[sonofagun]

I just purchased a tactical 9mm XD, to be used for competition. I was given a SpringCo. Recoil spring to help with flip when the weapon is being fired. After I took out the factory recoil spring and replaced with the SpringCo. recoil spring, it seems very sloppy. Like it was barely enough spring to reset the chamber with another round.
A)Does this work, and does it help with recoil flip
B) Is this going to damage my XD after many rounds?

I am new to the competion world and modifications are all new to me as well...

Help!!!

 

[ThumperIII]

From that description, it would seem that you either have a wrong length spring or you are missing a spacer (or some part that should shorten the spring space). A pistol needs a spring strong enough to strip and feed a new round into the chamber and also to have sufficient spring pressure to hold the slide in battery long enough for the initial high pressure of the fired round to exit through the barrel.
Lighter springs are usually only needed if the power of special low power handloaded ammo is not sufficient to open and cycle the slide properly against a full power spring. The in battery hold of the spring does not really drop that much and should still keep the slide firmly closed. A spring that is too short does not get enough initial (installed length) compression to reach the necessary in battery hold level. Or the spring may be supposed to be installed with a spacer/bushing or have a thick cap on the guide rod - either of which effectively shorten the available space for the spring and raise the compressed weight.
Typically, you should run near the strongest spring that still allows the slide to fully open during the recoil cycle with the given power level of the ammo you are using. (The only exception being extremely high power ammo where too strong a spring reduces the slide open time below the time needed to position the top round of the mag - not something you would see in your competitive shooting). A stronger recoil spring helps smooth out the slide action and prevents to sharp slam of the slide hitting the slide stop and normally makes the recoil more manageable. \You need another experienced competitive shooter to check your pistol to determine the problem.

 

[sonofagun]

Great info Thumperlll, thanks for taking your time to detail everything. I believe it is a spacer problem.