spring reccomendation please....

[CDPMatt]

Hey guys, I recently aquired a new (to me) Kimber .45 classic stainless LE built in '97. I am in the process of breaking in this gun as the original owner had put only a few (8 or so) rounds through it.... I have not had any problems with factory ammo but recently had a weird problem with my re-loads. I experienced a few failure to feeds with my 230gr LRN with 4.0 of WST (about a 167pf) in one match and then the next I ran the course (IDPA, 86rds) with no failures what so ever. I then decided to run 200gr LSWC's because I ran out of free 230RN so I used the starting load which was right around 166pf and I couldn't run more than a couple of rds with out if failing to go to battery and the bullet half-chambered pointing 45*upward in the chamber. I then switched to a friends load that he has used in his Kimber for alot of years now and it worked better although hotter than I'd like at around a 180pf but still had 2 failures out of 50rds. I would like to run around a 170pf and was wondering what recoil spring you guys might reccomend and if that would at all help me. COAL is right at 1.225" I use winchester brass and large pistol primers. Sorry for the long post and any help is greatly appreciated.

Matt

[yoshidaex]

welcome to the forums.

the search function is highly beneficial.

but to start you off in the rigth direction, its possible the gun needs a few more rounds before its "broken in". it should run straight out of the box but i never believed that. unless its a glock...

is it possible the extractor tension needs to be looked at? i use a 14 lbs recoil spring with my 170 pf loads and eveything works good. if i end up using factory ammo, i'll bump the recoil spring up to a 17. pick up a few ISMI springs from the 14~17 lbs range and see which one your gun likes with the ammo you have.

[CDPMatt]

welcome to the forums.

the search function is highly beneficial.

but to start you off in the rigth direction, its possible the gun needs a few more rounds before its "broken in". it should run straight out of the box but i never believed that. unless its a glock...

is it possible the extractor tension needs to be looked at? i use a 14 lbs recoil spring with my 170 pf loads and eveything works good. if i end up using factory ammo, i'll bump the recoil spring up to a 17. pick up a few ISMI springs from the 14~17 lbs range and see which one your gun likes with the ammo you have.

Thanks.... I've been searching and reading now for a couple of hours Switching from shooting glocks (since 96) to the 1911 (3 weeks now) is a different direction for sure. Thanks for the advice, I was going to try a 14# for sure and I'll have the extractor looked at.

[yoshidaex]

I should have looked at where this thread was posted. I would have responded to you in the proper thread and asked the mods to delete the extra one you posted. Try keeping your posts in the section thats more pertinent to your question. i didn't realize you posted in the G&R section along with the gun spring section.

[CDPMatt]

.... and I didn't realize there was a "spring forum" until I had already posted this, sorry.

[yoshidaex]

No worries. This is a place where you can learn alot.

[elenius]

I have very similar problems with my Kimber Custom II. With Precision Bullets' 200 RNFs, I always get bullet setback, usually about 0.010", which worries me a lot.

This does not seem to happen with their 200-SWCs.

I also had the same feeding problem you have experienced, when using Wilson 13# and ISMI 14# springs. Sometimes I was able to shoot the gun for a while until it started to get finicky. This was with a very dirty load -- I ran out of Clays and loaded up some Unique load I guess feeding was so marginal that some gunk from shooting pushed it over the edge.

I use a .470" crimp.

I put the original Kimber 16# spring back in. Will see if mine feeds better this weekend.