Cyberius Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Looking for advice on what recoil spring weight to use in my mostly stock 1911 with a 5" bbl. (stock barrel, bushing and slide) I plan to shoot mostly 200 gr. lswc, just your standard run of the mill load, nothing hot. Can anyone give me advice on what spring weight has perfromed well. I plan to attend the informal IDPA type matches at a local range. If you could also give me an idea of a good load recipe thats been working for you regarding the 200gr. lswc and what spring weight ? Would really appreciate the help on this one. Many Thanks. Cyberius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 All I can advise on is factory hardball 230gr. Used to use just 16/18# springs. Then somebody said you'll like you gun more is you drop to a 12.5#. So I tried it and yes the gun was quicker. More snap but recoil recovery seems faster. But what I found was that if the gun got dirty or little dirt in the mags, then the slide would outrun the magazine springs. You get the jam that leaves the bullet laying on feed ramp with slide slammed into side of case. A real show stopper because you had to lock the slide back, pull the magazine out. Sometimes even stick you finger in the ejecton port to nug the round loose to fall out of mag slot. Then insert mag and drop the slide. Lots of fumbling under the clock. So I went back to 14# and I don't have to worry about a little bit of crud screwing with my match. Now if I would clean the gun and mags after each shoot I could have stayed with the 12.5# spring. I don't like to clean but maybe every 1000 rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I like the 15# variable rate springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJONES5 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Looking for advice on what recoil spring weight to use in my mostly stock 1911 with a 5" bbl. (stock barrel, bushing and slide)I plan to shoot mostly 200 gr. lswc, just your standard run of the mill load, nothing hot. Can anyone give me advice on what spring weight has perfromed well. I plan to attend the informal IDPA type matches at a local range. If you could also give me an idea of a good load recipe thats been working for you regarding the 200gr. lswc and what spring weight ? Would really appreciate the help on this one. Many Thanks. Cyberius I can only tell you whats works for me. 165pf load with a 200gr lswc,4.3 grs Clays,range brass,LP primers. Gun is a Springfield with in excess of 15k is as tight as it was when I bought it. I use a( http://www.cominolli.com/fs.htm) Cominolli Frame Saver and a 12lb spring,only clean the gun about every 2000 rounds. Just load her up with Slide Glide and shoot. No jams. pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 95% of competition shooters like how the gun runs with lighter recoils springs. They tend to want to go as light as they can get away with and still keep the gun functioning and keep it from beating itself up (common practice to prevent the beating is to add a shok-buff...which shortens the stroke a bit). But, know that the lighter you go, the more things need to be "working properly"...or the gun may fail to feed (dirty, no oil, rough machining that drags, questionable magazines, poor ammo, etc...all add up to rob the slide of energy to cycle). Recoil springs are cheap (sometimes sold in a variety pack). Try a bench and see what feels right. Then, run the crap out of it and see how many rounds it goes before jamming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Dropping to a 14 lb spring will give you a different "feeling" than the factory spring. Further drops after that are a lot more subjective IMHO. I run a 13 lb spring with 230 grain major .45 loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Run n Gun Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Don't forget the main (hammer) spring! When I first started experimenting with reduced recoil springs, I hated the way the gun felt until I installed a 17# mainspring AND a 14# recoil spring. It feels great now. Let's see, when I used to shoot 200 LSWC my load was 4.7 Titegroup. For years now I've shot 230s over 4.0 grains of Clay's, it just don't get much "softer" in the 45 world that that. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 The stock spring for a 5" .40SW 1911 is 18#, a .45 is about #15, and a 9mm is 12#. Not sure about .38 super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbadaboom Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 In .40 I use an 11 lb. recoil with a 15 lb main. In .45 I use a 13lb. recoil with a 17 lb. main. 9mm open is a light "Recoil master" w/ a 17 lb. main (Mainspring in 9mm open is still being worked). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 I like a 12 pound recoil spring and a 21 pound mainspring in a 5" 1911 using the 200 grain LSWC loads. A 14 feels almost as good. My favorite load has been 4.3 grains of Clays under the 200, whatever brass and primer floats your boat. It should make 165 power factor or be really close to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostsix Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Looking for advice on what recoil spring weight to use in my mostly stock 1911 with a 5" bbl. (stock barrel, bushing and slide)I plan to shoot mostly 200 gr. lswc, just your standard run of the mill load, nothing hot. Can anyone give me advice on what spring weight has perfromed well. I plan to attend the informal IDPA type matches at a local range. If you could also give me an idea of a good load recipe thats been working for you regarding the 200gr. lswc and what spring weight ? Would really appreciate the help on this one. Many Thanks. Cyberius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I use a 14# spring in my 45 acp. Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 In .45 with a 200 swc I always liked a 17lb main with a 14lb recoil. Been so long ago you cant even buy the powder I used so I guess I dont have load data.-----Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 In .45 with a 200 swc I always liked a 17lb main with a 14lb recoil. Been so long ago you cant even buy the powder I used so I guess I dont have load data.-----Larry Can't you substitute FFG for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I like the 17 lb main spring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbs007 Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I use a 13# spring with 200gr LSWC bullets and 5gr of W231. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 In .45 with a 200 swc I always liked a 17lb main with a 14lb recoil. Been so long ago you cant even buy the powder I used so I guess I dont have load data.-----Larry Can't you substitute FFG for that? Not really, my stuff was dirty and smoked more.-----Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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