[Jasonub]

Hi fellow shooters. I would like to share what happened just an hour or so ago when i was repacing my magsprings.

Has anyone here experienced this?







Below is my email to ISMI with attached photos and my order from Chuck of shootersconnnection.


Hi there.

I have been using ismi chrome silicone magazine springs and recoil springs in my guns since i started shooting 4 or 5 years ago.

I am a competitive shooter and ISMI springs are highly recommended at brianenos.com forums which i read and post actively.

Today i realized that it has been more than a year and I need to replace my magazine springs.

So i unpack the spring and fit it on my svi follower.

I got 2 mags initially and put the spring and follower inside.

I then proceeded to load magazine 1. At round 12 or so out of 18 something snapped. WTF???

So i removed the mag base pad and out came the spring in 2 pcs! with my broken follower!

I could not understand or comprehend how this happened so i then loaded spring number 2 which i was able to load to 17 out of 18 and snappp!!!

I again removed the basepad of magazine 2 and saw that the spring again broke at the same place as magazine 1 magspring. This time it did not break my follower.

I was supposed to change all my magazine springs but now i have a phobia thus have not unpacked the 2 ismi springs yet.

Attached are the pics of the springs that broke. I have a brand new bolen spring and follower and fitted that to the mags and loaded 18 without concerns. I then put back the old follower the one that did not break to my old ismi spring and put it in the mag. Loaded 18 and was fine.

I know that you have a year warranty but I live in another country without anyone representing you.

Was there a bad batch of these springs? I got 10 of these as attached from my order from Chuck. Most of these except for 4 are already in a buddy's store.

In case you decide to replace all 10, do ship the warranty springs to Chuck of shooters connection and let him know so i can have it shipped to a buddy in conus who will come home next month to bring the said springs.

Thank you for your attention and I hope you do assist me in this concern.

Sincerely,


JASON

[Jasonub]

more pics

[Larry White]

I have used thier springs for years and never had a problem. Makes me think they had a heat treat problem with a batch. Bet he makes it right.-----------------Larry

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Call them they will replace them. Thanks, Eric

[TM262]

I have used them for years too and I have never had that happen. Hopefully they will replace it.

Good Luck

[el pres]

Since they both broke in the same place, is there any marks in the same place on
the two unopened springs, cut,bend,etc.?? Something went wrong somewhere from the
spring coiler to you ..

ISMI is the best spring you could get for just about every spring in the gun but why would you
not be useing a Grams or Bolen set-up for S_I mags for more capacity anyway ?

This post has been edited by P.Pres: 30 August 2009 - 11:19 AM

[Jasonub]

I have been PM'ed by a fellow shooter who also had the spring break on the same area. They were replaced and 2 of the replacement springs also broke on the same area.

Today, I went to the range and fit another spring and it worked for about 18 rounds. So I agaion reloaded the magazine with the new spring and... Snapp!! WTF???

It broke again.!

Thats 3 out of 10 that i got.

I have been using ismi for years and would not use any other spring till the bolen thing came which i learned are also made of ismi springs. But the bolen seems to have died on me. IT seems early thus i went back to ISMI with svi followers. And this happens.

There were no indications of any fatigue on the said parts on the third spring. I checked thoroughly since there may be damage on the area. There were none.

I think its the heat treatment process. It may have been miscalculated thus it became too brittle.

[Jasonub]

heres the 3 out of 4 shot. very fustrating. it broke on a different area.

This post has been edited by Jasonub: 31 August 2009 - 12:49 AM

[Jasonub]

got an email from Chuck that the new replacement spring is being shipped by ismi today.

Kudos to both Chuck and ismi for giving excelllent service.

That kind of service again set me back almost 500 bucks today

[Merlin Orr]

One of my buds had a brand new one break this weekend at the AK 3 Gun match. I was the first time the mag had ever been loaded.

[wide45]

Merlin Orr, on Sep 1 2009, 01:33 PM, said:

...was the first time the mag had ever been loaded.

[Josh Biondi]

Really strange & unusually broken...mmmmmh

[Jasonub]

i have 4 out of 10 now. Ill get the other 6 from my bud next week and try to see if it also breaks.

ill video one if i have the time and show it here.

