6" slide what recoil spring

[tk4]

If you build a six inch 2011 with the slide litened to equal the weight of a 5 inch slide, would you use the standard recoil spring of the same weight you prefer with your 5" slide?

[sfinney]

11 to 12 pounds.

[tk4]

11 to 12 pounds.

Would it be the same spring used in a 5" slide? I saw that wolff gun springs had special springs for 6" slides.

[Bear23]

I'm currently running an 11# in my 6". I don't use shock buffs, these just got too tore up and jammed everything up.

[Larry White]

Same spring as a 5in. Benny Hill Fat Free Uses IMSI 12#.--------------Larry

Edited November 5, 2007 by lkytx

[Adam B]

I'm currently running an 11# in my 6". I don't use shock buffs, these just got too tore up and jammed everything up.

I had the same thing happen yesterday, it didnt jam but when I took the gun apart to clean it the buff was destroyed. I really like using shok buffs and was wondering if there was an alternative other than a recoil master/sprinco.

[Bear23]

I'm currently running an 11# in my 6". I don't use shock buffs, these just got too tore up and jammed everything up.

I had the same thing happen yesterday, it didnt jam but when I took the gun apart to clean it the buff was destroyed. I really like using shok buffs and was wondering if there was an alternative other than a recoil master/sprinco.

I even tried a alumibuff. That peened to smithereens and lead to two slide lock backs on a weak handed stage i shot at a match. I shot it the next day weekhanded and lock up occured (slide sticking back). When i removed the buff, no problems at all. I think the 6" slides move very fast and have quite a bit of inertia. Maybe a recoil reducer would work, something that has two springs at different rates.

[Adam B]

I may look into a sprinco if they make a 6 inch

[geo]

The gun is a 40 or 45?

11 lb is on the lite side for a 45.

The slide is lightened but the barrel remails the std weight.

geo

[HSMITH]

Adam, just run it without any buffers or anything else. They will last 100K rounds easily, and probably 200K if you rebarrel it enough times. Benny builds them right, no worries about durability at all.

If you do tear it up you would have been very fortunate to have had the time and money to get to that point, I would get another and hope I could do it again.

[sfinney]

I have talked to guys running 6" sprincos in their fat frees with very light springs, 10/11 pounds or so? Seems to be an acquired taste, I never could get used to the Sprinco/Recoilmaster 2 stage feel, and then there is the "breakage" factor.....

[BPiatt]

My 6" 1911 is a standard Nowlin built PPC conversion but I use it for the Bianchi Cup.

When I took it apart the first time I got it, I was surprised to see that they use standard 5" springs.

To make up for the extra inch, they put two recoil spring plugs in it. That way you don't have to keep

5" and 6" springs.

[Zerwas]

If the shok buffs are tore up like that, isn't that an indicator the gun may be sprung too light? I use a shock buff in my 5" SVI 40 caliber limited pistol with a 12lb wolff spring. I can shoot several thousand rounds thru it and there is only a small amount of indent on the buff.

I would think if the buff is being destroyed like that the battering that is happening must be pretty severe.

I am certainly no pistol smith, so it would be nice to know...

[moverfive]

If the shok buffs are tore up like that, isn't that an indicator the gun may be sprung too light? I use a shock buff in my 5" SVI 40 caliber limited pistol with a 12lb wolff spring. I can shoot several thousand rounds thru it and there is only a small amount of indent on the buff.

I would think if the buff is being destroyed like that the battering that is happening must be pretty severe.

I am certainly no pistol smith, so it would be nice to know...

Yes, you are correct about the battering if you are seeing shock buffs destroyed. Now is that necessarily a bad thing? Granted the slide slamming into the frame isn't going to extend the life of the two parts, but it also may not necessarily shorten them too much beyond their typical life span.

For me, whether this is an open gun or limited gun, when shooting freestyle with a normal grip on the gun, I want the slide to just make good contact with the shock buff - to leave that same mark that you are probably seeing. When I see this mark, it tells me two things - (1) the slide is making a full stroke so that when I go into awkward positions, shoot weak hand, and etc. and thus causing the slide stroke to be shorter, it will still be long enough to ensure reliable ejection, and (2) I am not getting the vibration, dot movement, and etc. that would normally be seen when the slide slams back into the frame. And while some may say this slows down the slide - it may do that. However, I am still able to consistently shoot 0.11 to 0.13 splits.....so the slide speed is not an issue.

Now others like the feel and other things that come with running the 'lightest spring possible and yet the gun still functions' combination. To each their own.

But on the other hand, you can have too heavy of spring and still get this mark on the shock buff. A too heavy of spring will cause the gun to dip as the slide goes forward. So there is a balance act that must be found.

Now for my six inch gun, which has a lighter than average slide (this one was supposed to have been Benny's slide), I run a 12.5lb ISMI with a CP shock buff AND then a Dawson aluminum shock buff. Now since I am still putting the gun through its paces, trying to find that 'magical' load, and etc., I am not sure I have every part nailed down......but one thing is for sure, I cannot use a 11 lb spring given how I like the gun to function and feel.

[Adam B]

I have no idea what weight spring came in my gun, that is how it came from TSS, I will switch it out with a 13 pound one and see how it is.