In my 5" 1911's, I use a 16lb recoil spring and a 23lb mainspring, in 4.25" guns, 18lb recoil and 23lb main. All of them also have a Harrison small radius firing pin stop. Zero (0) issues. They are all carry pistols.

Why do you need, want, and/or desire the springs you are using?

 

45acp, True this... your results may vary based upon your ammo choice.

 

Lightest spring I've ever used in a 5 inch 1911 45 acp is 16 lb . That's what Kimber recommended for factory ammo . My Wilson CQB has a 17 lb flat wire . Feels great . I load 200 grn LSWC with 4.2 grns tite group . Everything cycles fine . factory 230 hardball flies right thru just fine . My 1996 Wilson has a 20 lb flat wire in it . It prefers 4.5 and up grns Tite Group . Again factory ammo cycles great .

 

Mainspring weight is a far more important consideration for your question than recoil spring weight. A recoil spring's job is more weighted toward stripping and loading the new round.

 

There you go^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

I’m of the firm belief if it works don’t fix it. Standard spring weights have been standard spring rates because of extensive studies and observation. A 16# recoil and 23# ms has been the standard forever in a 5” 45.. it works great, and I don’t mean this as a personal comment but, a observational one, that most experiment with spring weights to compensate for bad shooting habits..

Some things don’t get improved upon but it’s merely the personal perception of what the changes actually accomplish. It’s my belief that DW while decent shooters, go with lighter main springs to lighten their triggers. That it really doesn’t help with felt or noticed recoil. I’m sure everyone has their own opinion, and this is just mine. Short cycling, battering and other things can often be avoided and eliminated in a pistol by going back to a standard spring set up..

In the case of reloading and going over Saami spec ammo chrgs does however change things up so I am speaking more from a standpoint of using factory Ammo, shooting + P or max factor loads etc.. is another story altogether.

 

I don’t shoot +p ammo and use a WC 17lb flat wire recoil spring in all my 5” guns. In my opinion, the flat wire spring appears to have less felt recoil than a 17lb standard round recoil spring.

 

Not being argumentative but i hated the wc flatwire spring kits in my govt models. I thought there was also more felt recoil in my wilson ulc. We are all different i guess

 

I had a WC ULC until I sold it to my best friend a few weeks ago, and I found the recoil to be very mild considering the alloy frame.

 

Yes this is a very subjective and objective subject lol...

 

Theoretically a person could feel a difference between a flatwire and standard round wire spring. The flat wire springs have a much more consistent feel as they compress. A round wire spring will gain in tension more as you compress it.

 

Fwd to 2:43:30

 

JR,no fair dragging that gang in!!
Whenever they're talking I'm taking notes!!

 

I had to go down to a 16 pound spring in my NM .45 so even military surplus ammo didn't short stroke. Still able to cycle 200 grain light SWC target loads. Same light SWC loads function flawlessly in my 4" Kimber with a 22 pound spring. My 5" 9mm Colt would not cycle reloads at all (all that I shoot) until i went to a 12 pound spring.
It seems like the best approach is spring the gun to your ammo and no lower.

 

In my 5" 1911's, I use a 16lb recoil spring and a 23lb mainspring, in 4.25" guns, 18lb recoil and 23lb main. All of them also have a Harrison small radius firing pin stop. Zero (0) issues. They are all carry pistols.

Why do you need, want, and/or desire the springs you are using?

Like I said, less recoil, better and faster target acquisition shot to shot and easier to manually cycle the slide. I use a 10 pound spring in my 9mm 1911 and a 12 pound spring in my 45 with excellent results....so far. It really improved MY performance but gave me pause to consider how much additional stress, if any, it puts on the slide stop that pins the barrel link. After roughly 500 rounds fired I haven't detected any elongation of the mounting hole or wear on the slide stop itself. I do use a Wilson extended slide stop.

 

Your reasoning is flawed. Lighter springs put less stress on your slide stop and lower barrel lugs.

 

Dan Wesson uses a more flat Firing pin stop. I think this offsets the lighter mainspring.

I use a 13 lb recoil spring because most of my shooting is with light loads. The occasional full power load seems fine. If I were to shoot a lot of full power I would put the factory spring back in.

My DW PM-9 has a 10 lb recoil spring. It eats everything from a 115 HAP at 1025 FPS to NATO.

David

 

I feel like the O.P. is just concerned about the slide stop. In that case, would locking your slide back and dropping on an empty chamber with a 18.5 pound recoil spring or a 12 pound recoil spring be harder on the slide stop pin? Going to a lighter mainspring causes other consequences. Unlocking too fast can cause the slide to bottom out against the frame rails which can eventually lead to a cracked slide. As long as the VIS is correct and the lower lugs aren't contacting the wall, I wouldn't be concerned. I have only seen broken lower lugs due to bad barrel fitting or lower lugs contacting the wall due to lack of a bow tie cut. I can't really attribute any of that to mainspring weight. In making recommendations for people who really want the best reliability and feel, the 23 pound mainspring in a 45 is tough to beat.

 

Yes this is a very subjective and objective subject lol...

No kidding!

There is a secret handshake that will reveal the exact formula for recoil spring, main spring and lower firing pin stop radius!

P.S. For a 5", 1911, 45ACP, 230 grain FMJ, standard velocity: It's 16# Recoil Spring, 23 # Main Spring and slight FPS lower radius. But keep it a secret so it doesn't become common knowledge!

9mm reduce the recoil spring to 12#'s for "standard velocity" ammo!

Smiles,