homeinvader Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 What is the lightest recoil spring I should use on my .45 1911 Gov't? I have a 16.5 pound spring now, but what is the lightest I can go before I start either damaging the gun or hurting reliability? I'd love to be able to rack the slide as easily as my comp gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I am WAY not an expert on springing your gun, but I have always kinda follwed the "heavy load, heavy spring" rule. #16.5 in a carry gun, esp a 5" should be fine. I use a a 11-12 pounder in competition .40 / .45's but some folks go even lighter. Lighter spring seems to make the gun run flatter, but heavier can "force" things to run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Depends on what you are going to shoot in it...Try a few different ones till you find one that works all the time and feels good to you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zak Smith Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 A stronger spring will increase the change of limp-wristing the pistol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Biondi Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I have a STI Edge 40S&W and I use a sprinco recoilreducer with 9 lbs Ismi recoil spring. The gun works fine no jam or trouble shooting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 A good way to test out a setup is to put in a new shokbuff with a proper length spring and then fire 50 rounds. Then field strip and inspect the shokbuff. If the spring can keep the recoil spring plug from slicing up the shokbuff in 50 rounds then it is enough for carry. I don't know many that carry more than 50 rounds at a time. If you want to shoot lots of a given load with a given spring then do the same test with more rounds. BTW, the 16lb spring was made for shooting thousands of rounds of the standard 230gr at 850fps load and probably has some over design tolerances built in. Hotter loads may require a stronger spring. The 18lb spring is pretty popular with folks who shoot a lot of hot defense ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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