The Gracoil Spring Body
Graco has used a spring body in its Gracoil recoil reduction system for several years. They made the switch from a mercury unit due to health concerns and the instability of using liquid as a recoil reducer. The term spring body refers to the spring that is incased inside the tube cylinder that sits at the center of the Gracoil unit. There are numerous benefits of having a spring to reduce recoil over other substitutes such as hydraulic fluid. The spring is dependable and sustainable. The Graco spring allows for the same recoil reduction on every shot regardless of tempo or load size, the spring is unaffected by weather, and the spring won’t lose pressure.
Competitors of Graco have used hydraulic cylinders to reduce recoil for years and have advocated for the smoothness of recoil reduction. Although the hydraulic system is smooth at ideal conditions, such as weather, time between shots, and load size, there are many outside factors that can affect the performance of a hydraulic cylinder. Hydraulic cylinders have a “reload” time between shots. The reload or reset time refers to the time it takes the hydraulic fluid to flow back through the unit and decompress. Reset time is a major factor when shooting any event or any hunting trip where multiple shots will be fired consecutively. If you are on a quail hunt and your dog works the bird perfectly. You flush it out and you have the perfect fifteen yard shot as it flutters out of the brush and slowly hovers as it gains speed, but you miss and immediately you want to follow the previous blunder with another load of number 7 pellets, but you pull the trigger and immediately feel the full recoil of your gun because you shoot using a hydraulic system that requires a certain amount of time to reset in order to reduce recoil. This may not seem like a big deal at first but the next time it happens you flinch because you are preparing for the coming recoil resulting in a miss. Then birds are getting away and you are coming home empty handed. To prevent that inconvenience and bruised shoulder consider a Gracoil with a spring body recoil reduction system.
Another problematic aspect of a hydraulic recoil system is that the seals tend to go bad over time. All hydraulic systems rely heavily on seals and the ability of the seals to withstand the test of time. It is unavoidable that the seals have to be replaced on things such as tractor hydraulics, and boat trim motors. The hydraulic system in recoil reduction systems is no exception. The seals will go bad and pressure will be lost and the hydraulic fluid will leak out causing a mess and leave you needing to either clean yourself or your gun case and having a recoil reduction system that is no longer effective. The Gracoil spring body recoil system does not need any maintenance and is mess free. The Gracoil spring body will take the abuse of hundreds of thousands of rounds without an issue.
Weather also plays a role in the effectiveness of the hydraulic system. Under cold weather conditions the hydraulic systems become stiffer and liquid will move slower which will in turn make you initially feel more of the recoil and increase the time it takes to become more effective between shots. In tractors and other hydraulic system, the hydraulic fluid is in close proximity to the engine and will warm up and move more freely after time, but the hydraulic fluid in a recoil system will remain virtually the same temperature the entire time it is in the cold weather conditions and can in turn make for a long day of shooting. The Gracoil spring body is, you guessed it, unaffected by weather. The spring compresses at the same tension regardless of outside temperatures and again requires no reset time. The spring body will reduce recoil shot after shot regardless of adverse weather conditions, time between shots, or years of use. The Gracoil spring body has proven to be the superior option for any and all shooters when perfected by Graco Corporation.