As explained in our film about 1301 cycling issues there have previously been 2 specs of spring supplied in Blink guns like the 1301 Comp:
- In some cases this resulted in a reliability issue in cycling with standard 28g loads.
- The springs had different diameters of coil material as well as significantly different spring rates.
- When we approached Beretta directly at IWA in 2015 they confirmed the spring spec had not knowingly been revised.
- Similar enquiries via supplying dealers confirmed that the importer had not received information about an updated spring or a new part number for a different spring spec.
So it appeared that Beretta had not knowingly changed the spring’s spec and most likely the variations were a supply chain discrepancy which Beretta failed to pick up in quality checks. Happily the matter appeared to be resolved shortly afterwards and Beretta Blink system guns that worked without modification started to appear on the market again.
Unfortunately it appears that another variant has arrived in Beretta’s supply chain.
This third spec of spring maintains the same diameter as the previously satisfactory springs but has a totally different spring rate and is a different length at rest, just like its thinner predecessor, it produces cycling irregularities with 28g loads.
The longer spring on the left came in a gun supplied new in 2014 and the shorter one on the right came in a recently purchased gun. All of the thinner material diameter springs we have encountered were in guns supplied in 2015 and early 2016.
This short spring, just like the variant with the thinner diameter material, causes the gun to cycle unreliably with cartridges under 32 gram. We can confirm that putting the longer spring from the older gun into the new gun has resolved the cycling issues, this was tested yesterday.
Since writing this article a representative from GMK, the UK’s Beretta importer has been in touch, this is what he said:
‘When the 1301 was originally released there was only a single gas valve spring available for it, however over the last 4 years Beretta have reacted to feedback and ongoing testing by both end users and sponsored shooters to refine the specification of the standard gun. A process that is continual and is carried out across the whole of the Beretta portfolio and we are seeing the shorter spring being fitted routinely to 1301. All of the 1301s should still be run in with a heavier cartridge initially and Beretta recommend a 32 Gram 70mm long cartridge. I am told that cartridges manufactured on the continent generally have a higher power factor, effectively more ompff than the equivalent UK cartridge and that the gas valve spring was changed to optimise operation with those cartridges.
To address this issue for shooters who want to use lighter loads through their 1301 Beretta have introduced a Gas Valve Spring Spacer part number C5G164 which can be brought through your local dealer for approx. £6.00 each. A part that we fit to ensure 1301’s will cycle the lighter loads. It might sound strange that spacer is effectively a fix of a fix, but the vast majority of 1301 being sold do not experience a cycling issue.’
