The Metal Spring is the component that turns a pile of high quality metal into a gun. The Assault Rifle needs four of them, the MP5A4 and SKS need two, and almost every other craftable firearm needs at least one. Run out of springs and your gun crafting stops, no matter how many bodies and how much HQM you are sitting on.
This metal spring Rust guide covers what the spring is, how to craft and research it, every place to find it with real drop chances, every item that uses it, what it recycles into at each recycler, and whether you should ever craft, buy or recycle one. All numbers come from the current game item files and the Facepunch Rust Wiki loot tables, checked in October 2026.
- What It Is
- How to Craft
- Where to Find
- What Uses Springs
- Recycle Value
- Craft, Loot or Recycle?
- Tips
- FAQ
What Is a Metal Spring in Rust?
The Metal Spring is a component, the same family as gears, metal pipes and the rifle body. Its in-game description is simple: a metal spring used to provide motion or resistance in objects. You cannot place it, wear it or use it on its own. It only exists to go into a recipe or into a recycler.
What makes it important is how many recipes ask for it. Every craftable gun past the early pipe and wood tier needs a body for its type and one or more springs. Bodies are the real gate, but springs are the second thing players run short of, because the Assault Rifle alone eats four.
| Stat | Metal Spring |
|---|---|
| Shortname / ID | metalspring / -1021495308 |
| Category | Component (rarity: Rare) |
| Stack size | 20 |
| Despawn | 40 minutes on the ground |
| Craft cost | 50 scrap + 2 high quality metal, Workbench 3 |
| Craft time | 1 second |
| Blueprint | 100 scrap at a research table |
| Recycle (powered monument) | 12 scrap, 1 HQM, 20% chance of a 2nd HQM |
| Recycle (safe zone) | 8 scrap, 80% chance of 1 HQM |
How to Craft a Metal Spring
Unlike the rifle body and SMG body, which cannot be crafted at all, the Metal Spring has a real recipe:
- Recipe: 50 scrap + 2 high quality metal for one spring.
- Workbench: Workbench Level 3. You cannot craft it at a Workbench 1 or 2.
- Craft time: 1 second, so a stack is done almost instantly.
- Blueprint: it is not known by default. Put a spring in a research table with 100 scrap, or unlock it on the Workbench 3 branch of the tech tree. Research prices are 20, 40, 100 or 300 scrap by tier since November 5, 2026, and the spring sits in the 100 scrap tier.
The catch is the price. Four crafted springs for one AK cost 200 scrap and 8 HQM, which is more scrap than the AK blueprint itself. That is why crafting springs is a last resort: you do it to finish one gun when you have the body and HQM ready but are one or two springs short. Our Rust crafting calculator adds up the full cost of any gun, springs included.
Where to Find Metal Springs
These are the drop chances from the Facepunch Rust Wiki loot tables. Each number is the chance per container or per kill, and most sources give 1 to 2 springs.
| Source | Chance | Amount | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underwater lab component crate | 26.5% | 1 to 4 | Underwater Labs |
| Brown crate (normal crate) | 14.3% | 1 to 2 | Roads, monuments, rad towns |
| Wagon brown crate | 14.3% | 1 to 2 | Train wagons in the tunnels and above ground |
| Underwater advanced crate | 14.3% | 1 to 2 | Sea floor and underwater labs |
| Tunnel Dweller / Underwater Lab Dweller | 7.4% | 1 to 4 | Train tunnels, underwater labs |
| Scientists (roaming, Cargo, Oil Rig, Bradley, Excavator) | 4.7% | 1 to 2 | Most monuments with scientists |
| Underwater basic crate | 4.8% | 1 to 2 | Sea floor |
| Blue and yellow barrels | 1.4% | 1 to 2 | Roads and monuments |
| Metal Detector find | 9.1% | 2 to 3 | Swamps, rivers and lakes |
Seasonal sources add more. During the Halloween event, scarecrows drop 1 to 6 springs (8.8%), and during the Christmas event the gingerbread NPCs and dungeon crates do the same. If an event is live, farm those first.
