I load a 200 grain LSWC (650-700 fps) for my 1911 (Gov. Model) paired with a 15 lb spring.
What spring weight do I need for the standard GI load of 230 Grain FMJ at 800 fps?
If the spring is too light for the load will it damage the pistol?
There is no doubt in my mind that you are lucky your pistol functions with a 15 lb recoil spring for the Bullseye loads you are using. My Les Baer Wadcutter comes with a 12 lb recoil spring and given the very light loads I push through thing, which are 200 LSWC's at 740 fps (50 yard load) my pistol functions each time.
I have seen sluggish behavior during 50 degree weather, maybe 40 degree weather, and I have no desire to use a weaker recoil spring. I want ammunition that functions on the low end, and I want recoil springs that will close the breech regardless of temperature.
I did look up some of
@1911Tuner 's posts, and his expertise on 1911's is vast. I found this interesting:
1911 recoil springs
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/1911-recoil-springs.745465/
Interesting that you'd reference a 10-pound "wadcutter" spring.
There are a good many IDPA/USPSA shooters who run through upwards of 50,000 rounds or more of Major Power ammo a year on 10 or 12-pound springs without problems...and some of'em change the springs about once a year at that.
Truth told, the slide just doesn't hit the frame all that hard. The gun can be fired without a spring and nothing bad will happen. I proved it once to a doubting Thomas by firing a LW Commander over a hundred times with hardball and even a little +P without a spring. He was ready to bet serious money that the frame would be literally destroyed within 50 rounds. The frame was fine. The gun didn't blow up and there were no "Early Unlocking" issues. Nothing at all changed other than having to put the slide into battery manually. He was mystified...then he became almost hostile. Accused me of setting up the gun in some super special way so that it'd do that, even though I broke it down every 50 rounds to let him examine the impact abutment. I was prepared to burn up all of his ammo, but he stomped off.
And I've used the same Commander for that same demonstration several times. I'd estimate the total round count without a spring at around 500.
another thread:
The 18.5 lb spring is the standard weight spring for a standard 5" 1911 in 45 auto.
No. No, it's not. Not even close.
The original wasn't specified in pounds. The original print specs call for 32.75 turns of .043 diameter music wire...which, when compared to Wolff's 32-turn springs, works out to about 14.5 pounds at full compression and 13.6 pounds installed at full slide travel.
I am going to say that my experience is different in that I had a Colt Combat Elite peen the frame. I installed shock buffs and that reduced the rate of peening, the thing would eat up a shock buff within 300 rounds, and eventually I sent the thing back to Colt. They replaced the frame under warranty, which was around five years at the time, and the new frame did not add an additional five years to the warranty. And, worst of all, Colt did not fix the frame peening problem. It has something to do with the timing at unlock. Something in the geometry of the link, barrel, slide is off and the pistol obvious unlocks early in the pressure curve leading to excessive slide velocity. Maybe I should have sold the thing off at that point, but I decided to send it to real 1911 experts, Wilson Combat, and had them install a new barrel, new hammer, trigger job, front and rear sights, beavertail, slide to frame tightening, etc, etc. I added the short trigger later. I have stubby fingers. I will never get my money out of this pistol, but the expert smiths at Wilson Combat fixed the heavy recoiling issue.
Frame peening did make an impression on me, and claims that taking the recoil spring out won't cause frame damage is not supported in my experience. If you read design books you find that the spring has an almost inconsequential affect on slide recoil velocity compared to cartridge pressure and the inertia of the slide, but, it does have an affect. And I don't want any frame peening at all, because I have experienced a damaged frame. Therefore, I don't want the slide hitting the frame hard. Unfortunately adding stronger springs is not a good fix for what is a geometry problem.
This 1911 recoiled hard, ate up shock buffs, ejected cases twenty plus feet, and tossed cases in my face!. It ate up a shock buff each shooting session.
I kept installing heavier and heavier springs, finally using a 24 pound mainspring, and that more or less tamed the beast. It at least would eject a case into my net. I have to say, feed was absolutely positive. It still ate up shock buffs but at a lessened rate. But, the slide was hard to rack. I had to really, really, get a good grip to rack the slide. I sent the thing back to RIA and they "
did something". I also complained that the thing was inaccurate, and they sure showed me!
I took out the factory spring, was is a 16 lb spring, and installed an 18 or 22 lb spring. My logic is, I am only going to shoot ball through this thing, and after unlock, the only energy source available to feed, chamber, and lock the breech is the recoil spring. So I want as much spring power as commensurate with 100% function, with the ammunition I am using. I also notice that the shock buffs are now barely bashed, which is all to the good. I don't want the slide hitting the recoil plug. I cannot see how that would be good at all. If the slide rebounds off the recoil plug than that is a hard stop and whatever impact shock is created will be transmitted throughout the pistol. I don't want to find out what loosens up due to thousands of impact shocks.
I think each 1911 is an individual and you have to tune your loads to the springs, and while there are "standard" springs, the best spring choice is based on the ammunition, 100% function, and slide velocity that does not peen the frame. If it goes bang each and every time, without self destructing, what more can you want?
