cypher Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 After reading all the postings about how different spring weights can affect the felt recoil of a 1911 I feel like I am a spring expert now... So I feel like I should try my hand at running some lighter springs... Right now I'm running a very heavy recoil spring (something like 20#) and I would like to buy a selection of springs to tune my gun with (5" 1911 in .45 ACP) A few calls around town and I realize no one around here carries anything other than the odd spring. Are there online sources that I should consider? does someone sell a kit that has a few different weight springs in it? If not, what spring weights do you guys recommend I get? I'm very comfortable with my trigger pull at about 3.5#, so I don't really want to monkey with the sear spring. However, I was thinking of replacing the the hammer spring. What do you think? How much would that affect my trigger pull and what weight should I get? I have shok buffs, but I have some very old CP ones. Are the new ones any better? I understand, (again, from what I've read here) that there are different color ones with different characteristics. Any recommendations? Thanks Homero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Wolf sells packages of various weight springs. You can find them at http://www.gunsprings.com/ . Brownells also carries them at http://www.brownells.com . -jhgtyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Also try http://www.ismi-gunsprings.com/ BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Quote: I was thinking of replacing the the hammer spring. What do you think? How much would that affect my trigger pull and what weight should I get? You can get by with a 15 lb hammer spring if you use Federal primers...I use a 17 lb hammer spring, it ignites everything. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypher Posted May 16, 2002 Author Share Posted May 16, 2002 Thanks Bill, I just ordered one of those from Brownell's. Any idea on if it will affect my trigger pull at all? Homero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted May 17, 2002 Share Posted May 17, 2002 Cypher, There is a post on the springs forum about the trigger pull issue. Short version - yes , it will make it lighter as there is not as much pressure on the sear that must be overcome. As for springs online, I like the http://www.speedshooter.com a little cheaper than most ( $6.50 vs $ 7.90 ) plus Rene sells lots of other things that you might want, like Shock Buffs ( Sorry Brian ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypher Posted May 17, 2002 Author Share Posted May 17, 2002 Thanks Warpspeed. I will definitely check it out. I have ordered from them before. I didn't realize they sold springs as well... Any Shok-buff recommendations? Homero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted May 17, 2002 Share Posted May 17, 2002 I use the wilson, bought from brianenos.com of course, and have been happy with them. I run only one. Has not affected the feeding or relaibility of the gun one bit. Some people have said that they are not as soft as others which makes them hold up longer. I would guess that is a good thing. I know that Brian would not sell them if they weren't the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted May 17, 2002 Share Posted May 17, 2002 cypher, I like the Wilson shok-buffs, and yes the lighter spring will lighten your trigger pull but the 15 lb spring made my trigger feel mushy. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted May 17, 2002 Share Posted May 17, 2002 I use 17 lb hammer spring. no problems I also use SV S7 hammer and sear and Triglide sear spring about a 1.5lb trigger pull. Bruce Keeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I buy springs the same place I buy ALL of my shooting supplies: http://www.shootersconnection.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted August 3, 2002 Share Posted August 3, 2002 I'll second Kathy's post. Chuck is cool. I use ISMI in my SV, mostly b/c ISMI is an Indiana company and I think their stuff is good. It works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted August 3, 2002 Share Posted August 3, 2002 Switching the hammer spring will drop your trigger pull, but not that much in my experience. Switching from a 19 to a 17-pound hammer spring dropped my trigger pull a whopping 1/4 pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 (Not sure if this is the correct thread but) yesterday I went to the range excited about my new spring setup (13# recoil spring cut-to-fit and a 16# main spring.) Compared to my original setup (16# recoil and 19# main spring), this time the gun seems to flip less and is more comfortable. 130 rounds later I went home and cleaned the gun. To my dismay the new Wilson blue shock buff was close to being shredded. My question is, for those who had experimented with springs before, will a 1# increase in recoil weight usually enough to not beat the buff to death? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Yes. I've said this before, elsewhere on the forum, but I believe you'll find there's one poundage at which your Shok Buff lasts for thousands of rounds - drop the recoil spring weight one pound and it gets beaten to death in a heartbeat. For me that "magic" poundage seems to be 15 if I'm not using Slide Glide. Given the cushioning effect of SG, I was curious as to whether I could drop my recoil spring weight, counting on the SG's buffering effect to absorb recoil, and still have the recoil spring last longer. So after beginning to use Slide Glide, I dropped my recoil spring weight down to 14 pounds, which would never have lasted in the pre-Slide Glide gun. Lo and behold, I'm 1,000 rounds plus on the Shok Buff and 14 pound spring, and the Buff still looks good. My advice is to try different spring weights. Keep lowering it until the buff starts to show serious wear with only a handful of rounds. Bump the recoil spring weight up one pound to the last weight that gave you good buffer life and you'll have it. And get some Slide Glide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Get the Wolff catalog. They've got everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Thanks Duane. I wonder if BE can ship slide glide here in the Philippines?....hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted August 6, 2002 Share Posted August 6, 2002 Brian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Spring update. Retained my 13# recoil but upped my mainspring to 17# (from 16#), still no luck and the buff was still shredded. Switched to 14# recoil and after about 100 rounds examined the buff. This time the buff looked a bit better with only minor tears. Probably the magic number for me is 15#. BUT (whine) I liked the way the gun handles at 13#!...hmmm. maybe if I just remove the buff, stick the 13# back in and just look for signs of frame battering. Wish me luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 I'm running a 15# Wolfe hammer (main) spring in my L10 Commander and it hasn't failed to ignite anything I've tried, from Factory S&B to my loads w/WLP primers. The trigger pull with all factory components, other than an STI trigger, and the Series 80 parts functioning, is a little over 3.5#'s. I adjusted the sear spring per the "2 Pound Trigger Pull" article at 1911Forums. The lighter mainspring also allows less resistance for the slide to overcome when cycling. I purchased the Wolfe variable recoil spring kit and currently run the 10# with a Wilson 2 piece guide-rod and 1 Wilson Shok-Buff. I'm getting around 2-300 rounds before it needs replacing. I've used the CP buffs but and they last a lot longer, but the softer Wilson actually 'buffs' the recoil 'Shok' that I feel and I can tell the difference. I'm going to 'dehorn' the slide at the inside of the recoil plug and hopefully that will increase the buffer life. It is not so much wearing out as it is getting 'cookie' cut. So the reason I use a shok-buff isn't just to save the frame but to absorb some of the 'felt' recoil. I like the above combination and when I went from a 12# spring to the 10# my splits became anywhere from .16 to .22 on close to medium target's and up to around .30 on longer shots. And yes I have the required hits on the target, well 95% of the time anyway , and the timer was recording shot count accurately. YMMV, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Quote: from Joe on 8:51 am on Aug. 20, 2002 ...I'm going to 'dehorn' the slide at the inside of the recoil plug and hopefully that will increase the buffer life. It is not so much wearing out as it is getting 'cookie' cut. Maybe shredded wasn't a good description. Joe, you're "cookie cut" is more appropriate I also dehorned the insides esp. the end of the slide rail cutouts. The area is too sharp. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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