One of our guys is trying to get this http://www.sprinco.com/recoil.html approved for duty use. Anyone have any experience with this set up. I know Springco is a quality company and I don’t have any worries about the quality of the unit itself. I am, however wondering about the performance gains if any.
Search only found one mention of the recoil reducer and Sig.
Thanks in advance
Joe
Such recoil reduction setups in other guns failed to produce any measurable benefit with the the shooter.
They required additional time and testing to validate serviceability, and reliability was not as broad or consistent as with OEM components.
They took the gun outside manufacturer specifications, which created issues with the manufacturer supporting and backing their gun.
Recommend: Deny
The idea brings to mind a similar recoil reduction felt by users of the first Gen 4 G17s (When the .40 recoil spring was used). I don’t think this is doing anything revolutionary besides adding resistance to the recoil spring, therefore lessening the energy of the slide and recoil experienced by the shooter.
In my time on the 226 platform, I determined that it’s a finely tuned gun that doesn’t take well to aftermarket mods. While they’re very accurate and reliable in stock form, they become problematic when you introduce “fixes” for things that aren’t wrong. I’d deny as well.
Here’s my experience, and keep in mind this is a test group of exactly 2 guns, so not a significantly sized test group. Take it for what it’s worth. Several years ago I tried the Sprinco recoil reducer guide rod in both my Sig P6 and a '94 P220.45 (the old pressed/folded slide model, not the newer type). All proper maintenance parts had been replaced recently at that time, so I eliminated as many variables as I could.
What I found was maybe a very minimal percentage decrease in felt recoil. It was so minimal, in fact, I don’t know whether overall recoil was even reduced, or if it was more a matter of changing the recoil impulse in such a manner that the recoil impulse was slower (They’re effectively a variable spring rate due to the multiple springs of different sizes). The extreme downside is I found that, at least in my 2 different models, neither gun would feed a majority of JHP’s I put through them. I don’t know this for a fact but, it appeared that the last little bit of slide travel (before the breech face picks up the new round) was attenuated, and possibly overall slide travel reduced due to the increased tension from the springs at the end of slide travel rearward. Bottom line, I experienced a significant number of Fail To Feed failures with a number of different JHP’s:
-Black Hills 230gr and 147gr JHP’s
-Speer Gold Dot 230gr, 115gr and 147gr
-Winchester Ranger SXT 230gr and 147gr
-Corbon SD JHP 230gr and 125gr
-Federal Hydrashok 230gr and 115gr
The FTF’s were also pretty significant upon reloading, regardless of using the slide release or the overhand method.
There were a few others I think. I actually wasted a good amount of ammo testing these out as I had significantly more disposable income at the time. 
About the only ones I could get to feed consistently were Corbon Pow’RBalls. Switching back to a new stock recoil spring and guide rod, and there were NO feeding problems with any of the above listed rounds.
Bottom line, for duty usage, I would say these are a NO GO. I know Alan, the owner of Sprinco (as an acquaintance), and he is a really nice guy. His guide rods are very well built. I just can’t recommend them, with at least the P220 or P6, for duty usage.
Stay away from aftermarket products that directly effect the mechanical operation of your duty weapon. I cannot stress this enough.
The factory parts work. They were designed by more than one qualified engineer working together for a long time to come up with just the right setup. Not always, but often aftermarket parts do not have the same level of research behind their modification to iron out all the bugs. It isn’t worth it when your duty pistol is your lifeline.
This is just another transfer device.
Transfers your $$ to someone else.
Aftermarket parts are OK for things that you don’t need to trust your life to. So, if this is just a plinking gun and not for personal defense, have at it.
If your life depends on it, leave it stock and invest those $$ into training to help you properly manage your pistol.
Thanks all. This is the same advice I had for him but it is nice to have other professional opinions, especially those based on actual use.
Shadow…the early P220’s were my favorite handgun. First one I ever bought for work and I loved it.
More disposable income? Must have been before a wife. I know I had a lot more back then. 