue Tactical and other dealers, and has been getting a lot of praise. The little bottles are great for on-weapon storing in buttstocks or vertical grips.

.45 chrome silicon springs

Extra power M4 buffer spring

Machine gunners lube

Note - Writeup to be updated in the future with the other Recoil Reducer kits (Sig P226, G19 & 24C, BHP).

7/19/08 - The Fabrique Nationale Browning Hi-Power is one of the most prolific and classic handgun designs which I've always had an affinity for, along with the 1911. I've had two; a Mk III which I bought in 1993 and a Practical model (two-tone), which I now kinda regret selling. When I got my Mk III (a bone-stock Mark III is shown directly below), I shot it stock for a while, then set about changing some parts, like I always do, to suit my preferences.

I changed out the trigger, sear and hammer with Cylinder & Slide components and added nice Spegel rosewood grips. Changed out some of the springs with Wolffs and did a trigger job on it. I also tightened up the slide to frame fit at the front of the frame so that there was practically no slop with the slide fully forward. It shot very well, and was very reliable, so I didn't see the need to do anything else to it internally. The epoxy baked-on finish was a bit slick, so being too cheap to send it out for checkering or texturing, I added grip tape on the front and back straps. A few years later, as I started shooting more with gloves, I changed out the ambi safety to a wider C&S one, as the stock ambi safety was too low profile to engage or disengage positively with gloves. I place my thumb on top of the safety, and the stock one has an uncomfortable pin right in the middle of the pivot which dug into the web of my thumb. The photo below shows how my Hi-Power ended up with these mods minor mods, and that's how I shot it for years. Better than it was out of the box, but still left something to be desired.

Shin Tanaka - Fast forward to 2007, and I was having a conversation with my friend, Shin. Many of us have seen the slick, full colour Japanese gun magazines with gorgeous photography - he's responsible for some of those articles. He's a photographer and writer who writes articles on guns, training and events (such as the SHOT show) for the Japanese ARMS gun magazine, and also for Gunner DVD.

Now, when I first met Shin, I wondered to myself; what does a Japanese guy know about real guns? I was pleasantly surprised to learn, when we started talking about guns, what an incredible amount he knew. Not only just about the weapons, but how they operated and their history. In Japan, he worked for a movie prop maker and an investment bank. Then, following his love of firearms, he moved to the U.S. to go to gunsmithing school and attended Lassen Community College Gunsmithing School for three years (2002-2005). At the present time, he only works on his guns and friends' guns, and does not take on outside gunsmithing jobs. However, he's expressed interest in starting a full time gunsmithing business in the future, specializing in tactical and competition pistols. His main philosophy when working on pistols is to improve reliability, sights, trigger, grip, control interface and of course, looks.

Shin also believes that in order to be a gun writer and gunsmith, you have to be a good shooter as well. He shoots IPSC Limited A class and IDPA ESP expert. Shooting competitions enables hm to find out what kind of guns and equipment work and what do not. He also takes shooting and tactical courses regularly with different companies.

One day, we were talking about Browning Hi-Powers and I found out he had a Mk III set up almost identically to mine. Shin likes the Browning Hi-Power as it is one of the few pistols which was a dedicated design for 9x19mm cartridge and is one of the slimmest, steel-only construction, single action, high capacity pistols out there. He had worked on his, doing pretty much what I would have wanted on mine, and I asked him if he'd work on mine too. I didn't need anything fancy done; I just wanted a practical, comfortable shooter, with specific changes based on my shooting it over the years.

My wish-list - Below is a list of the things I wanted done, which is very similar to Novak's Special Ops BHP package:

- Install new sights
- Hand matte front and back straps and under trigger guard
- Shorten slide stop pin and countersink frame (it often got in the way of my support thumb when shooting lefty)
- High cut front strap
- Dehorn/ smooth all sharp corners. Not a melt, more like a subtle carry bevel.
- Contour rear tang/beavertail (smooth edges and round)
- Contour and shape ambi safety for comfort
- Bevel mag well
- Bead blast and blue

Based on my wish list, and following his criteria when working on pistols to improve reliability, sights, trigger, grip, control interface and looks, this is what he did to my Mk III.

