There have been no significant changes in open guns in the past 15 years, if you listen to the experts. In a full size gun the slide weight varies from 9 - 11 ounces. My three weigh in at 10oz+-. I had one 38SC with a Cone Brazos TC II, I swapped out the Brazos TC II, for a Brazos TC III, it has one more large top port and the gun seemed to shoot flatter and softer. If you have a look at the Brazos guns you will see they are running 4 holes in the barrel and the recommended powder is N105. IMHO an oz one way or the other on the slide isn't going to do much for your hoover syndrome. If the gun is violent then I recommend a Dawson DP-2 Comp, it will tame the beast that lives in the machine. Try a 10# recoils spring, that is what I run, my smith kept saying it was too heavy, then he shot my gun, and he put a 10 in his. I'm finding that the Wolf Recoil springs are only lasting me about 1-2k rounds and then they need to be replaced to maintain the feel.
If your having trouble finding the dot, quit short arming the gun! It took me about a year to figure that one out.