1911 Recoil Spring?

[dk17hmr]

What weight is normal?

I dont know what is in my right now bought it used and have probably 2000 rounds through it myself so I think it might be time for a new one. Pistol has a full length guide rod and a recoil buffer as well.

My normal plinking load is 230gr RN cast at 750fps, but I have a freight train load that is a 260gr cast RNFP at 875fps.

I see 5's through 26's listed on Midway.

[boommer]

I WOULD NOT worry about it till 5000 RDS you might even get more out of them just look at the spring see if it is colapsing it will show up buy the coils looking in one spot or the other if you are shooting those loads 18 pound spring should work fine with a one handed or or weak hold will change what spring you need.but each 1911 is different but 18 pound range should work your running a wide range on loads

[redneckdan]

16-18lbs is normal

[dmftoy1]

I think the factory spec is 16.5 lbs. (Colt, Kimber, etc.) Wolf makes a really nice variable rate spring that I've had good luck with. (FWIW)

Have a good one,
Dave

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess im fussier then most. I look at your two loads and if it were me theyd get seperate springs. For the heavy load id probably start with a 19lb variable rate and for the lighter load probably a 15. A good way to judge it is how far your brass is flying. I look for my brass to be in a fairly small pile at about 10 feet. Most factory full sized guns come with 16s or 17s. I shoot my 1911s in competion and want reliablility. I change my springs about every 1000 rounds and am a firm believer that if you go over 2000 using factory ball your risking damaging your gun. I dont stop on the range at exactly 1000 rounds but try to keep a rough idea of how many have gone through it. If the gun is used for ccw or competion a set of fresh springs every thousand miles is cheap insurance. Kind of like changing your oil ever 3000 miles instead of 10000 is it nessisary probably not. But it sure dont hurt. Springs and lube are the main ingrediant to a reliable 1911. Dont scrimp on either. Some of my 1911s are up over 50000 rounds and a couple are probably pushing 100000 and still run like new. A set of springs and good lubrication and theyll be around till i die.

[mtngunr]

The freight train load increases recoil energy to the slide by over 50% compared to standard hardball, and the stronger spring and buffer will not help, as the stronger spring also hurls the slide forward even harder and stresses the frame when yanked to a halt by the slide stop pin/hole.......if you want a .45 Colt, my suggestion would be to buy one rather than trying to make one out of a 1911 .45ACP.....

[bobthenailer]

buy the wolff variable power recoil calibration pack, and switch springs until your gun works propery , use the heavest spring that works correctly then buy that spring seperatly later, after taking the springs out of the pacakage use a dremmel tool or a file to mark the springs i use 1 mark to repesent 10 lb and skip a couple spaces and put the corosponding number of slashe/ marks for the correct poundag example 8 more marks for 18 lb spring. you can also weigh them on a reloading scale but ive found the marking system works best. wilson combat used to make a calibration pack with color coded springs. another note when recoil springs are worn out they are 2 coils shorter than a new spring of the same weight and manufacturer

[dk17hmr]

Thanks guys, I dont know exactly how many rounds have been through the gun but it functions everytime, no questions asked, even one handed shooting or when I let my girlfriends brother shoot it...lol

mtngunr,
I have put about 150 of that heavy load through this pistol and no problems, I made it for bear insurance. I drew a bear tag last season and planned on hunting with my bow, which I did, but I wanted something for a "what if"...8 rounds of 45 is better then 1 arrow in my opinion. My main shootin is with the light 230gr load. Only reason I have that load for my 1911 instead of my 45 colt is because I dont have a 45 colt and cant afford one....soon maybe once I get out of college with a degree here in June.