Best ways to farm springs
- Road and monument crate runs. Brown crates at 14.3% are the most reliable source because there are so many of them. A loop through a few roads and small monuments like the gas station and supermarket hits a dozen crates.
- Train tunnels. Wagon crates and Tunnel Dwellers (7.4%, up to 4) make the tunnels one of the best spring runs once you have a gun. Our Military Tunnels guide and Train Yard guide cover the loot routes.
- Underwater Labs. The component crates have the best chance in the game at 26.5%, and the dwellers drop springs too. You need a diving setup and a gun.
- Metal Detector. A Metal Detector in swamps, rivers and lakes can dig up 2 to 3 springs at a time, with no fighting.
- Recycling guns you will never use. Loot-only guns carry springs in their hidden recycle recipe. See the table below.
Rusthelp’s vending data also lists Metal Springs at the Outpost for 60 scrap when they are in stock. That is more than crafting one, so buy there only if you have no Workbench 3 yet.
What Uses Metal Springs in Rust?
Thirteen craftable items need a Metal Spring. Here is every recipe from the current game files, with the spring count first:
| Item | Springs | Full recipe | Workbench |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assault Rifle | 4 | 1 Rifle Body, 50 HQM, 200 Wood, 4 Springs | 3 |
| HMLMG | 3 | 1 Rifle Body, 30 HQM, 2 Gears, 3 Springs | 3 |
| MP5A4 | 2 | 1 SMG Body, 15 HQM, 2 Springs | 3 |
| SKS | 2 | 1 Semi Body, 12 HQM, 200 Frags, 2 Springs | 3 |
| Bolt Action Rifle | 1 | 1 Rifle Body, 20 HQM, 3 Pipes, 1 Spring | 3 |
| Thompson | 1 | 1 SMG Body, 10 HQM, 100 Wood, 1 Spring | 2 |
| Custom SMG | 1 | 1 SMG Body, 8 HQM, 1 Spring | 2 |
| Semi-Automatic Rifle | 1 | 1 Semi Body, 4 HQM, 450 Frags, 1 Spring | 2 |
| Pump Shotgun | 1 | 15 HQM, 2 Pipes, 1 Spring | 2 |
| Python Revolver | 1 | 10 HQM, 3 Pipes, 1 Spring | 2 |
| High Caliber Revolver | 1 | 6 HQM, 4 Pipes, 1 Gear, 1 Spring | 2 |
| Handmade SMG | 1 | 5 HQM, 200 Frags, 1 Spring | 1 |
| Pressure Pad | 1 | 150 Wood, 1 Gear, 1 Spring | 1 |
The HMLMG got cheaper in the September 2026 update: it now costs 30 HQM instead of 60, and it still needs a rifle body, 3 springs and 2 gears. See our best weapons tier list for which of these guns are worth the springs.
Guns that recycle into springs
Loot-only guns cannot be crafted, but each one has a hidden recipe that tells the recycler what to give back. A monument recycler returns about 60% of it, so these are worth breaking down if you will not use them:
- M249 and Minigun: 6 springs in the recipe, about 3 to 4 back.
- L96: 5 springs, about 3 back.
- M39: 4 springs, about 2 to 3 back.
- M4 Shotgun and Spas-12: 3 springs, about 2 back.
- LR-300 and M16A2: 2 springs, about 1 back.
- M92: 1 spring, a 60% chance back.
Recycling a craftable gun also returns springs, but you lose the body chance and most of the HQM, so only do it with duplicates.