• Install new sights - It seems that Hi-Powers and Novaks Lo-Mount Carry sights seem to go together. Shin recommended them as well, so that's what I went with. I chose a Trijicon tritium front and plain rear which is the configuration I run on some of my other pistols. I found the stock Mk III sights a bit busy, with the three vertical bars. Shin also pinned the front sight. The Lo-Mount rear requires milling of the slide and flattening the top of the firing pin stop.
• Hand Matte Texture on front and rear straps, and under trigger guard - Hand matting instead of checkering is another popular treatment for the front and rear straps on custom Hi-Powers. Hand matting results in a crinkled texture which is non-slip, yet has no sharp edges or corners like checkering. Shin did a beautiful job matting the bottom of the trigger guard and front strap, and all of the rear strap except a portion under the rear tang. He also hand matted the grip screws so they'd match - a very nice touch.
• High cut front strap - I like to have as high a grip as possible, and asked Shin to high cut the front strap. What he did was change the contour and radius the grip to trigger guard transition on the frame under the magazine release button. It's very subtle visually, but the difference in feel is immediately obvious putting it in my hand and comparing it to a stock Mk III.
• Shorten slide stop pin and countersink frame - I shoot lefty, and my support thumb rides along the right side of the frame and comes into contact with slide stop pins. The slide stop pin end on the BHP is quite sharp, and not very comfortable to rest against. Shin cut the pin so it's flush with the surface of the frame, then countersank the hole so I can still pop it out. It's a great improvement for me and looks very clean.
• Dehorn/carry bevel - I don't like the look of 'melted' edges, and Shin did a carry bevel job on the pistol. He took the sharpness off all the edges and corners. The result is best felt by running a finger over the pistol and comparing it to a stock Mk III. In the photos below, you can make out the differences in the muzzle end, slide and frame. No detail was overlooked; Shin also rounded the end of the trigger pin and edges of the hammer. The carry bevel makes it a much more comfortable pistol to carry inside the waistband.
• Smooth and Round rear tang/beavertail - The rear tang/beavertail of the BHP is short, stubby and sharp. If you use a high hold and place the thumb on the safety, chances are the corner of the tang is poking at the base of your thumb the entire time. For people with more meaty hands, a beavertail is welded onto the end of the tang to eliminate hammer bite. Fortunately, I don't need that, and Shin was able to completely dehorn the rear tang. It's much more comfortable now.
• Shape ambi safety - The stock Mk III ambi safety is very low profile. Not a problem when shooting without gloves, but with gloves on, I had problems engaging and disengaging the safety positively and quickly. I went with a C&S extended ambi safety, which solved that problem, but was quite uncomfortable. The right side safety is a huge flapper, with a sharp edge and no conducive as a thumb rest. You can see in the 'before' photo below of the safety that the rear edge is convex. This part digs into the web of the thumb, and combined with the sharp rear tang, was a no-go without gloves. It also looked quite clumsy. Shin did recontoured both sides of the safety, got rid of all the sharp edges and made the previously convex edge a concave one, which is how it should have been designed in the first place. The 'after' photo shows the extent to which he modified it. A really fantastic job.
• Bevel mag well - Not only did Shin bevel the mag well, but he removed the ugly grooves on the bottom of the grip.
• Reliability - Reshaped and polished internal parts, polished feed ramp and chamber.
• Tune springs for good trigger.
• Bead blast and blue - We went with a bead blast and blue on the entire pistol, for a non-glare finish and better purchase on both the grip and the slide than the original epoxy finish.

At the range, it functioned flawlessly and did its job when I did mine. The quality of Shin's work and the attention to details is evident in the photos below.

Shown below are some other close-up shots. Shin took the ones with the red background.

I took some photos of a stock BHP MkIII and mine, for comparison. At the far right is a photo Shin took of our pistols, before he sent mine back. Except for mine having an ambi safety, they're almost like a pair of twins.

Here's the "beauty shot"...

At first glance, many of the modifications that Shin did are quite subtle, and are best appreciated when comparing it to a stock Mk III side-by-side and holding it in your hand. It's only then can you really appreciate the difference all those small details make. My 15-year old Mk III is completely revitalized and is a pleasure to shoot. As I mentioned above, Shin is not taking on any gunsmithing projects. But when he starts his own gunsmithing business and becomes famous, remember that you heard about him here first.