457 Recoil Spring

[Gary Hargrove]

NEW MEMBER looking for Reduced Strength recoil spring for my .45 acp, mdl 457. I have searched everywhere and have been unable to find one. Because of my age, it's been difficult for me to rack the slide on my 457. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I'm located in El Paso, TX and I'm a retired LEO. Thanks.

 

[Cosmos]

If racking that 457 feels like wrestling a bear, grab a Wolff reduced-power spring kit. Just test it well, too light and you’ll be chasing brass like it owes you money.

 

[green arrow]

Finding a light spring can be tricky, check out Wolf Gunsprings or try oiling the slide and working it by hand. You gotta keep that old gun running smoothly

 

[GaryS]

I'm not sure how I missed this as I almost always spot S&W 3rd Gen threads. If you haven't found springs yet try, https://www.sprinco.com/springs.html. They make a replacement set specifically for the 457. The 457 uses dual, nested flat wire springs. About ten years back the springs were not available from S&W and a group on Smith-Wessionforum.com got Springco to make some.

I've put them in all of my 457s since then.

 

[Davek42]

I don’t think you’re going to find a reduced recoil spring is going to help with your issue.
you may have feeding issues with a different spring.

Those spring are more inline with different weigh bullets your shooting.

You may be as well off to buy one other the Newer gun in the market place built with easier slides to pull back

like the S&W EZ or Equalizer or even the Girdan MC14 380 tip up barrel pistol.

these are both built with easy pull back slides and ease of loading and unloading.

There’s a lot of us older guys starting to have this issue.
Getting older not for the faint of heart….

 

[MSR_Gal]

Hard slide raking usually has more to do with hammer spring stiffness. A lighter hammer spring would help but might result in light primer strikes.
Cocking the hammer first and then racking the slide separately would be much easier. But the 457, being sans hammer spur, you'll need to use the trigger to begin the hammer cocking and then catch it with your thumb to finish. Just don't try this with a round in the chamber.
Slide rackers can help a lot, but I don't know of one made for the S&W 457.
This is why my carry is a S&W 9mm EZ.

 

[Davek42]

Not throwing rocks but this was a budget S&W pistols 20 years ago.so I’m not sure what springs are available now days.
It may be time for newer technology for a easy slide management

 

[Landon]

Wolff Gunsprings might have what you need, they tend to stock older S&W parts. Also, have you tried the ‘push-pull’ method to rack the slide? Push the frame forward with your strong hand while pulling the slide back with your weak hand. Takes some pressure off. Worst case, a .380 EZ might be something to consider for range days.

 

[GaryS]

Wolff doesn't make flat wire springs, which is what the 457 uses.