Welcome to M1911.ORG
The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site


John needs your help
Please read this message.


Sponsors Panel
If you intend to buy something from the companies advertising above, or near the bottom of our pages, please use their banners in our sites. Whatever you buy from them, using those banners, gives us a small commission, which helps us keep these sites alive. You still pay the normal price, our commission comes from their profit, so you have nothing to lose, while we have something to gain. Your help is appreciated.
If you want to become a sponsor and see your banner in the above panel, click here to contact us.

Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Spring test

THREAD CLOSED
This is an old thread. You can't post a reply in it. It is left here for historical reasons.Why don't you create a new thread instead?
  1. #1
    Join Date
    28th September 2016
    Posts
    58
    Posts liked by others
    6

    Spring test

    So when a guy gets a used gun, he knows not how many rounds been thru it. Is there a test to check recoil springs for life expectancy?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    29th August 2017
    Posts
    382
    Posts liked by others
    48
    Quote Originally Posted by MikieG View Post
    So when a guy gets a used gun, he knows not how many rounds been thru it. Is there a test to check recoil springs for life expectancy?
    For a used gun with unknown history, it is probably best to simply replace the spring with a new one.

    Standard 1911 recoil springs are spec'd as having a certain force per a certain compression (spring rate). Other variations of the 1911 will have differing specs. You can actually measure the spring tension, but deciding when a spring has weakened beyond the point of usefulness based on tension will require empirical data as to where the tension becomes insufficient. A more common method of evaluating spring tension is to compare the length of the spring to that of a new spring. Replacement is recommended when the spring is shorter by some certain amount, 3 coils for example. These guidelines are also based on empirical data, but are more practical.

    If you need to replace springs, it is probably best and simpler to just replace them based on number of rounds fired. That all varies with the gun and type of ammo, but I think you will get some recommendations based on that.

    -

  3. #3
    Join Date
    2nd June 2004
    Location
    Terra
    Posts
    22,286
    Posts liked by others
    906
    You can buy or make a device to test the strength of a recoil spring (I made one), but even testing what the strength is today can't tell you anything about the life expectancy. You can't know who made the spring or what the composition or temper is of the wire. As megafiddle commented, it's easier and more certain just to buy a new recoil spring.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  4. #4
    Join Date
    28th September 2008
    Location
    Northern Italy
    Posts
    554
    Posts liked by others
    95
    Very sinple, just check properly your new gun and replace all the springs.
    Originality can't be restored, so put "originality" at the top of a priority list. If JMB didn't put it on the 1911 you don't need it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    24th July 2005
    Posts
    432
    Posts liked by others
    27
    Used auto gets a New Wolff recoil spring of correct poundage ( it also comes with a new firing pin spring).
    For 7 or 8 bucks just ain't worth it to wonder how many rounds the previous owner put through it.
    Also When I buy a midgrade 1911, such as Colt , Springfield, etc. I do this because it isn't unusual for the brand new factory spring to not measure up.
    Colt full size 5" recoil factory springs are know to only have 14 # of poundage

  6. #6
    Join Date
    2nd June 2004
    Location
    Terra
    Posts
    22,286
    Posts liked by others
    906
    Quote Originally Posted by T-TAC View Post
    Also When I buy a midgrade 1911, such as Colt , Springfield, etc. I do this because it isn't unusual for the brand new factory spring to not measure up.
    Colt full size 5" recoil factory springs are know to only have 14 # of poundage
    Perhaps that's because that's what John M. Browning originally designed the M1911 to use as a recoil spring.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  7. #7
    Join Date
    9th June 2004
    Location
    Alabama, US
    Posts
    2,199
    Posts liked by others
    115
    Mr Browning also designed a small radius firing pin stop that offers more mainspring resistance to early slide movement than the long radius stop added later for easier slide racking from Condition 3 military carry. That design feature has been sort of rediscovered in recent times and a lot of people are "tuning" their guns around it.

    Competitive shooters tend toward softer recoil springs and their guns hold up well. But their loads are lighter, USPSA Major power factor is only about 90% of .45 Ball.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    21st September 2008
    Posts
    9,964
    Posts liked by others
    209
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Watson View Post
    Competitive shooters tend toward softer recoil springs and their guns hold up well. But their loads are lighter, USPSA Major power factor is only about 90% of .45 Ball.
    That's if they shoot .45 Auto. There are A LOT of people out there who make Major with .40S&W in their double-stack 1911/2011 pistols, using loads with a long OAL that are still quite hot... STI's specs for such a gun (in .40S&W) call for a 14lb recoil spring (Colt and Wolff go for 18lbs) and a 17lb mainspring... and these are high round-count guns, not safe queens. And no, they don't have a small-radius firing pin stop.

    And that's only what these guns are shipped with. I have a friend who has a Para doublestack in .40S&W, with a 9lb recoil spring. I'm not sure what his mainspring weight is, but I doubt it's more than #17... this is a gun from the days when Para used cast frames AND slides in their guns. It works just fine.
    Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
    M. Setter
    Last edited by Spyros; 19th September 2017 at 00:26.


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  



Sponsors Panel
If you intend to buy something from Brownells, please use their banners above. Whatever you buy from them, gives us a small commission, which helps us keep these sites alive. You still pay the normal price, our commission comes from their profit, so you have nothing to lose, while we have something to gain. Your help is appreciated.
If you want to become a sponsor and see your banner in the above panel, click here to contact us.

Non-gun-related supporters.
Thank you for visiting our supporters.