Recoil Spring Weight for Valtro .45
- Thread starter Gunmedic
- Start date
That's a fairly light load. something in the 10 to 14 lb range should do it.
When playing around with recoil springs, it is best to have the full range, in your case 10 to 17 lbs.
Use the spring that will work the gun reliably when holding the gun limp wristed. Many err on the side of heavier springs, but they are harder on the gun, disturb follow-up shots more than lighter springs and often do not work limp wristed.
While your at it, might as well go to a 16 lb hammer spring. Plenty stong enough, easier on the gun and a better trigger pull.
When playing around with recoil springs, it is best to have the full range, in your case 10 to 17 lbs.
Use the spring that will work the gun reliably when holding the gun limp wristed. Many err on the side of heavier springs, but they are harder on the gun, disturb follow-up shots more than lighter springs and often do not work limp wristed.
While your at it, might as well go to a 16 lb hammer spring. Plenty stong enough, easier on the gun and a better trigger pull.
Recoil spring weight is a remarkably debated topic among 1911 shooters, in particular those shooting action competition. A light spring is argued to speed up the action and reliability by some. Others say that although a light spring will allow for a faster extraction, it is slower going back into battery (where the spring is used to push the slide), and that a heavier spring speeds up that second motion. Then you get the issue of felt recoil (a subjective matter) and realignment of the sights on the target. Afficianados of light springs say that they shoot faster and those who like strong springs say that the sights snap back on the target better with the heavier springs.
You can see a lot of the debate on the Brian Enos forums:
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5005
A few things I think it's important to bear in mind. The gun's standard spring is 16# (or 16.5#, according to Wolff springs). If you go too light you are going to start battering the gun and should consider using Shock-Buffs if you want to protect it. You can then get into other issues, but lots of people use them successfully. Springs are not very expensive and experimenting is the best way to figure out what you like with a given load.
Honestly, I use the standard spring for both bullseye (3.7 gr Clays under a 200 gr LSWC) and IPSC (4.2 gr Clays for the same bullet) and have no problems either way, but I'm a traditionalist. YMMV.
You can see a lot of the debate on the Brian Enos forums:
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5005
A few things I think it's important to bear in mind. The gun's standard spring is 16# (or 16.5#, according to Wolff springs). If you go too light you are going to start battering the gun and should consider using Shock-Buffs if you want to protect it. You can then get into other issues, but lots of people use them successfully. Springs are not very expensive and experimenting is the best way to figure out what you like with a given load.
Honestly, I use the standard spring for both bullseye (3.7 gr Clays under a 200 gr LSWC) and IPSC (4.2 gr Clays for the same bullet) and have no problems either way, but I'm a traditionalist. YMMV.
