1911 extra power firing pin spring

re:

The barrel and slide are locked together during the first amount of slide recoil, and it's not much, about 1/4" or so, until the lugs start to disengage from the slide. This happens after the link swings up, actually digging the lugs into the slide frame,
Click to expand...

Uhhhh.....

No.

The barrel starts to link down at about .100-.110 inch of travel. At 1/4 inch of rearward travel, it's all over with. Go back and look at the photograph.

And the link doesn't lift the barrel as it swings forward unless the barrel is long-linked.

And, while the mainspring weight/rate was never specified in the original blueprints...the specs did happen to work out at 22-23 pounds. The same goes for the "recoil" spring. Specified only in wire diameter and number of active coils...and it works out to around 14-14.5 pounds at full compression, and 13.5 at full slide travel as installed in the gun.

And back to topic...

The purpose of the extra power firing pin spring is exactly what JamesK and I said...to make the pistol more drop-safe. It has nothing to do with the slide velocity as it goes to battery.
 
I never heard about the FLGR safety gimmick.

I have used the firing pin springs provided by Wolff along with their new recoil springs in all guns, all mainspring weights with no misfires... except the time the firing pin spring broke and a piece of it dragged against the firing pin.
 
"The purpose of the extra power firing pin spring is exactly what JamesK and I said...to make the pistol more drop-safe. It has nothing to do with the slide velocity as it goes to battery"
Absolutely correct,the slide can not provide in and of itself enough energy to the
firing pin to cause it to detonate the primer,which touches on that mythical
firing pin drag malfunction,cartridge fires,instantly pushing pin back helped by
the spring and rearward motion of slide.Any suggestions of said pin lingering
long enough to cause a drag mark on the primer are far fetched.If the pin
remains off the breach face after fire it is most likely due to something other
than a weak spring,an obstruction of some sort yes but not a weak spring.
 
The fact that I've (so far....) never had a problem is why I'm asking if I should even bother. The Wilson kit's heaviest recoil spring was 18.5# and I still cant find any info on the OEM Delta 10mm springrate to compare. Consider that the Wilson kit was made for .45 not 10mm, and many 10mm fans (from what I read) install recoil springs starting at 20lbs.
Click to expand...

The stock Delta Elite recoil spring set-up is dual springs, the outer one of standard "1911" dimensions, around a smaller, shorter spring, both mounted on a guide rod of smaller than normal diameter, with a plastic insert in the head performing some "buffering" of the slide impact. The two springs have a combined rating of 23#.
I like to use a heavier-than-stock, 25# mainspring, to redistribute the load and allow a lighter recoil spring for the same overall effect.
It has also been popular to fit a firing pin stop with a smaller-than-normal radius on the heel, to reduce the slide's leverage on the hammer. I've always used the part made by EGW, which required creating the desired radius on the part's square edge. A new option from Harrison Design has a small radius already applied to the heel, and the added benefit of a small angle above the firing pin hole, to help ensure that the contact point is down at the base of the hammer.
http://shop.harrisoncustom.com/hd-205-extreme-service-firing-pin-stop
 
RickB said:
The two springs have a combined rating of 23#.
Click to expand...

This is a much appreciated reply. If true, then installing the Wilson 18.5# spring actually made my gun worse off and I never should have installed it, I obviously did not do my homework correct back then. It also explains why I never had a problem with any inertia discharge, or would had need to install an extra power firing pin spring.... logically Colt would have matched the springs accordingly.

So I tested this by re-installing the original spring kit and compared the effort of retracting the slide (this is the best I can do, by feel). By feel, the stock Colt dual spring "feels" a tad heavier... but its close, I have no way to accurately tell.

So moving forward, my saga is empirical evidence of the old adage 'if it aint broke don't fix it'. I'll leave the stock spring kit in.
 
I believe there is another alternative for "drop safe" 1911's, and that is to install a titanium firing pin.

I don't know of any disadvantages. The advantage is that the lighter pin has less intertia, and so is less likely to set off a primer if the pistol is dropped on its muzzle (for 70 Series type 1911's without a firing pin block.)

And I think this works with the standard firing pin spring.
 
Some light firing pins have given ignition problems. A certain amount of momentum is needed to fire a primer and some of the light firing pins didn't have it. Some owners installed heavier mainsprings, but that increased trigger pull or even slowed the slide, etc.

I have mentioned this before but when the Poles were working on the Radom, they used a FLGR. Then they found that the gun would fire if dropped on the muzzle, so they made the guide rod two piece with a spring, eliminating the problem. So, in addition to selling us another worthless gadget, the FLGR folks brought on us all those firing pin blocks and extra parts and horrible trigger pulls.

Jim
 
Any suggestions of said pin lingering
long enough to cause a drag mark on the primer are far fetched.If the pin
remains off the breach face after fire it is most likely due to something other
than a weak spring,an obstruction of some sort yes but not a weak spring.
Click to expand...

I've had guns on my bench that showed signs of the "far fetched" firing pin drag.
Removed the pin cleaned the tunnel in these guns, checked the pin in my lathe for trueness, put the gun back together, fired the gun and still had the tell tell tear drop indentation in the primer that's a sure sign of firing pin drag.

Took the gun back apart, installed an extra power firing pin spring, fired the gun and the primers showed a nice round indentation in the primer, gofigure.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
"After reading this thread I have to assume no one here has ever experienced firing pin drag"
Speaking only for myself,I sure haven't but if someone here has then I'm sure
they would be happy to tell you so,that way you could at least cite some
anecdotal evidence.In the interim I will continue to agree with those who
explain that the only purpose of those extra heavy firing pin springs is to make
the gun more drop safe.By the way I have never even dropped any of my pistols
never mind nose first,so no xtra power springs for me.
 
Looking at the primers of the cases I'm handloading, I'd say firing pin drag may not be rampant, but there are clearly people in my area who are experiencing it. I've seen it in my own guns only in my 10mm, and the mods made (listed a few posts back) seem to have cured it.
 
" I've seen it in my own guns only in my 10mm,"
I was under the impression that this thread was about M1911 firing pin spring
isues.
Anyway,as I pointed out previously the M1911 firing pin is pushed back by the
cartridge upon firing,as the extractor holds the cartridge,the ejector flips it out
it does not drag it up the breech face.Something may be binding the firing pin
I don't doubt that,but I would like to see a picture of such indentation in a .45
ACP cartridge primer cap fired in an M1911.
 
And so it would appear,it would be interesting though to see where this drag
mark exactly is.I am aware of what appears to be a double strike,this is a very
small dimple usually to the edge of the normal indent.A magnifying view of the
primer cap will show an impression of the breech face and this is due to higher
than normal power loads,I don't think this is an issue and definitely not a reason to replace the firing pin spring.Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
 
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