rack&roll Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I took the ILS mainspring housing off my new SA 9mm and replaced it with a nice Dawson gap magwell/mainspring housing including a 17lb hammer spring.. I replaced the recoil spring with a 9lb one as I read on here many of you have done. Now the really stupid part: I went to my match tonight without first checking my gun for function and on the first array, my gun went bang, loaded another round into the chamber, and then click...nothing. Rack a new round into the chamber, click...nothing. 6 times! The RO said pack it in. All the rounds had very light primer hits, but wouldn't go bang. Is the 17lb hammer spring too light? It doesn't feel any lighter than the ILS system. Do I need a longer firing pin or new FP spring? I really don't know why it wouldn't pop the primers. Same reloads I always use, and they worked just fine with the ILS mainspring setup and factory recoil spring. Any help from you 9mm 1911 shooters would be greatly appreciated! (BTW- I took it home and checked the firing pin, fps, and firing pin tunnel and they were all good.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 First, I would rule out the ammo. Check it for high primers if you reloaded it. Put the gun back to stock and try ammo from the same batch. If it works change one thing at a time and shoot again, repeat until you find the problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quack Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Did you use the MS cap from the ILS MS housing? If so, did you use a MS Cap pin to retain everything? If yes to both, that is your issue. BTW, the factory MS is ~28#. Edited January 20, 2015 by Quack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Quack, No, to question one, which negates question 2. I simply removed the entire ILS system intact. I then installed the new Dawson mainspring housing/magwell with 17lb hammer spring (23lbs would be too heavy for a 9mm) including all parts. Mainspring bottom pin, top cap, and retaining pin all from Brownell's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quack Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Hmm that's of as I'm using a lighter MS in my 9mm's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A63111 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Did you check for binding of the mainspring before installing? Everything sounds correct. Make sure the sear spring didn't slip out of place as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
412 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Did you replace the firing pin ? The one in my springfield was titanium and it gave me trouble until i replaced it with a Ed Brown one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 The mainspring isn't binding, and the firing pin is original. The gun went bang every time with the commercial 124gr reloads I use until I replaced the main (hammer) spring and the recoil spring. I went ahead and put the ILS system back on, the original recoil spring, and added an old Wilson stainless clip-on magwell and its running fine. I'm very disappointed however, that the new springs and msh/magwell didn't work out. I just need to find out the right hammer spring weight that will pop my primers without being so heavy that it effects the trigger pull and the slide movement. I do appreciate all of the advice, and am eager to hear more from 9mm 1911 shooters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racknrider Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I run a 19 lb mainspring in my Range Officer with no issues, CCI and Winchester primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 I run a 19 lb mainspring in my Range Officer with no issues, CCI and Winchester primers. Thanks! Do you use the factory recoil spring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Replace the firing pin with a steel one. If I'm not mistaken, it's Ti and needs a very heavy MS to function properly. The steel firing pin will provide more mass to help ignite the primers with a lighter (17#) MS than a Ti would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norther Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'd try this (post # 7, quote not working apparently). I had the same issue when I went to a 17# mainspring. replaced the firing pin with a steel Ed Brown, no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glock34Guy83 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Rack&Roll I have a SA 9mm range officer and i replaced the ils main spring housing with a Dawson no gap magwell and msh add I used the factory spring and I haven't had a problem. I want to switch to a 17lb main spring and a 9 or 10 pound recoil spring as you did so I an definitely interested in seeing how this turns out. If you end up not wanting the springs shoot me a PM. Edited January 21, 2015 by Glock34Guy83 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Rack&Roll I have a SA 9mm range officer and i replaced the ils main spring housing with a Dawson no gap magwell and msh add I used the factory spring and I haven't had a problem. I want to switch to a 17lb main spring and a 9 or 10 pound recoil spring as you did so I an definitely interested in seeing how this turns out. If you end up not wanting the springs shoot me a PM. G34G83, Did you use any other parts from the ILS or just the hammer spring? My understanding is the ILS spring is too short to use in a conventional mainspring housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glock34Guy83 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I used everything except the mainspring housing and the ILS parts. So basically the spring and 2 metal parts that connects to the spring. Sorry can't think of what they are called at the moment. I even reused the spring pin from the original mainspring housing. Haven't had a problem with cci, winchester or remington primers in 3,000 round since I put the new mainspring and magwell on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotrodder Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Mine did the same thing. I removed the firing pin and spring and compared it to one that came with a Wolf recoil spring. The spring in the RO was about twice as strong as the Wolf. Put in the Wolf firing pin spring and have had no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racknrider Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Yep, factory recoil spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertg5322 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Got a Loaded 9mm 1911, 9 lb recoil spring, 17 lb mainspring, no issues at all. Haven't changed the FP spring, if it had issues I would have, but it didn't, so I didn't. On another note, the Springfield Loaded pistols (at least the ones I've handled) all shoot surprisingly well for guns that are as loose as they are. I was worried while handling it, but at the range it shoots where it's pointed, in nice small groups out to at least 25 yards. I didn't see any need to shoot out further than that, very few USPSA stages require even 25 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 My SA 1911 9mm Target stainless is tight as a bank vault, for some reason. I have a Les Baer P-II and the SA is comparable to it in tightness. Wickedly accurate, too! I guess in that department...I just got lucky. I have an Ed Brown 9mm steel fp (for SA), and a Wolf standard power firing pin spring and 19lb hammer spring all coming in a few days. I'll keep all those interested posted, and thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Since I started this thread, and got a lot of useful info from everybody, I thought I would update my final solution. I ended up with a 19lb mainspring, 10lb recoil spring, Colt "stock" firing pin spring, Ed Brown 9mm 1911 "not" for Springfield Armory tool steel firing pin, (some slides from SA are vendored, and have a smaller, non-SA sized FP hole), and a bolt-on MSH/magwell from EGW and I used all new internals-no ils parts.. I also installed a Grieder Videcki-style short alum trigger, McCormick slim navridex grips and grip bushings, and a Mitchell right-side mag release. Oh, and an Ed Brown wide ambi-saftey. (psheewwww!) Took it to the range yesterday, and put 80 rounds of 124gr reloads through it and it ran like a champ. I had one light primer hit, but that was an obvious high primer, and not the guns fault. I think I've pretty much got it dialed in now, and just need to shoot the snot out of it. Thanks for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 yeah I tihnk the problem was combo of light hammer spring and heavy firing pin spring working against it. When I got my SA loaded. I removed the ILS but re-used the top and bottom pieces and the factory hammer spring and put that lot into an EGW MSH/magwell combo (probably the same one you have). It worked 100% fine. If I do put in a lighter hammer spring I will almost certainly replace the firing pin spring and probably the firing pin too. glad you got it running nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rack&roll Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 yeah I tihnk the problem was combo of light hammer spring and heavy firing pin spring working against it. When I got my SA loaded. I removed the ILS but re-used the top and bottom pieces and the factory hammer spring and put that lot into an EGW MSH/magwell combo (probably the same one you have). It worked 100% fine. If I do put in a lighter hammer spring I will almost certainly replace the firing pin spring and probably the firing pin too. glad you got it running nicely. Thanks, BB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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