Recoil Spring

Modern semi-automatic handguns use a recoil spring to absorb the rearward impulse of a fired round and return the slide to the forward position. It is a consumable product that generally has a life span of approximately 3,000-5,000 cycles of the action, not rounds fired downrange. Each time the firearm is cycled either manually (loading and unloading), or by shooting, the compression and expansion of the spring shortens its functional life. When a recoil spring is weak it can cause malfunctions while shooting and can also damage the frame because there is nothing to absorb the impact between the slide and frame.