New guy, testing spring weights for Para P18.9, any recommendations?

[soulbyte]

Hello, to everyone on the forum, this is my first post.

I am a new shooter to USPSA and for the last 4 months or so I have been shooting weekly in local club matches. I recently purchased a Para P18.9 9mm to shoot at matches along side my 1911 in 45acp. I'm trying out a few spring combinations out for the Para in competition.

Recently I've tried a a 14lb recoil and what I think may be a 21 or 23lb main. With this setup the factory 115gr loads felt very soft and very light, almost 22lr like. The drawback is a very heavy trigger pull and a heavy slide return.

Then I tried a 10lb recoil and and 17lb mainspring. The trigger is very light, slide easy to rack but the recoil is pretty snappy and the slide action is a bit slower.

I've ordered a 12lb recoil and 19lb mainspring and hope to test it soon. I'm a novice USPSA competitor at my local club and trying to get a better tune for repeat shots and faster sight aquisition.

Can anyone tell me what the factory main spring and recoil spring weights for a Para P18.9? Any recommendations on other combinations? I've heard of people using lower spring rates as low as 7-9lb recoil springs and 15lb mainsprings, but because I usually use range reloads and factory ammo and don't reload, those specs might be a little too light. Thanks in advance for your help.

Edited April 14, 2013 by soulbyte

[toddrod]

I run 10lb recoil and 17lb mainspring in both my 9mm 1911s.

[soulbyte]

Thanks for the reply toddrod. Would this setup be optimal for range reloads and factory ammo at 115 gr, or do you use a lighter custom load?

[toddrod]

that is the setup I use for FP factory loads,125PF USPSA loads and all the way down to 120 PF 'gallery" loads. The 17lb main spring will help a little with your heavy trigger pull but I good trigger job is needed to help out even more. Those 115 bullets are going to feel snappy because of the light weight of the bullet. I have not been doing much USPSA shooting lately and have actually dropped down to an 8lb recoil spring for most of my everyday shooting as it will still work well with 125PF loads. Other people will have other opinions, but this is what works very well for me.