1911 Commander recoil springs

[JD45]

I need some advice on shorter 1911 frame springs.  I know the Colt commander is probably the longest.

 

I just bought a 4.25" Springfield.  And I know some 4" guns are made.

 

First, I'd like to know factory weights and length.  Are they cut shorter than the 5"?  What do you order?

 

And how low in pounds can you go with carry loads and light competition loads ( 170PF)?

[RangerTrace]

Wolff is one of the few places I've seen carry commander length springs.  Sprinco is my choice for government length springs.  I called them a while back to see if they would add commander springs to the lineup and they advised they would not, anytime soon.  He also told me that clipping coils from a government length spring wasn't the correct way to make a commander recoil spring.  Wilson Combat probably has some.

[Jim Watson]

The .45 Commander recoil spring is a nominal 18 lbs with fewer turns of heavier wire so as to not "go solid" in the shorter spring space.

 

The Wilson "Custom Tune Kit" for Commander gets you a 20 lb "standard" spring and a 12 lb target load spring.

I can only assume that Wilson, Baer, et al. use stronger recoil springs to cycle their tight slides and ram cartridges into their tight chambers better.

 

Wolff will sell you about anything you want or a sack full of different springs in a "calibration pack."

 

My old Colt Commander will function with some pretty light loads on its stock spring, but ejection is weak with anything below barely Major loads.

[JD45]

I'm wanting to cut a 5" gun spring, 12lb, to Commander length to try. Could it damage anything?

[Joe4d]

cutting springs and you have no idea what you have,,, go to Wolff's websight. They have all kinds of springs. They also have a blurb on each one that tells you what weight will work best for your application.

[Dan Sierpina]

7 hours ago, JD45 said:

I'm wanting to cut a 5" gun spring, 12lb, to Commander length to try. Could it damage anything?

Wolff has Commander length springs down to pretty light weights. What is the configuration you are working with? 

 

[JD45]

A Springfield Ronin, commander length in .45 ACP, shooting mostly my competition load of a cast 230gr.RN @ 740fps.

[Jim Watson]

That won't cycle the action with the stock spring?

[JD45]

Sure it works fine. I just hate the feel of heavy springs. I've shot a 12.5lb in .45 SS for years. 

[Jim Watson]

Well, if you clip a GM spring, the main requirement is to get it short enough to avoid the spring stacking solid and blowing the bushing out the front of the gun.

[tfs]

On 3/11/2021 at 4:01 AM, JD45 said:

I'm wanting to cut a 5" gun spring, 12lb, to Commander length to try. Could it damage anything?

Take the guesswork out of the equation and order springs for the Commander-sized pistol from Wolff.  Their Commander springs differ a lot from the Government sized springs.  They have different spring diameters, and different spacing in between coils.  One spring with a certain weight would have a different number of coils from the others at a given length.