But the great thing is that ismi is a stand up company and sending replacements as we speak.

[Josh Biondi]

Jasonub, on Sep 3 2009, 02:53 PM, said:

i have 4 out of 10 now. Ill get the other 6 from my bud next week and try to see if it also breaks.

ill video one if i have the time and show it here.

But the great thing is that ismi is a stand up company and sending replacements as we speak.

Yes at ISMI are serious guys!

[SteveZ]

I bought 3 from Brownells around the first week of August. All three broke in the same place yours did. I called up Marc at ISMI to see if he wanted them back. Marc sent me out replacement springs immediately....and those have been flawless.

[SV-COP]

You can add me to the list of victims. My springs that Benny put in my Freedom Gunworks Mags broke yesterday. I'll call ISMI next week

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Sounds like a bad batch of springs to me. I told you ISMI would stand by there product Thanks, Eric

[00bullitt]

I've had a half dozen or so break. The good thing is that they will break very early if they are bad. Like in the first 3 loadings. And ISMI is standing behind the them and acknowledging they had a slight problem in a certain run of them.
I've got some ISMI springs in a handful of mags that have been in there for two years and still feel as strong as the day they were new. Never had any problems.

[RaymondMillbrae]

Darn!

I just ordered a few ISMI recoil springs.

Kinda makes me wonder if they have the same problem?

Anyone have a problem with their ISMI recoil springs?

In Christ: Raymond

This post has been edited by RaymondMillbrae: 02 October 2009 - 07:52 PM

[00bullitt]

I seriously believe this to be an isolated incident mostly centered around a certain run of STI mag springs. I've been using ISMI springs for years with never a single problem. Mark at ISMI believes the same and has had no other incidents in other spring lines.

[mike4045]

I have never had that happen. I will need to make an order in a few weeks. I am still using the bunch I bought back in 07. Got me kind of worried now, never worried about springs before.

[calishootr]

I havent dealt with them, but they sound like a very stand up company, question??? is there a run or batch or lot number on the package???? maybe we can narrow down to a particular batch of springs that may have a problem....up till now have heard nothing but good things from ismi.....+1 on the thoughts of mis heat treating, now if we can narrow it down to what springs and when???

[Jasonub]

they dont have any batch numbers as i can see in their packaging. Ill still stick with ismi since they have the best springs out there.

And excellent service to boot.

I have been using ismi when they first came out. recoil springs. mag catch, magazine spring, main spring etc. Never had a problem till now.

They replaced it thus im happy and bought another 10 from Chuck

[Jim Watson]

I had the same experience this week.

I shoot IDPA and so depend on my slide stop working. When my STI springs got flabby and quit picking up the slide stop, I ordered some ISMI springs. They were long and stiff, kind of a chore to cram in the tubes, but they sure restored function... for a while.
One quit slide locking on the first outing, I took the spring out and found it broken at the third bend. I got home and was racking the slide empty and another broke at the same place.

I returned them to Brownells for replacement with Wolff. I am sure ISMI would have replaced the springs but Brownell has my money and I did not want the experience described in post no 7:

Quote

I have been PM'ed by a fellow shooter who also had the spring break on the same area. They were replaced and 2 of the replacement springs also broke on the same area.

ISMI talks about fitting springs to tubes, from their FAQ in part:

"ISMI standard capacity mag springs have 11 coils instead of the standard 10 coils. We did this to maximize spring loading with the belief that it is easier for the shooter to remove a coil if necessary rather than try to add another coil to the spring. In some cases this will cause the solid height of the spring to be too long thus causing the top 3 transition coils to be compressed inside the spring, leading to premature failure. If in doubt as to whether you should remove a coil, give us a call."

That is apparently what happened to me, the OP, and his correspondent of post no 7. But how do you KNOW? There are no guidelines and no mention of asking for recommendations outside that FAQ.

Maybe I will try them again when the Wolffs wear out. But I will call and ask about clipping down to STI length.

[pdice]

2 out of 3 ISMI springs purchased from Brownells in August just cracked on me as well. I put them in the mags 2 weeks ago.