Colt Gold colored extractor spring

**Cane55** · 02-07-22, 18:55

Originally Posted by lysander

In general, music wire steel is the best choice in spring material. Only change to a different material if your spring wire is over 0.18″ in diameter, used in a highly corrosive environment or used medical, food, aeronautics or nuclear applications. There may also be better materials for used in extremely high or low temperatures.

Some AR springs are stainless steel for additional corrosion resistance, but the rest are all music wire.

Music wire also happens to be the cheapest material for springs. Unfortunately, in many people's mind, the more expensive CS spring must be better, so they fall for the hype.

I am sure that someone has, or will, make AR springs out of Inconel or Elginoly and some poor ignorant fool will buy them.

Good engineering includes using the best material, and one part of "best" is cost. If two materials do the same thing, and one is cheaper, then the best material is the less expensive one.

I equate titanium gas tubes and super alloy springs in the same light as if you gold plated your bolt carrier to prevent corrosion. Yes, a gold plated bolt carrier will resist corrosion, but no better that a cheap phosphate coating.

Why is the copper colored one (music wire) better than chrome silicone springs? I only ask because I keep reading & the owner of Sprinco says his springs keep over 95% of their strength even after 1.5 million compressions, whereas regular milspec springs only last between 5-10,000 compressions.

**Cane55** · 02-07-22, 19:26

Originally Posted by MistWolf

Get rid of the O ring

Why get rid of the o-ring? Too much tension or is it something else? I read the o-ring helps make steel cased and underpowered brass more reliable etc.

**Clint** · 02-07-22, 20:29

Yes, extractor tension is too high when the oring is used with the gold spring.

Originally Posted by Cane55

Why get rid of the o-ring? Too much tension or is it something else? I read the o-ring helps make steel cased and underpowered brass more reliable etc.

**lysander** · 02-07-22, 21:33

Originally Posted by Cane55

Why is the copper colored one (music wire) better than chrome silicone springs? I only ask because I keep reading & the owner of Sprinco says his springs keep over 95% of their strength even after 1.5 million compressions, whereas regular milspec springs only last between 5-10,000 compressions.

I would like to know where he gets that data. All the spring manufacturers I have every talked to about springs have told me that there is no real difference between music wire (MW) and chrome silicon (CS) at room temperature. Spring fatigue life has more to do with how clean the material is (impurity-wise, not covered in dirt), and how fine a surface finish the wire has. MW (ASTM A228) is very clean material and required to have a very fine surface finish, and most spring makers tell me it is best for high cycle applications below 250-300 F. As to the difference between 1-1/2 million and 10,000 cycles, that is the difference between high-cycle fatigue (10^6 cycles) and low cycle fatigue (10^3 cycles). Low cycle fatigue is normally associated with deformation beyond the proportional limit, and high cycle fatigue with deformations in the proportional range.

If you deform a material the stress is proportional to the strain (this is the proportional range), at a certain point, the proportional limit, the strain increases faster than the stress and permanent deformation will take place, this is what we call "set" in a spring. If you look at the tensile strength and other properties of spring material (http://www.tribology-abc.com/calcula..._materials.pdf) you can see that MW has a tensile strength between 230 and 399 ksi and CS has a tensile strength between 230 and 300 ksi, but both have a proportional limit of 45% of the tensile strength. Since there is overlap with the tensile strength of CS and MW, you can say that CS can the be equal of MW, but with the higher strength MW wires (see the strength vs wire dia graph) MW will be more set resistant.

**turnburglar** · 02-08-22, 02:18

Sorry; not an engineer here.

But what I am reading is that CS springs while not an upgrade per say, are not worse in any meaningful way? If they are already purchased and in guns there's no good reason to pull them right? I happen to have a half dozen BCG's with spring co 5c over a black insert, and the set up has proven to be reliable since I standardized it. The 5 coil spring definitely feels like it has more force than the insert + O ring + 3 - 4 coil silver springs they replaced. I can tell this when installing the springs I cannot get the roll pin in on the 5 coils without using the desk to help push it in.

In the future I will purchase the colt if I see them available; but I'm not sad about the 5 coil vs the springs they replaced. Also I like spring co green for my A5's.

I'm not gonna tell anyone they will get killed in the streets for using Spring Co, but I dont see them as 'bad' parts at all.

**1168** · 02-08-22, 06:44

Originally Posted by lysander

I am sure that someone has, or will, make AR springs out of Inconel and some poor ignorant fool will buy them.

I’m that fool. They were incredibly corrosion resistant, but the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Originally Posted by Clint

Yes, extractor tension is too high when the oring is used with the gold spring.

or with the the Sprinco 5 coil, even though they are included in the package.

**17K** · 02-08-22, 07:49

Originally Posted by turnburglar

Sorry; not an engineer here.

But what I am reading is that CS springs while not an upgrade per say, are not worse in any meaningful way? If they are already purchased and in guns there's no good reason to pull them right? I happen to have a half dozen BCG's with spring co 5c over a black insert, and the set up has proven to be reliable since I standardized it. The 5 coil spring definitely feels like it has more force than the insert + O ring + 3 - 4 coil silver springs they replaced. I can tell this when installing the springs I cannot get the roll pin in on the 5 coils without using the desk to help push it in.

In the future I will purchase the colt if I see them available; but I'm not sad about the 5 coil vs the springs they replaced. Also I like spring co green for my A5's.

I'm not gonna tell anyone they will get killed in the streets for using Spring Co, but I dont see them as 'bad' parts at all.

My beef with the springs is that they don’t grind the ends like a real Colt/mil-spec spring. The only one I’ve seen that does is Daniel Defense.

Their buffer springs rust and whoever writes their marketing material is so FOS that I just can’t take anything they make seriously.

**markm** · 02-08-22, 12:28

Originally Posted by turnburglar

But what I am reading is that CS springs while not an upgrade per say, are not worse in any meaningful way?

My issue with CS springs goes back to Magpul's tests where they failed corrosion testing miserably. Now days I'm a fair weather shooter and don't hardly get the chance to get my guns wet and dirty, so I could probably do fine with CS nonsense in a gun. But I still just stick with standard/spec springs anyway.