Anjin-san Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I know this subject has been covered before regarding getting the full 7 round capacity out of an M4 - shell length yada yada is the usual advice. I saw a comment somewhere that magazine spring can be a factor and the Wolff spring will help get you to 7 rounds in the tube better than stock or other aftermarket springs. Any truth to this? I recently put a DMW (Dave's Metal Works) 2 round extension on and can't get more than 6 rounds in. I have tried several types of 2 3/4" shells with no luck. I don't think its the DMW tube, it's fit and finish is excellent and customer service from DMW has been great. Function of the gun has been 100% both before and after the DMW upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerDanger Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 You can gauge how close you are when trying to insert the 7th round. Feel or look to see how close that round is to seating. If half the shell is sticking out, chances are you cannot safely trim the spring short enough to permit that much more of the shell to compress. A quarter inch is doable. If you trim too much spring, you can end up with a situation where the spring isn’t strong enough to reliably eject shells onto the elevator. Particularly the last round in the magazine tube. The last round will have the weakest spring tension of all the rounds. My favorite spring is the Carriercomp spec Wolff spring. I don’t think I have ever had to trim one. Just know that some shells are longer than the 2 3/4 inch size standard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Thanks, are you saying the Carriercomp Wolff spring is different than the Wolff spring sold at Freedom Fighter Tactical or other places? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Regarding shell length, 2 3/4" is the length of the fired hull, correct. Unfired (as in the magazine) we are looking at 2 1/4", correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznwhip Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 wolff spring is wolff spring....CC provided wolff spring is probably just precut for the length of their mag tube. If you bought a fresh spring, it's meant to be cut. Spring should be should be about 12-18" past the magazine. Cut the excess. I'd start out on the higher end (18") of that and trial and error cut till you can get the number of rounds in your magazine properly. If you cut too low, you won't get the spring strength and run into feed issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerDanger Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I’m sure the Wolff spring is the same diameter wire, Carriercomp probably just has an overall length spec. So you should be able to trim as aznwhip stated, just don’t go to far. Shell length is going to vary significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer. I wouldn’t take their stated sizes as gospel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Thanks I installed a Wolff spring from FFT yesterday but have not taken it back to the range yet. Using Federal shells and I am measuring them myself and they seem to be at spec for unfired 2 3/4" loads at about 2 1/4" or maybe 1/16 more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerDanger Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Stack seven of them and that 1/16 turns to 7/16, or nearly a half an inch extra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwingsfansfc Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 What I did: I bought a practice spring. Can’t remember where, or brand but it was cheap (like 18 bux?) and supposed to be for m4. Point here is, you can try and measure the spring left from the tube after the cuts... but that may not be accurate either sometimes. it’s like meat on the smoker, everyone says 6 hours... you do it 6 hours and you have jerky. what I would suggest is you cut it a few coils (like 3) at a time, and put back together and test. You will get the idea of how many coils at a time after the first couple. Takes longer, but it worked. Practice spring actually is now full time spring, and has worked great for about 600 rounds. Then slugs got to over a dollar. just an alternative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gmcrigger2007 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Is the Wolff magazine spring shorter or longer than the factory magazine spring ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchP Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Gmcrigger2007 said: Is the Wolff magazine spring shorter or longer than the factory magazine spring ? I just replaced my factory with a wolf and the wolf is about 7 inches longer. It does not affect the capacity either on mine. Still holds 7rds of 2.75 buck shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel79 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, ButchP said: I just replaced my factory with a wolf and the wolf is about 7 inches longer. It does not affect the capacity either on mine. Still holds 7rds of 2.75 buck shot. What brand of buckshot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gmcrigger2007 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 53 minutes ago, ButchP said: I just replaced my factory with a wolf and the wolf is about 7 inches longer. It does not affect the capacity either on mine. Still holds 7rds of 2.75 buck shot. Thank you for the info. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchP Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Diesel79 said: What brand of buckshot? Federal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelliwerkes Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 (edited) It is the collective Length of the UNFIRED "2-3/4" shotshells that determines the # shells that can be loaded in the magazine tube. The 2-3/4" standard is the chamber / breech aperture length that will accommodate expelling the OPENED UP / fired shot shell length. IF you choose to cut your magazine spring, than study the shortest 2-3/4" cartridge you will use and trim your spring accordingly. Edited March 5, 2021 by benelliwerkes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBWB Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 I added a DMW extension to my M4 and they sent a spring with i... I didn't install their spring and just out of curiosity; I loaded with the stock 5 round spring in place. It's been a while since I did this, but I think I barely got 7 rounds in with the stock spring... Is that possible ? Or maybe 6 -3". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel79 Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 3 hours ago, ButchP said: Federal Interesting. I have the Federal flite control low recoil LE stuff and I can only fit 6rds of this. I can fit 7 slugs no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchP Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 27 minutes ago, Diesel79 said: Interesting. I have the Federal flite control low recoil LE stuff and I can only fit 6rds of this. I can fit 7 slugs no problem. I'm not sure. Maybe the flight control is a bit longer than the standard. Like I said, mine will load the 00 and slugs in the 2.75 federal I have. Glad I bought a bunch of it since there is right many inconsistencies between shotshells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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