Thinking of trying Vltor A5.......what spring

[ESK]

What Phreakish was stating about the Vltor spring is, There are two types of M16A4 rifle springs, one is called the "Commercial" and the other is called "MilSpec". From our observation, the Commercial grade spring is softer, slightly shorter and is short a couple coils, when compared to the MilSpec spring. In the early days of the A5 system, Vltor found out the hard way that there were two different springs on the market. The current Vltor A5 spring is made to the exacting specs stated on the A4 TDP.

Eric

Brownells was fine and felt similar, but I'm in Florida and the last formal training day I had I got POURED on with my AR15. Ultimately, the Vltor spring had more corrosion protection than even the 17-7 ph mil spec springs and it just felt best.

A lot of engineering went into the Vltor spring according to Phreakish. I keep finding that they did the job right the first time.

[BufordTJustice]

What Phreakish was stating about the Vltor spring is, There are two types of M16A4 rifle springs, one is called the "Commercial" and the other is called "MilSpec". From our observation, the Commercial grade spring is softer, slightly shorter and is short a couple coils, when compared to the MilSpec spring. In the early days of the A5 system, Vltor found out the hard way that there were two different springs on the market. The current Vltor A5 spring is made to the exacting specs stated on the A4 TDP.

Eric

Gotcha and thank you for the clarification. Do you know when Vltor made the changeover?

I ask because I bought some A5 springs late last year directly from Vltor and they all feel as if they have slightly less compressive force than some colt rifle springs bought late last year and a BCM rifle spring bought this spring.

EDIT: The BCM and the colt feel identical except the BCM has a noticeably smoother finish on it. So much smoother that it cycles smoother and more quietly when running the charging handle.

[SteveL]

I didn't know Vltor had revised the spring at all. I have the original, which is definitely a 1st gen and it's not copper colored at all. I also have a Sprinco green spring, but I've never swapped them back and forth at the range to compare. Now I'm curious to get the new Vltor spring and swap all 3 back and forth to see what difference there is between them for myself.

[Glockman1968]

I didn't know Vltor had revised the spring at all. I have the original, which is definitely a 1st gen and it's not copper colored at all. I also have a Sprinco green spring, but I've never swapped them back and forth at the range to compare. Now I'm curious to get the new Vltor spring and swap all 3 back and forth to see what difference there is between them for myself.

This sounds like a winner to me too.

Buford, your experience seems similar to mine as far as the "green" goes in that in both compression and extention I'm getting what feels like more muzzle movement than what I wanted out of the system. I'm also running the -3 which really slows the works down IMHO.

So theoretically, a different spring rate would smooth that out?? Does that sound right?

[JG007]

I've got the green sprinco and a BCM to try..... Dammit, guess I may have to add the vltor...

[ESK]

There was no really change over, we accidentally bought a batch of Commercial springs and sold a few. Within a week or so after selling them, we had complaints by the customers, so we quarantine the batch, and discovered the difference between Commercial and MilSpec. No change over, just a learning experience.

I really don't know what Vltor is using for springs these day, but I doubt they deviated from the A4 TDP. It might be from a different vendor, but it's probably is made to the same specs, no matter the color. I'll check with Vltor to see what they're running these days.

Eric

Gotcha and thank you for the clarification. Do you know when Vltor made the changeover?

I ask because I bought some A5 springs late last year directly from Vltor and they all feel as if they have slightly less compressive force than some colt rifle springs bought late last year and a BCM rifle spring bought this spring.

EDIT: The BCM and the colt feel identical except the BCM has a noticeably smoother finish on it. So much smoother that it cycles smoother and more quietly when running the charging handle.

[BufordTJustice]

There was no really change over, we accidentally bought a batch of Commercial springs and sold a few. Within a week or so after selling them, we had complaints by the customers, so we quarantine the batch, and discovered the difference between Commercial and MilSpec. No change over, just a learning experience.

I really don't know what Vltor is using for springs these day, but I doubt they deviated from the A4 TDP. It might be from a different vendor, but it's probably is made to the same specs, no matter the color. I'll check with Vltor to see what they're running these days.

Eric

Thank you sir. I look forward to your response.

Also, what a great system.

[BufordTJustice]

This sounds like a winner to me too.

Buford, your experience seems similar to mine as far as the "green" goes in that in both compression and extention I'm getting what feels like more muzzle movement than what I wanted out of the system. I'm also running the -3 which really slows the works down IMHO.

So theoretically, a different spring rate would smooth that out?? Does that sound right?

I agree with that statement that the std spring rate would smooth things out.

I spoke with Alan at Springco a while back and, while he's a great guy, he wasn't interested at all in making a std power rifle spring. I suspect the green will continue to be the only offering.

[Glockman1968]

I agree with that statement that the std spring rate would smooth things out.

I spoke with Alan at Springco a while back and, while he's a great guy, he wasn't interested at all in making a std power rifle spring. I suspect the green will continue to be the only offering.

As I suspected. In compression, the green seems to really slow everything down. And in extention... well it seems to really go into battery with authority. Alot movement over a longer period of time is what it feels like to me.

For the knowledge pool I'm running a 16in middie.

[samuse]

I like stock spring weights.

Overspringing everything just makes the gun shoot like shit. Carbines and pistols.

I run a stock VLTOR A5 spring.