|
|
Springs and Guide Rod
Kel-Tecs respond well to a recoil spring upgrade. It reduces felt recoil which can lead to quicker follow up shots. This is especially helpful when shooting powerful defense loads. It also helps keep the slide in battery and can improve feed reliability.
Replacing recoil springs & guide rods is a serious modification. Do not assume what works for someone else will work in your pistol. It would be prudent to rely on professional for spring upgrades such as Wolff Springs, who now offer replacement recoil springs for Kel-Tecs. However I was a Kel-Tec fan long before Wolff caught on, so here are the do it yourself improvements I used prior to Wolff's offerings.
You MUST test your pistol for reliability after making any changes. Check for spring bind by field stripping your pistol, and reassemble without any springs. Pull the slide all the way to the rear and use a pencil to mark a line accross the slide and grip. Be carefull not to wipe it off. Assemble your pistol with the springs you wish to use and pull the slide all the way to the rear, if the lines you drew do not line up, the springs are binding. Test the pistol with one spring at a time to determine which (maybe both) is binding. remove one coil at a time and recheck until your marks line up. This is an importat step as you do not want the springs binding at full recoil. The rest of your testing is a lot more fun. You take your pistol to the range and blast away!
When changing your springs I strongly recommend upgrading to the steel guide rod availible directly from Kel-Tec which is also where you buy the springs.
P32
You can replace the P32 outer spring with a P40 inner spring. Shown above is (from bottom to top) P32 inner spring on a steel guide rod, a stock P32 outer recoil spring, a clipped P40 inner spring, and a stock P40 inner spring. Some stuff the P40 inner spring in full length, others find better performance clipping a few coils off. If you clip, make sure to shape the clipped end of the spring so it looks like the piece you just clipped off so it will stay in place and not poke through the guide rod hole or jump over the guide rod head.
P11
Replacing the recoil springs on a P11 with those from a P40 is a quick and easy upgrade. Shown above are the inner and outer springs, P11 on bottom and P40 on top. You can replace one or both P11 springs with those from a P40. Most begin by trying a P40 inner and a P11 outer. This works very well as an all purpose spring combo. However if you shoot mostly higher power ammunition, you may wish to test a P11 inner and a P40 outer, or even using both P40 springs. This really tames the recoil of hot ammo and helps get follow up shots off quicker. However it may not work well with low power practice ammo. You must test the set up you choose for reliability in your pistol.
