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Thread: variable power recoil springs ?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master



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    One more SMALL grease point is on the face of the slide where the head of the cartridge slides up
    into position from the mag.
    Mike
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95

  2. #22
    Boolit Master


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    If the contact is at 11 o'clock, Is the barrel throated at that position. If there is a a sharp corner then the interference may be slowing the slide down and not allowing it to "slam home". I had a Kart barrel do this but the rounds would stop short of entering the chamber.
    Another reason could be the timing of the action. Are there any marks on the top barrel lugs? Are the lugs sharp corners?
    The compression of the recoil spring to to get the spring plunger behind the the barrel bushing is pre-load. It takes a certain poundage amount of per-load to fully close the slide on a 1911. There are a lot of things happening in the final lock-up of the slide. The top barrel lugs are being pushed up into the slide, The rim of the case is still being pushed under the extractor, the bottom barrel lugs are sliding up the slide stop, the round is still moving forward in the chamber, the barrel hood is sliding into position. It takes spring pre-load to overcome all these.
    I have never used a variable spring in a 1911 but my guess is that it has less pre-load and more load bearing when it is compressed in recoil. You said the spring was a lot shorter than a round wire spring. That concerns me about the per-load.
    Can you duplicate the slide staying out of full battery by slowly allowing the slide slide to go forward holding it back by hand?

  3. #23
    Boolit Master


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    Take a black marker and darken the areas mentioned in my last post. Top barrel lugs, sides and back of barrel hood and extractor rim of case. Work the action and determine your contact points. One of them is not allowing the slide to fully close.
    If the slide is going back far enough to pick up a round out of the magazine (which it seems like it is) then there is enough force to close the slide all the way under normal circumstances.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master

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    By staying with the light springs, the slide hits its stop harder and puts more stress on the frame. A heavier spring will close the slide harder, but will do less damage than using a light spring. The heavy spring will also make the recoil seem lighter.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master

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    The 15 lb. Wolf spring did the trick! I shot 100 rounds of my 4.3 gr / 230 CPRN reloads yesterday without a single malfunction. Going to put another 100 through it Thursday then strip & clean. Once it's clean I intend to follow wv109323's procedure to see where the contact points are. Working rounds through by retracting & slowly allowing it to go forward while holding it does result in slide not going to full battery. Still wants to stop 1/4" or so short. WV, when you say "extractor rim" do you mean the outer edge of rim or groove too ? The 15 lb. spring make the pistol feel a little more 'lively' but it still shoots better than me. I think after another 250 rounds I will try the 14 lb again on the assumption it is still breaking in. Anyway thanks for all the helpful advice. Here's pic of 10 round group offhand (two hands) at 27 feet from yesterday. My 30 & 35 foot targets weren't as good but I'm working on it. Not counting the one outside the box it measures 1 5/8" outside of hole to outside of hole.
    Thanks again
    .Attachment 202914

  6. #26
    Boolit Master



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    Great shooting
    Thanks for the report
    Mike
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95

  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master Char-Gar's Avatar
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    As other have said, the 1911 pistol was designed to operate with a 16 lb recoil spring and full snort 230 grain ammo.

    The Colt Gold Cup came with a 14 lb spring for light target loads.

    I have Wolfe 16.5 variable springs in my Colt 1911s and never have a problem. I don't oil or grease my ammo. I do grease the rails of the pistol.

    John Browning designed these pistol to operate within a certain range of recoil, slide velocity etc. When you start jacking with that, you get problems and posts like yours.

    Any decent 1911, properly lubricated, using a 16 lb recoil spring, shooting good quality 200 -230 grain ammo at 800 to 875 FPS will be 100% reliable. If it is not, then look to your ammo and/or your magazines. These things have been around for 105 years and there are no secrets left to discover. Folks seem to want to tinker with perfection and change this and that, and often induce unreliability as a side effect.
    Last edited by Char-Gar; 08-31-2017 at 12:07 PM.
    Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master


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    I would check the outer rim of the case and the extractor groove also. Brass that has been reloaded several times can flatten out the rim and increase the rim diameter. The increased diameter may not allow the brass to slide up the breechface. The "nose" of the extractor needs to fit in the extractor groove. The extractor should not be contacting the front of the groove pushing the round into the chamber. Likewise the extractor should allow the case to headspace on the mouth of the case in the chamber. I reckon another way of saying it is the extractor should not be pulling or pushing on the case. If the extractor "claw" is hitting the case at the bottom of the extractor groove that is OK.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check