#18 Wilson Combat Recoil Spring on Sig 1911

[Aprilia Man]

Hi Guys,

Sig 1911 owners, would like to change the stock recoil spring on my Sig 1911 to the #18 Wilson Combat Recoil Spring. Was told that the slide and frame fit will be much tighter (not that it's already tight enough with the stock springs), my questions is would I encounter brass ejection problems with the heavier WC spring?

What other issues do I need to watch out for? (hoping I will not have any though)

Please advice

Thanks

 

[BCRider]

You don't just change recoil springs because you want to modify something. You change the spring to tune the ejection action to the power and bullet weight of the ammo.

If your Sig is ejecting the brass decently and the gun is operating just fine now then changing to a heavier spring is neither needed nor is it a good idea. The only reason to swap out your recoil spring to a harder spring is if you're regularly shooting stronger rounds than normal factory ammo. If this is not the case then you could well find that the harder spring produces issues with weak ejection and stovepipes as well as failure to lock back on the last shot.

On the other hand if the slide is currently coming back in a rather snappy manner and hammering the stop point in the frame quite strongly the harder spring might make the gun feel smoother in your hands.

It'll cost you the price of a spring to find this out. If it helps then great. But if you see the ejected brass coming out rather weakly and begin to not lock back on the last shot then you will need to switch back to the stock 16lb recoil spring.

 

[Hitzy]

Hi Guys,

Sig 1911 owners, would like to change the stock recoil spring on my Sig 1911 to the #18 Wilson Combat Recoil Spring. Was told that the slide and frame fit will be much tighter (not that it's already tight enough with the stock springs), my questions is would I encounter brass ejection problems with the heavier WC spring?

What other issues do I need to watch out for? (hoping I will not have any though)

Please advice

Thanks

Heavier recoil spring won't tighten slide to frame fit.....that's just silly.

 

[mshundal]

recoil spring = recoil tuning

do it, if
1 - gun is dipping after the slide cycles (go lighter)
2 - frame battering (go heavier)

for 45, unless you are shooting really hot rounds - i've found 14# to be the best weight that cycles both factory and hand loads reliably (YMMV)

 

[Aniest]

You don't just change recoil springs because you want to modify something. You change the spring to tune the ejection action to the power and bullet weight of the ammo.

On the other hand if the slide is currently coming back in a rather snappy manner and hammering the stop point in the frame quite strongly the harder spring might make the gun feel smoother in your hands.

It'll cost you the price of a spring to find this out. If it helps then great. But if you see the ejected brass coming out rather weakly and begin to not lock back on the last shot then you will need to switch back to the stock 16lb recoil spring.

So, in an effort to answer the questions and also put answers on CGN that can be searched...

Background: My 5th edition 4th printing Speer reloading manual on 200gr 45 ACP shows maximum standard loads at 950ft/sec and 400ft/lbs; and on the same 200gr at a maximum +P loads of 1200ft/sec and 639ft/lbs.

If I have the standard 16lb spring and shoot 230gr FMJ match at 875ft/sec approximately with nice recoil and flawless action, but want to shoot the occasional 200gr at 1150ft/sec should I buy a 18lb spring to swap in?

Will the 30 rounds a year of practice with the +P hot loads be too hard on the 1911 and break something with only the 16lb spring?

If not, then shooting how many rounds of +P a year would require going to a 18lb spring?

Let's please ignore any of the "Y U so Stoopid to due dis?" comments. This is a technical question for those with 1911 experience, those who "know better than I". I have posed these comments on the M14/M305 platform in hopes of finding answers to questions that can be later searched by others: this is another one of those.