Ruger 1911 .45ACP spring weights?

U

UncleEd

New member
I have a TALO 5-inch barreled Ruger .45 1911 and I have a real hard time racking the slide back, even with the hammer cocked. I mean a real hard time. I finally switched to a 16-pound recoil spring but it is still very, very stiff.

And a Commander TALO from Ruger is also hard to rack but not quite as much as the GM.

But a Springfield Loaded and a Colt Elite give me no problems and they shoot fine.

I'd swear TALO is using 20-pound springs or something akin to that.
 
Hello Uncle Ed, I too have a Ruger Talo 5", and yes it is harder to rack the slide than my Kimber. Come to think of it, it felt stiffer than the last Colt I handled as well. Until this moment when I read your post, I thought the difference was the GI guide rod in the Ruger as opposed to the full length guide rod in the Kimber.

I intend to take the spring and guide rod from the Kimber and try it in the Ruger just to see if the feel changes.

I thought most 5" guns used a 16 lb spring, but who knows what Ruger used for the Talo.

I did notice that Ruger sells the replacement recoil spring for 2 dollars. Their site makes no mention of the Talo version being different though.

Good Luck

Rich
 
My 5" model from several years ago came standard with an 18.5 # spring in it. It was reliable with target and full house loads and racking it, tho it took a bit more effort, was not a serious problem. Rod (70 yrs old now).
 
It's not that I can't rack the slides of the TALOs; it's just so much more effort, real effort compared to other makes.
 
The original M1911 recoil spring was around 14 pounds. For many decades the accepted "standard" was 16 pounds. In recent years, a number of manufacturers seem to have adopted an 18-pound recoil spring in order to keep the tactical crowd happy.

Wolff still shows the 16-pound spring as "factory" for a 5" 1911.
 
If you're already trying it with the hammer fully back, then the mainspring shouldn't be adding to the problem.
And a 16 pound recoil spring isn't usually a hindrance, either.
Maybe it's not really a 16??
Does the slide run back and forth smoothly without the recoil spring in place?
Are you using a spring buffer?
They can makes things a lot harder if they don't fit so good.
 
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