1911 spring tension = bit of a pickle

D

Djb1

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My 1911 is a bit slow to come back into battery. I feel it needs a heavier recoil spring.
Now normally I could look up the manufacturer's specs and go from there but this 1911 is a "tanfoglio witness custom".
I litterally can find no information whatsoever on this leading me to believe it truly is a one off custom.
Anyways, is there any way to measure the current spring so i can buy a heavier one?
I shoot factory 230 ball ammo out of a 5" barrel if that helps.
Thanks.
 
14# is pretty standard on most .45's and sometimes these things take a bit of "tuning" to get to run perfectly since they're all a bit different.
 
The stock tanfo witness .45 1911 factory spring is a 14lbs witch is obviously too light to function properly with just about any factory ammo (unless you're shooting light target ammo). Anything between 16lbs to a variable 18.5lbs will do the trick.
 
A good allrounder is 16.5 , but a 14 will do if your gun is precise built or loose enough, for example,with the hammer pulled back,and slowly moving the side back and forth...feel any hard spots? With the gun disassembled,and reassembled with no hammer,no disconnector,no mag,no recoil spring...will the slide fall back if you point to the roof and fall into closed position when you point to the ground? Determining the right spring weight includes a whole $h1tload of factors,but if you're patient,it can be done...
CG
 
If you ever need to know the OEM spring weights for any given gun Wolff lists them...
For Colt 1911 Gov:
14 lbs = 9mm and 38 super
16 lbs = .45acp
19 lbs = 40S&W
23 lbs = 10mm

For Commander:
16lbs for 9mm and 38 super
18lbs for .45acp.

These are what were designed for the gun and cartridge and will give the best reliability and longevity with standard factory loads.
 
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