I've never worked on one with the short spring. However, I'm reasonably sure that the spring and its mounting screws is the only difference. Looking on the FED and Zorki survival site, I can't see anything that contradicts that idea either.
EDIT: Senior moment! Actually, yes I have, my Zorki 1. The 'long spring' variety has the spring held by the same screws as the baffle (at least FEDs do), the 'short spring' variety has the spring held separately by its own screws.