[mtngunr]

Doug, just be advised the heavy load will greatly accelerate wear and battering with much use.....what you might instead contemplate would be using the H&G 130/Lyman 452488 SWC 200gr, which can be pushed safely to 1000fps/440ft-lbs out of a standard Govt Model, and which will feed even through most unaltered military guns....the Lyman 452460 SWC 215gr is an even sharper/longer SWC design, but feeding will depend on gun, and it, too, can safely approach 1000fps with no more stress than hardball......the SWC is far superior as a hunting/fight-stopping round, providing both more slap and a larger hole......

[Lloyd Smale]

I agree. I dont even like to subject my guns to full power ball ammo. I wouldnt shoot one round of some of the ammo ive heard loaded for them in my gun. Ive got other guns if I need something heavier then a 200 swc at 850 a load that would scrare the hell out of any black bear around here.
The freight train load increases recoil energy to the slide by over 50% compared to standard hardball, and the stronger spring and buffer will not help, as the stronger spring also hurls the slide forward even harder and stresses the frame when yanked to a halt by the slide stop pin/hole.......if you want a .45 Colt, my suggestion would be to buy one rather than trying to make one out of a 1911 .45ACP.....

[mtngunr]

There are other aspects which might reduce battering as the slide returns to battery, but I am unaware of any method of quantifying them for guaranteed results.....granted, the heavier recoil spring will reduce reward velocity/energy/battering, but the energy is just stored and released the opposite direction.......heavier magazine springs applying more upward pressure on rounds will slow the slide somewhat, as will choosing a bullet style which feeds harder and thereby slows the slide down.....but how to measure such reduction without possibly guessing wrong, I simply haven't a clue.......keep in mind the standard hardball or softball load equals or exceeds what was the issue round for .45 Colts, and they made the reputation of the SAA, those rounds (M1875/M1882/M1890/M1896) were only listed at 730fps with a 230-235gr minie-style bullet/ball.....they still would shoot through 3.75" of 1" white pine boards at 50yds, and only dropped to 2.25" penetration out at 300yds.....hardly poofball stuff, and the number of large animals such as steer, horse, and bear killed with such a load is probably pretty high......so don't automatically discount the effectiveness of those "plinkers", and especially don't write off the 200gr SWC's at 1000fps.......

[Dale53]

The standard military spec for the 1911 spring is 16.0 lbs.

I shot 75,000 rounds of hardball equivalent through one 1911 pistol in five years. Early on, I cracked a slide before I learned about recoil springs. When I weight checked my spring that had resulted in the cracked slide (coupled with too heavy a load) I discovered that it had sagged to 11.0 lbs with NO VISIBLE CHANGE.

I also learned a cute trick to keep check on my spring condition without dissassembling the pistol.

Get a bathroom scale. Hook the front sight on the edge of the scale and push the slide open with the scale until just before it hits the stops. The scale reading will tell you the true weight of the spring. Check a new 18# spring just after installing. When the spring "sags" to 16# replace it. Simple and fool proof.

I use the 18# Wolfe spring for all pistols using hard ball equivalent. I also am a believer in the Wilson buffer. Cheap insurance in both cases.

If you have a custom pistol, follow the gunsmith's advice instead of mine.

However, using that method, I had no more apparent wear and no more cracked slides. That is before IPSC reduced the "Major" stats. That is when IPSC was a martial art instead of a game...

NOTE: I also learned another thing from that episode. The H&G #130 is a dandy bullet for target and "serious" work. However, it seats considerably deeper in the case than the #68 H&G. Using data for just any 200 gr bullet had me loading my 1911 to 1100 fps. This is TOO hot and coupled with the sagged spring cost me a slide. I backed off the load to 950 fps (made major with some leeway) and never again damaged my pistol (as I recall, I shot the pistol 60,000 rounds with the new slide and it is still in service).

The above information is for good functioning with hard ball equivalent. If you are using light target loads you will probably need a lighter spring. Quite often, that means a spring that will weigh 12# or so. The idea is to use the heaviest spring that will still allow sure functioning. However, for hardball, going much heavier than the 18#-20# can result in battering of the slide from the heavier spring closing it too hard. Everything is a compromise...

Dale53