which spring?

[makicjf]

I have been trying to decide which recoil spring to use in my ria 1911 for a 255 grain load. Bottom end of the speer #12 for a 260-- a lee 252 swc ( weighs 255 from ww) over 5.8 of unique at an oal of 1.19, or a 255 rnfp ( weighs 260) over the same charge with a oal of 1.20. I have tried an 18 lbs spring and it feels heavy: the slide slams forward and I had consisitent stovepipes with the last round from two brand new 8 round chip mccormick shooting star mags ( 7 rounds loaded it went away). A bit of reading made me think the 8 round flush fit mag and fast slide from the heavy spring caused the issue. I am leary of running this load with a 16 1/2 lbs standard spring. The loads run well with a standard spring, but don"t want to beat up the pistol. i like the load, its accurate and shoots well in all of my 45 acp revolvers. Does anyone have a thought-- is the 18 lbs spring neccasary at this level?
Jason

[gray wolf]

It depends on how hard you are driving the slide back, and that relates to how hard it goes ahead.
I would say you have some fairly good slide speed, why ? cause it's skipping over the last round.
The last round in the mag has the least amount of up pressure and the slide isn't picking it up correctly. 16 pound is the standard spring now, I say now cause the original was 14.5 or 15
according to J M B drawing. But he also used a square bottom firing pin stop, something you might consider in order to get a tad more dwell time before the slide comes back. It will also give the perception of less recoil. If those heavy bullets are not loaded hot a standard spring may work fine. I don't like shock buffs, I have seen them tie up a gun at the worst time.
Also look at your ejection speed, ( how far the cases land away from you ) 6 to 8 feet is about right.

[pdawg_shooter]

16.5 that JMB designed is hard to beat.

[tek4260]

I'd stay with the 18 or maybe even go 20. The main thing you should try is the flat bottom firing pin stop. I am running one and a 20lb Wilson spring in my 1911 and I get around 5-6ft ejection and it runs 100% no matter what mag I try in it.

[makicjf]

my ejections were about 4 feet--- I could see the brass as it ejected. My normal load with a lee 230 tc goes about 6-8 feet with a stock spring. I'll look into the pin. Would shooting with a standard recoil spring and gauging ejection distance be a semi reliable/ less subjective method of deciding? If the brass is ejecting 6-8 feet could I suppose I am in the "normal" range? Subjectivley the slide feels "fast" on the forward side and I can feel the forward impact; plus the empties are just outside of arms lenght. I am at the starting load for this load, but it is a pleasure to shoot from my little vaquero and hits close enough to the same as the 230's. I could also up the charge with the heavier spring until the empties go 6-8 feet and the last round feeds.
If case ejection distance is a reliable meter?
I appreciate the input!
Jason

[pdawg_shooter]

A heavy spring tend to slam the slide forward way too fast. IMHO, that is just as bad as it slamming back too fast.I have seen barrel locking lugs and hoods beat all to heck by this. When I load hot I use a shock buff and a 16.5 spring.

[gray wolf]

Just for the heck of it, the original 1911 did not start out with a 16 or a 16.5 # spring.
It was very close to 15 #
The greater the distance the cases eject is a good indication of how fast the slide is coming back.
However even when it comes back slow, as in a low charge round it still goes ahead according to the spring weight. So the heavier spring is going to slam ahead. Very good advise about not battering the the barrel lugs and the hood. Over springing is done by many as a band aid instead of a fix for a problem that can't be identified by a novice ( beginner or new to a 1911 platform )
A 16# spring will cover many different load intensities.

[pdawg_shooter]

Just for the heck of it, the original 1911 did not start out with a 16 or a 16.5 # spring.
It was very close to 15 #
The greater the distance the cases eject is a good indication of how fast the slide is coming back.
However even when it comes back slow, as in a low charge round it still goes ahead according to the spring weight. So the heavier spring is going to slam ahead. Very good advise about not battering the the barrel lugs and the hood. Over springing is done by many as a band aid instead of a fix for a problem that can't be identified by a novice ( beginner or new to a 1911 platform )
A 16# spring will cover many different load intensities.

Well said. I shoot everything from mild to wild with a 16.5 spring.

[Bullwolf]

I tore down my old US GI Colt government model 1911 the other day for a well needed clean and lube. I typically shoot my modern Springfield 1911 more often than the old Colt, so the Colt has been sitting in the safe for a year or so.

I'm guessing that the older brand X shock buffers I was using, weren't very compatible with Hoppes gun oil.

70867

The shock-buff pictured above was kind of melting, and it just sort of crumbled. I wish I could remember what brand it was. I had been shooting very mild loads through the old Colt too, while I had this shock buffer installed. I had not seen a shock buffer do this before, but had read about it being a possibility.

Recently I've been working my way through a bag of blue Wilson Combat Shok-Buffs.
http://shopwilsoncombat.com/images/2bbn.jpg

The blue colored Wilson Shok-Buffs don't look anything like the clear one that disintegrated while the gun was sitting in the safe. So far the Wilson Buffs have shown no signs of deterioration, but I do change them out pretty often. I will probably replace them even more often now.

I guess it just goes to show it's probably not the best idea to use a shock-buffer in your self defense pistol. If you do use some kind of recoil buffer, don't forget to check on it from time to time.


- Bullwolf