Is it supposed to be this hard?

[Da/Sa Fan]

Got a Sprinco and a heavy Wolff spring for my full size steel Witness. I can barely rack the slide! I'm not a weakling but man is it tough. I need to go through some pretty scarey contortions to bring it back far enough to lock the slide back. Haven't had a chance to get to the range yet to check how it works but I'm a little afraid to depend on a gun that's this hard to rack. Anybody else find it bad or is there something I'm doing wrong?

[Intercooler]

Which setup did you get? They can be hard for sure and Henning's cone rod with a 20-22lb is all anyone should need. It's the best option having tried both.

[sqlbullet]

Yeah...It is pretty stout.  On my full size I have learned to loop my finger around the rear sight to rack the slide, rather than the slide serrations.

[Da/Sa Fan]

This is the Sprinco I got. http://bmb.goemerchant.com/cart/cart.aspx?ST=buy&Action=add&Merchant=sprincousa1&ItemNumber=19255 Told them when I ordered that I would be shooting nothing weaker than Underwood full house loads. Coupled with a 22 lb. Wolff spring. Guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and work on my forearms and grip. Is there a big difference with the Hennings?

[doonan75]

I use my left hand to hold and my right to "rack" the slide, It is much easier that way. I'll try the finger over the rear sight tomorrow. Good luck.

[Intercooler]

You don't get the cone end to address the channel problem with the Sprinco. The other thing is it can and will hang up at some point. I have been using the Henning cone rod exclusively in my Witness pistols with a 20-22lb spring for years now and they look like new.

[sstewart]

You don't get the cone end to address the channel problem with the Sprinco. The other thing is it can and will hang up at some point. I have been using the Henning cone rod exclusively in my Witness pistols with a 20-22lb spring for years now and they look like new.

i haven't had my witnesses as long as Intercooler, but same result for me. (a little over 1 year)

[Da/Sa Fan]

Well, just ordered a Henning guide rod too. I guess I'll see which works better for me. When I first got the Springco I put in a Wolff spring that I got for my 9mm Tristar. I thought that might be what was making it so hard to rack. The original spring in the Witness looked EXACTLY like the Wolff counterpart and now that I have one from Wolff specifically for the Witness I'm sure they are identical. Same feel. Same effort to rack the slide. So now I at least have a couple options. now all I have to do is buy a rotary tool and monkey around with the ejector so I don't have to train a dog to fetch brass!

[Da/Sa Fan]

WOW! I got my Henning guide rod today. I guess it's not supposed to be so hard. With the new guide rod and a 22 lb. spring it's not tough at all. I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the Sprinco unit. Does anyone else use one? I did tell them that it would only be for nuclear loads when I ordered it.