Gruyere Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Hey guys. I am in the process of switching to single stack and need some primer advice. I was shooting a CZ 75 SP-01 for a while and was getting light strikes (about 1-2/100). Turned out that because of the amazing trigger job from the CZ custom shop the hammer force was reduced and thus the occasional light strike. I switched from CCI to winchester and the problem disappeared completely. This was never an issue with my similarly tuned STI in .40. I still use CCIs for that load. Do any of you know if I should expect the reduction in hammer force with a tuned 1911? Which primers should I use to prevent this? I don't want to go too soft and risk trouble. Really, I have no idea how they lighten a trigger besides "grinding" here and there. I guess I should learn, it's just that when I have free time I go shoot instead of picking up a book ;-). Thanks. --Brian BTW, I have 8# of 231 and a bunch of Berry's 230gr so that's where I'm going to start working up my load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speculatorking Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Federal primers are the softest then I believe Winchester. Not sure about CCI. I have a 2 pound trigger on my steel gun, and was getting light strikes with some rounds I loaded up with Wolf primers. I put in a Dawson extended length firing pin and never have had a problem since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan550 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) +1 to speculatorking's post. I'll add that CCi primers are "harder than Chinese arithmetic!" A 2# 1911 trigger will need either Fed. or Win. primers for a consistent detonation. Revolver shooters swear by the Federals for just that reason, lighter trigger pull = lighter strikes. Alan~^~ Edited April 27, 2011 by Alan550 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolex Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Federal's first, then Winchester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk2 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) In my experience, as long as I run a 17 lb. or higher mainspring I do not have any problems with any primers, including Wolff, and I have my triggers set to 2 lbs. When I went to a 16 lb. mainspring in one of my guns, I got a few light strikes with Wolff primers. I put a long firing pin in it and haven't had any problems since. Edited April 27, 2011 by tk2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Like tk2, I run 19# main's for reliablility. I can still tune a trigger to 2lbs using the 19#. Only reason to run lighter would be the other factors of the lighter main spring. Run a Hyperdrive FP, make sure it doesn't stick out the breach face while at rest. Skip the Heavy duty FP spring and just run a standard weight spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperman Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Like tk2, I run 19# main's for reliablility. I can still tune a trigger to 2lbs using the 19#. Only reason to run lighter would be the other factors of the lighter main spring. Run a Hyperdrive FP, make sure it doesn't stick out the breach face while at rest. Skip the Heavy duty FP spring and just run a standard weight spring. +1. I run pretty much exaclty what you describe in my 1911. I bought a CZ Shadow with the full Angus trigger job and I've never had a ligth strike. I only run Federal Primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbbean Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) Do any of you know if I should expect the reduction in hammer force with a tuned 1911? Which primers should I use to prevent this? I don't want to go too soft and risk trouble. I've never had a 1911 or 2011 that was picky about primers. Even when I was running a 1.25 lb trigger (17 lb mainspring), I had no problem setting off Wolf, CCI, Winchester, or Federal in LP or SP. Supposedly CCIs are the hardest made, but I've had no problems. I did have about a half dozen failures from Wolf in a batch of 5K, but they were all within a run of 250 rounds, so I suspect I just got a few made on a Monday morning. The issue was QC, not hardness (IMHO). BB Edited April 27, 2011 by bbbean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Hammer spring strength does not affect trigger pull weight in the 1911 when the geometry is correct. It does affect perception of recoil though, as heavier springs delay slide unlocking. I prefer 17 pounders for this reason. You will generally only get light strikes if you drop to 15 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruyere Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 I let this thread percolate for a few days and BAM! Some amazing advice. Just picked up 5k of the Win and I'm going to talk to my smith to make sure I have the right spring. Thanks to you all for the wisdom and shared experience. --Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaGunner Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Just get a extended firing pin and forget about hard primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pro2AInPA Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I use Winchester small rifle primers in my open gun, which has a 1.75# trigger pull. No issues. It has an extended firing pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hammer spring strength does not affect trigger pull weight in the 1911 when the geometry is correct. It does affect perception of recoil though, as heavier springs delay slide unlocking. I prefer 17 pounders for this reason. You will generally only get light strikes if you drop to 15 pounds. I disagree. More spring pressure equals more friction. Others will disagree on the light strikes issues as several poeple have already posted having light strikes with 17# recoil springs. Every gun is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hammer spring strength does not affect trigger pull weight in the 1911 when the geometry is correct. It does affect perception of recoil though, as heavier springs delay slide unlocking. I prefer 17 pounders for this reason. You will generally only get light strikes if you drop to 15 pounds. I disagree. More spring pressure equals more friction. Others will disagree on the light strikes issues as several poeple have already posted having light strikes with 17# recoil springs. Every gun is different. Emphasis on "when the geometry is correct". I recently changed the hammer spring in my old Limited gun from 23# to 17#. The pull weight did not move a single ounce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I disagree. More spring pressure equals more friction. Others will disagree on the light strikes issues as several poeple have already posted having light strikes with 17# recoil springs. Every gun is different. Bingo! You gotta do some homework and find out what works for YOU in YOUR setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Service Desk Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Federal's first, then Winchester. Done lots of testing on this subject... Federal's first.... Fiocchi second ....... then a shootout between Winchester, Magtech and Remington. When it comes to reduced hammer falls you need to remember that CCI's are harder than a whore's heart. A 1911 has so much hammer energy that a #15 will work OK in most guns, CZ's, Glocks and S&W Revolvers are a different story especially when springs are cut or swapped out for lighter rated ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 19# main spring, extended firing pin, and Federal primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZ Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 15 lb mainspring....Cylinder & Slide Ultra Light hammer....normal length FP and CCI primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 run an extended FP in both my guns that have had W2R trigger work done. Both are light and never a problem. I have the Extreme engineering hammers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blurryvisions Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 my 1911 breaks at 1.8, and lights off everything i put in the pipe... its not the trigger in lbs its the mainspring...if u have a 15lb main u will be good with any primer... 13, better get some feds or wins... Good luck sorry if this was already addressed... i didnt read everyones posts haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Wolf primers make CCIs seem soft. They used to be good, but Wolf small pistol primers are so small that they're unreliable now. I run a 19 lb in my .45 and 17 lb in everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoldasLions Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I've tried large amounts of everything and had the best performance from Federal and the worst from Wolf. Federal Primers are AMAZING! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfrey Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I've never had but a very few .45 rounds that wouldn't ignite with CCI primers but using them in 9mm has been a headache. Kahr, Glock, and S&W don't like'em. Switched to Win. and good results. I got the CCI's back when you bought what you could get. Probably stick with Win. or Rem. in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GForceLizard Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) The trigger on my STI is 2.75# never had a problem with CCI LPP. The 3# trigger on my CZ75B SA Target hasn't had any problems with CCI either. Only a couple hundred rounds into that gun so far. Edited June 29, 2011 by GForceLizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel1212 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Like tk2, I run 19# main's for reliablility. I can still tune a trigger to 2lbs using the 19#. Only reason to run lighter would be the other factors of the lighter main spring. Run a Hyperdrive FP, make sure it doesn't stick out the breach face while at rest. Skip the Heavy duty FP spring and just run a standard weight spring. This is the best advice out there. I don't listen to it but its the best advice lol. I run 17# mainsprings in all my guns except my .45s, they get 19#s. I run a hyperdrive firing pin in all my 1911s even my .45s springfields because they use a 38 super FP hole. I also use a light weight hammer as well as other light weight parts. W2R can put a hell of a trigger job on a gun with a 19#MS though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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