Recoil Spring Replacement

[OneJaggedHole]

How often should I replace my recoil spring? I owner a commander length gun.

[SAWBONES]

If it's a high quality spring such as ISMI or Wolff, fairly rarely. In Commander length guns, I replace mine only every couple thousand rounds, even less for 5" guns.

[1911Tuner]

A point about recoil springs...

Never assume that an unknown spring is good to go...even if the package is marked specifically for the gun. Always check for coil bind in any 1911 pistol,
especially the ones shorter than Government Model/5-inch.

A practiced hand can feel and hear coil bind...but the test is to put a strip of masking tape on the dust cover and pull the slide rearward as far as it will go with the recoil plug removed, and hold it there firmly. Make a witness mark on the tape that lines up with the front of the bushing.

Install the plug and pull it back again. If the front of the bushing is forward of the mark, you've got coil bind. Clip a half-coil off the open end of the spring and repeat until they line up...and clip another quarter-coil just to make sure.

if you fire the gun with a coil bind condition, you'll ruin the spring...probably break the bushing...and possibly even break the slide.