What Recoil Spring for 10mm 1911?

S

Sundance

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I am thinking about having a 5” Kimber Classic Stainless .40 converted to 10mm, and I have some concerns about the proper recoil spring.

I understand that the Colt Delta Elite used a double recoil spring system.

I know that some people use variable or progressive springs in their guns.

I know that some people prefer a lighter spring in conjunction with a shock buff.

But my question is:

What is the best conventional recoil spring for use in a full size 5” 10mm 1911 with no shock buff with full power loads? I want utter reliability and as minimum of battering of the gun as possible. I do not…I repeat, do not, like shock buffs, and I have my reasons, so let’s not get into that, please.
 
20 pounds for FBI loads, 23 to 25 pounds for maximum loads. I used a 22 pound spring and it was just adequate with a shock buff. I think you would want the heavier springs without shock buffs.
 
I like a 20# variable with a shock buff in my Kimber 10mm. Functions for all level of loads. Recoil definitely seems tamed with this set up.
 
What AndABeer said. This is the arrangement that seems to work best in my experience. The super-heavy 24lb+ springs beat the gun to pieces more than they protect the frame from battering. Use a steel FLGR (the stock plastic plug can break), a single Wolff 20lb variable spring and a CP brand Tuff Buff and you are set.
 
I'd like to understand why 24+ pound springs beat the gun up more than the lighter springs. I tried .45 Super in my Kimber - the .45 Super has similar ballistics to the 10mm, so you might think the springing would be similar. What I used was a Wolff 28 pound spring. I only put one box through the gun - recoil was pretty stout, and it beat the crap out of the shock buffer. I haven't shot .45 Super since. Is it possible that a lighter spring would actually work better?
 
Yes.

The heavy recoil spring spares frame battering when the slide goes back, but slams the slide home harder in the opposite direction. Thus, by overspringing the gun you tend to shoot it to pieces in one direction instead of the other. Very simple... there is no free ride here. With a lighter variable spring and a buffer you save some abuse in both directions.

Dane Burns has made several 10mm Kimbers and suggested this setup to me when he worked on my Delta Elite. He might be worth talking to if you are interested.

http://www.burnscustom.com

Also, when I went from a 24lb fixed spring with no buffer to a 20lb variable with a buffer there was a substantial DECREASE in felt recoil and muzzle flip. Shocked the heck out of me, but there you have it... other people have noticed the same thing. My buffers also last 500+ rounds without any signs of falling apart.
 
Shock buffs being eaten in 50 rounds is bad. There is a trade off when using heavy springs. You save the frame from battering when the slide is in full recoil, but when the slide moves forward it does so with greater speed and energy. This extra energy can batter the barrel hood extension and bottom lugs as well as the slide stop pin and the slide stop pin holes in the frame. So you save the gun from one problem while creating another problem.
 
The heavy spring can also damage the extractor, by pushing the round ahead of the hook, rather than allowing the hook to pick up the rim - feeding is about timing, not force. A 1911 will feed properly with an 8# spring. I think a lot more government .45's were worn out due to out-of-round slide stop pin holes than cracked anything. Another thing to consider re "battering": The slide is supposed to strike the recoil spring guide and frame on recoil, that's the way the gun was designed to operate. Running the slide forward with 50%-100% more spring rate is pounding a lot of parts together that are not supposed to be submitted to that kind of energy.
Also, the stock plastic Delta guide rod did absorb some recoil energy, so running no buff and reducing the spring rate would probably submit the frame to more impact force than would be desireable.
 
Another option to consider in helping you reduce battering backward and forward is to install a 'flat bottom' firing pin stop from EGW or Wilson. This will cause more resistance to the slide initially moving backward after firing. Also, add a 25 lb Mainspring hammer, and you might be able to use an 18.5 Wolff spring.

I plan to give this a try and compare results using 18.5# vs 20# springs.
 
I would listen to what subgunn said along with everyone else.
The mainspring is what retards initial movement of the slide. Try racking the slide with the hammer down vs. hammer cocked. The extra strength required to get the slide moving with the hammer down is due to the mainspring.
A flat bottom firing pin stop will help assuming you can find one.
 
"What is the best conventional recoil spring for use in a full size 5” 10mm 1911 with no shock buff with full power loads?"

Until fairly recently, I used a stock 18.5 lb recoil spring in my 10mm Kimber Eclipse (with a lighter-than-stock 18 lb hammer spring, but with a flat-bottomed firing pin stop), and with full-spec 10mm exclusively. It just seemed to run best that way. (I didn't use a stiffer hammer spring, inspite of the recommendations, because only the 18 lb spring would allow the light trigger pull that I wanted ... even a 20 lb hammer spring was too much.) But I DID start to see some evidence of battering, so I upped the recoil spring to 20 lb. Still runs fine, and no evidence of battering yet. (I wasn't able to get my Eclipse running reliably until the third gunsmith installed and tuned a new extractor, and throated the chamber a little).

BEWARE: I had been measuring the rest length of my recoil spring after each range session, believing that would tip me off to any weakening of the spring over time. I was wrong! I had seen an immediate 1/2" loss of length after the first range session with the new 18.5 lb spring, but essentially no change after that. But when I later installed the stiffer 20 lb spring to stop the battering, I realized that my old spring was obviously MUCH weaker than it was when new, even though the rest length hadn't been continuing to change after the first loss at the first range session.
 
One rule of recoil spring thumb is to keep a new spring of the same rating hanging around, and when the spring in your gun is three coils shorter than a new one, it's time to replace the spring.
I've decided to not change springs like I change the oil in my car, on a schedule, as there's no guarantee that a new spring is a good spring.
A shooting buddy is a rep for Nighthawk Custom, and he said they reject entire lots of defective springs, so if the gun is running right, why risk swapping a spring that's still working, for one that might not?
I actually like the effect of heavy mainspring; the change in pull weight might be a few ounces, but the feel is more crisp.
 
Wow. :eek: ... Posters from #8 to #9 just did a 13 year jump on this topic.

Still, it's an interesting time-warp necro-thread. :cool:
 
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Subbgun apparently believed his thoughts on the matter weren't strong enough to start a new thread but were important enough to revive the dead.

Actually, when using the search function it's easy to overlook that a thread is a decade or more older.

The other week I saw one over 15 years old and 7 pages long. The op had passed on. A fella revived the dead thread in order to rag on the op. The op's grandson came back to defend his Grandpa. No one noticed till it was at 10 pages long.

tipoc
 
Most of the zombie threads (yes, I used the Z word) are resurrected by fairly new users. They undoubtedly find a thread from a Google search or the forum search engine. As Tipoc mentioned, it's easy to miss the date.

That said, I've got a 22-pound recoil spring in my 10mm and am going to try a 24-pound spring my next outing with it.
 
"I've got a 22-pound recoil spring in my 10mm and am going to try a 24-pound spring my next outing with it."

Be aware that, the heavier the recoil spring, the heavier the minimum safe trigger pull becomes. You're probably fine if you've got a stock trigger pull in your gun, but if you've lightened the trigger pull from stock, you could get hammer-follow when chambering the first round from a magazine when you increase the recoil spring stiffness from what you've been using.
 
I'd go with

20 lb. recoil spring VSB and full length one piece stainless guide rod. Worked great in my old Colt DE AND stopped the problems COLD. Then I sold it.

I was stupid considering what that Colt DE WOULD BE WORTH NOW...sheeesh
 
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