Curing a squeaky recoil spring?

[Carrots]

I have tried CLP, oil, grease, WD40 and a whole host of other potions and lotions but the spring just won't stop squeaking against the guide rod when I rack the slide. The pistol is new, but I'd like to get rid of this 'feature' now if possible as it will take me quite some time to shoot it enough for it to 'hopefully' cure itself. Any ideas of other things to try? Thank you

[dicion]

Thats just it. The spring and the guide rod are so smooth, they only barely rub, creating your squeak. As they wear more, it will stop. About the only thing you can probably do is just shoot it a lot to wear it in. Either that or maybe hit your guide rod with 1000 grit where it's rubbing to make the squeak, roughening it up ever so slightly. This is probably a really bad idea though, and I wouldn't do it. It also will not guarantee it goes away.

Is it a coated spring of some kind? plastic/rubber/something on it, other then just bare metal? You didn't specify what kind of handgun it was. I don't even know if any handguns do have coated springs, but I know they exist in other things, and something like that could easily cause a squeak.

[Carrots]

Thank you, it is a bare metal spring with no covering on it. It is a stubborn little fellow, and I have now spent more than a couple of hours trying to get it sorted but to no avail. The squeak seems to be coming from the first few coils of the end of the spring closest to the muzzle. I knew that I was in the land of last resorts, but thought that I'd throw this up on the off chance that there was something else I could maybe do. Shooting the darn thing silent will not be the end of the world, but I wonder how many rounds it will take? I have not had this before in a new gun, although I can see that it could be pretty common.

[FlynJay]

Is it possible to reverse the spring? The slight difference from one side to the other may eliminate the sqeek.

[Carrots]

Is it possible to reverse the spring? The slight difference from one side to the other may eliminate the sqeek.

Nope, no dice.

[AEA]

Does your pistol have a barrel bushing or is it one of those Bull Barrels with no bushing?

If it has a bushing you can order a GI style rod and plug that will eliminage the FLGR and the squeak. It will also make it much easier to dis-assemble and re-assemble.

If yours has a Bull Barrel, then you are outta luck....... take some sandpaper to the guide rod and work on it till the squeak is no longer there.

[MoJo]

What kind of gun is it? Might help in the diagnosis.

[AEA]

That's a good point.......

My answer was directed at a 1911 model. It would help if he had said what his was........

[Carrots]

"rlol" That's a good point.......

My answer was directed at a 1911 model. It would help if he had said what his was........

Sorry Alan, I thought that you were talking 1911 but I wasn't sure. It is H&K USP compact. I spent another hour on it after dinner but no amount of anything seems to be helping. I am going to shoot it on Sunday and "hope" that it sorts itself out. Otherwise I will just replace the spring, although as that would be admitting defeat I'd like to leave that as a last resort. From my google searches it would seem that this is a regular (or at least semi regular) issue with Glock, but the only answers that I have spied suggest what I have been trying for the past 24s! Thank you for the assistance gents!

[killerfly128]

"rlol" That's a good point.......

My answer was directed at a 1911 model. It would help if he had said what his was........

Sorry Alan, I thought that you were talking 1911 but I wasn't sure. It is H&K USP compact. I spent another hour on it after dinner but no amount of anything seems to be helping. I am going to shoot it on Sunday and "hope" that it sorts itself out. Otherwise I will just replace the spring, although as that would be admitting defeat I'd like to leave that as a last resort. From my google searches it would seem that this is a regular (or at least semi regular) issue with Glock, but the only answers that I have spied suggest what I have been trying for the past 24s! Thank you for the assistance gents!

I have a USPc as well. I had one with many rounds through it and I have one that is almost new. I can tell you there is no cure for the squeak, best thing I have found to make it tolerable is putting wilson combat grease on the guide rod. I have no idea how to make it go away completely. I have seen the issue with every usp compact I have handled.

[Carrots]

Hokey cokey, I'll stop beating myself up over it and see what happens then. I have another thread running on the HK board and the consensus there is that it will stop +1k rounds. I just hope that I can find that much brass over the coming weeks.....

[dicion]

Replace the guide rod spring configuration with some sort of Hydraulic or pneumatic plunger? Lol.. I dunno if those even exist, or if I just made it up

Is the spring tight around the guide rod? I know that on 1911's, there's quite a bit of room between the guide rod and the spring. It is not constantly rubbing on it all around.

I've never had a USP apart in front of me, so I don't know, but maybe you can put a larger diameter spring on there that doesn't ride the guide rod as tight?
This starts getting into the 'expert on USP' territory, of which I know nothing about, so I guess my suggestions end here :) Good luck, and if you DO figure something out, post it here for all to see!

[killerfly128]

Replace the guide rod spring configuration with some sort of Hydraulic or pneumatic plunger? Lol.. I dunno if those even exist, or if I just made it up

Is the spring tight around the guide rod? I know that on 1911's, there's quite a bit of room between the guide rod and the spring. It is not constantly rubbing on it all around.

I've never had a USP apart in front of me, so I don't know, but maybe you can put a larger diameter spring on there that doesn't ride the guide rod as tight?
This starts getting into the 'expert on USP' territory, of which I know nothing about, so I guess my suggestions end here :) Good luck, and if you DO figure something out, post it here for all to see!

The USP recoil setup is a bit different than a 1911. Here are some photos of mine.





I think the main problem with it is the keeper on the end is a bit tight (up where the white plastic piece is on my recoil spring). I think thats where the noise comes from. I dont see any fix for the noise but I dont see any issue with it being there other than a annoyance.

[Carrots]

Thanks for posting the pics Mr Fly. You're right on the location of the noise, it comes from arounnd the area of the front washer.

[killerfly128]

Thanks for posting the pics Mr Fly. You're right on the location of the noise, it comes from arounnd the area of the front washer.

Not a problem man, I dont think it will ever go away lol. I handled a pistol with over 20k through it and it had the same squeak that the new ones do.