# Glock 23 recoil spring problem



## Slik340 (Feb 20, 2013)

I bought a Glock 23 Gen 3 back in May of 2012, and I am having a problem with getting the recoil spring to stay seated. When i rack the slide i can feel what seems to be the spring dragging on the plastic frame. I have also noticed that the rear part of the spring is not seated all the way in the milled out spot on the barrel when i break it down. I have put 1500 rounds though this gun and have just recently ran into this. I am wondering if this a error on my part or it is due to spring wear?


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

The recoil spring assembly (RSA) only stays seated in the notch until the pistol is fully assembled; then the rear edge comes out of the notch and rests on another part. During disassembly, it is caught by the same notch as you take the slide off the frame, but it will always be slightly out-of-place (not fully seated in the half-moon notch) when you take the pistol apart (this is normal). However, you should ALWAYS make sure the rim is fully seated back into the half-moon notch during reassembly, or it may catch on another part when the slide is placed onto the frame, and damage the rim of the RSA. This happens quite a bit, in my experience; folks take the slide off, look at it briefly to check something, and put it back on without seating the RSA fully into the notch, and then the rim of the RSA gets nicked/burred/chipped.

If spring-related noises have become much more noticeable after firing than they were when the gun was new, check the RSA for damage, and replace it if necessary. Unless the some part of the RSA is actually catching on another part (slowing/stopping the slide's forward motion), or you are finding plastic scrapings/chips inside the pistol, then a slight increase in spring noise doesn't necessarily mean you have a problem. Remember, the pistol's slide is not intended to be operated slowly, with one ear carefully listening for weird noises. It's designed to slam back and forth at a high rate of speed, ejecting empty cases and scooping new cartridges out of the magazine and up the ramp into the chamber. As long as it's doing that correctly, you should be good-to-go.


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## Slik340 (Feb 20, 2013)

After reading this i checked, and did not find any damaged parts. It also shoots just the same as when i got it. I am glad to know that there isn't something wrong with my 23. Thank you for answering my questions and responding so quickly.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

No problem. Reading your post was a bit of a coincidence, as I have been digging around inside a used Glock 23 I recently purchased, and I think it was just last week I was checking over the exact same parts to make sure the previous owner hadn't damaged anything. So far, I like it quite a bit. It shoots right to point-of-aim for me, the groups are better than I thought they would be for a .40 caliber compact model, and I haven't had any stoppages at all. I generally prefer the 9mm Glocks, but I could see myself using this G23 quite a bit in the future if the ammo situation doesn't improve (currently, I can find .40 ammo in several places in my town, but 9mm ammo is almost impossible to locate).

I wish you continued good luck with your G23!


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