Harmon Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 whats goinna be the lightest hammer spring i should be able to use with a 45 acp limited gun? it has 17 lb spring in it now, but i was told a 15 would lighten the trigger up a ounce or two. how low can i go with the springs? the gun has a chip mc cormick hammer, ed brown strut, sti stainless firing pin and a wolf extra power firing pin spring. I use only federal large pistol primers so it seems i could drop down to 15 with no problems. i guess the downfall to this would be slower locktime but is it going to be slow enough to make a difference.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessej Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 You might have to experiment to find out what you really like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Snyder Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Check to see if Arrendondo makes a extra length firing pin for your gun, I know they make the small pin version. Also, you might want to try a different hammer. A lighter one like the Koenig our Extreme Products make great light hammers and I have always favored the STI S-7 sear and the Infinity disconnect. I only use 17lbs main springs and all of my guns are set at 2lbs. I can take them down to 1.25lbs but I find it to be to light for my shooting style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogmaDog Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I have a 17lb in my Kimber Gold match. The trigger is right about 4 lb, and nice and crisp. For me, it wouldn't be worth it to shave a couple oz. off the trigger wt. to go messing with it. One failure to ignite would offset the benefit. I doubt I would notice any difference in lock time or trigger weight (I didn't really notice any difference when I swapped out the factory 21lb mainspring ) DogmaDog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Stick with 17lb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I tried a 15 # in my 1911 Colt during some practice sessions and found 1 in 100 FTF probably from mixed cases and high primers. I went back to the 17# for the reliability since trigger pull is already 2.5#. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I have a 17# mainspring and my trigger breaks clean at 1.75 #. Gotta love Rusty Kidd. A problem with going too light seems to be a failure to ignite the primers. Now, this was in a friend's gun and might be due to not having an extended firing pin. But swapping his far too light mainspring fixed the problem too. And, if nothing else, a bit heavier spring, will give you a faster lock time (I think)! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 The type of primers that you use will play a big role in determining how light you can go on the mainspring. I tried a 15# and it would not dependably ignite CCI primers. I may try again when I have change to Winchesters. There is a big enough difference to try. If all of your ignition system is stainless steel, then you can buy titanium parts that will reduce the lock time of the hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I just swithed to a 17# about 2 months ago, and it works great. The hits on the primmers in my .45 are a little light, but I haven't had a single fail to go BANG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 whats goinna be the lightest hammer spring i should be able to use with a 45 acp limited gun? it has 17 lb spring in it now, but i was told a 15 would lighten the trigger up a ounce or two. how low can i go with the springs? the gun has a chip mc cormick hammer, ed brown strut, sti stainless firing pin and a wolf extra power firing pin spring. I use only federal large pistol primers so it seems i could drop down to 15 with no problems. i guess the downfall to this would be slower locktime but is it going to be slow enough to make a difference.? Why would you need a trigger less than 2 lbs? You can do that with a 17. I've seen too many "must have" triggers crap out. Somethings are acceptable the way they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I have found that the lightest relaible mainspring is 17#. You can use any brand of primer and still have 100% ignition. If you use a 15# spring you will not likely have 100% ignition with all brands, particularly with Winchester or CCI primers. There is very little (if any) trigger improvement by going from a 17# to a 15# mainspring. You can have as light of a trigger as you would like with a 17# mainspring. The hammer, sear, sear spring geometry primarily determine the pull weight. My triggers are all 20-24oz and totally reliable. My partner's trigger is well under 20oz and he also uses the 17# mainspring. Don't sacrifice reliability to attempt to lighten the trigger by one ounce. Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Don't sacrifice reliability to attempt to lighten the trigger by one ounce. Wise advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonub Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 i have been using a wolff 17 pound hammer spring. as an experiment i tried an ismi 15 pound spring. i use winchester primers the brass colored ones and so far after 1000 rounds 1 level 1 match and a level 3 match, no problems. so ill stick to this setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulm540 Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 19 pds on mine, trigger is about 2.25#s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 What Leo said. I hate the feel of triggers with a light mainspring anyway. 17lb is good. Don't screw with the leaf spring either. The disconnector NEEDS to have tension on it. It does its job while all sorts of parts are moving & banging around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 May I make a suggestion that might seem a tad "off topic", but I feel it is relevant? Leave your mainspring weight as-is, but liberally apply some "Slideglide" to the mainspring and the interior of the mainspring housing. Reassemble and try it............. it is like MAGIC!!!!!! It will feel like you have a lighter spring and Smoooother. Really. Best to all, Jeffro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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