Metal Spring Recycle Value
Since the Power Trip update, recyclers run at different efficiencies. Here is what one spring gives at each:
| Recycler | Efficiency | Scrap | High Quality Metal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red recycler (Power Plant, max power) | 75% | 15 | 1 + 50% chance of a 2nd |
| Green monument recycler, powered | 60% | 12 | 1 + 20% chance of a 2nd |
| Green monument recycler, Power Plant offline | 50% | 10 | 1 |
| Safe zone (Outpost, Bandit Camp) | 40% | 8 | 80% chance of 1 |
At 12 scrap a spring is a mid-value component. It matches gears, beats a metal pipe (6) and loses to a rifle body (30) or tech trash (24). Full tables for every component are in our Rust recycler guide.
Should You Craft, Loot or Recycle Springs?
The numbers make the choice easy:
- Crafting one spring costs 50 scrap and 2 HQM.
- Recycling one spring gives back 12 scrap and about 1 HQM.
- So recycling a spring and crafting it again later loses 38 scrap and an HQM every time.
If you plan to craft guns this wipe, keep every spring you find. Twenty springs fit in one slot, which is enough for five AKs. If you are a solo or a builder with no gun plans, or you have more springs than bodies, recycle the extras for scrap. A good rule from our components guide: count bodies first, springs second and HQM last.
Metal Spring Tips
- Plan the AK. One AK needs 4 springs, 1 rifle body and 50 HQM. Collect the springs early in the wipe from crate runs, so the body is the only thing you are waiting on.
- Pick cheaper guns when springs are short. The Thompson, Custom SMG and Semi-Auto Rifle need only 1 spring. Our Rust weapons guide compares them.
- Hit train tunnels with a gun. Tunnel Dwellers drop up to 4 springs at 7.4%, and the wagon crates add more.
- Bring a Metal Detector on river runs. 2 to 3 springs per find, no risk from scientists.
- Craft springs only to finish a gun. At 50 scrap each, crafting is a top-up, not a farm.
- Check the wipe. Every spring you stockpile is gone on the next map wipe, and the spring blueprint goes on a BP wipe. See when the next Rust force wipe is before you stockpile.
Metal Spring Rust FAQ
Can you craft metal springs in Rust?
Yes. You can craft a metal spring at a Workbench Level 3 from 50 scrap and 2 high quality metal. The craft takes 1 second, but you need the blueprint first, which costs 100 scrap at a research table.
Where do you find metal springs in Rust?
The best sources are underwater lab component crates (26.5%), brown crates and train wagon crates (14.3%), Tunnel Dwellers (7.4%), scientists (4.7%) and blue or yellow barrels (1.4%). A Metal Detector can also find 2 to 3 at a time in swamps, rivers and lakes.
How many metal springs does an AK need?
An Assault Rifle needs 4 metal springs, plus 1 rifle body, 50 high quality metal and 200 wood, at a Workbench Level 3.
What do metal springs recycle into?
A powered green monument recycler gives 12 scrap and 1 high quality metal, with a 20% chance of a second HQM. A safe zone recycler gives 8 scrap and an 80% chance of 1 HQM, and the red Power Plant recycler gives 15 scrap and 1 HQM with a 50% chance of another.
Should I recycle metal springs?
Only if you will not craft guns. Crafting a spring costs 50 scrap and 2 HQM, but recycling one gives back just 12 scrap and about 1 HQM, so keep them if you plan to make an AK, MP5 or SKS.
What is the metal spring stack size in Rust?
Metal springs stack to 20 in one inventory slot. Dropped springs despawn after 40 minutes.
Which guns need metal springs in Rust?
The Assault Rifle needs 4, the HMLMG 3, the MP5A4 and SKS 2 each, and the Thompson, Custom SMG, Semi-Automatic Rifle, Bolt Action Rifle, Pump Shotgun, Python, High Caliber Revolver and Handmade SMG 1 each. The Pressure Pad also uses 1.
Do metal springs drop from military crates?
No. The current loot tables list springs in brown crates, train wagon crates, underwater crates and barrels, plus scientists and dwellers, but not in green military crates or elite crates.