Recoil Spring

[Lil'Joe]

I continue to read and hear about people changing out the recoil spring from a stock to a heavier spring, or from stock to a lighter spring, or going back to a stock spring.

I understand about doing a spring job on a revolver, but what are the ramifications of and why do people change out their recoil spring weights on their 1911's, Glock's etc

 

[Libertarian_Longhorn]

I could be wrong, but I think most of the time people do it so the gun can cycle subsonic ammo. A heavier spring would help with the heavy duty loads, I assume.

 

[Army 1911]

In the 1911 world it is not uncommon to change recoil springs for various purposes. Many change to the heaviest spring that cycles reliably to reduce recoil or to offset lighter mainsprings used in trigger jobs. Others who shoot light loads use lighter springs to get the gun to cycle with the reduced power target loads. 1911 recoil springs do wear out and manufacturers will tell you to change then in as little as 1000 rds to 4000 rds.

As for other models I have no idea.

 

[Lmccrock]

I run a slightly light recoil spring (14 lbs) in my 45acp 1911s because of the way the slide returns to battery - when the slide comes forward, the gun is back on target with less effort on my part. I also have a reduced mainspring, which lightens up the trigger some. Both of these could reduce reliability but these are competition guns and they run fine.

Lee

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

Shooting NRA Bullseye matches, most of us use pretty light loads. My .45 ACP loads run around 700 fps with a 200 grain SWC lead bullet. In my Clark Heavy Slide .45 I use a 9 pound spring since recoil is substantially reduced because of the light load. In my .38 Special Clark Heavy Slide 1911A1 I use a 7 pound (the lightest one out there) since I'm shooting a lead 148 grain HBWC with only 2.7 grains of Bullseye powder.

Conversely, in my Hardball .45 (for CMP EIC matches) I use a 14 pound spring since we have to shoot 230 grain FMJ bullets to approximate the std military load which runs around 825 fps. The heavier spring helps reduce felt recoil and it keeps the gun from getting too beat up. I tried a factory std spring (16 pounds) but the gun is so tight, I had to go to a slightly lighter spring to get it to function reliably.

My Series 70 Gold Cup came with a 10 pound recoil spring which was the factory std for that model since it was setup to shoot reduced target loads. I've seen Series 70 Gold Cups have some serious failures because guys would shoot hotter loads in the pistol without changing out the recoil spring to something heavier. They didn't realize that there are some relief cuts inside the slide which make them a lot lighter than a std Govt Model slide.

 

[Texas1911]

They didn't realize that there are some relief cuts inside the slide which make them a lot lighter than a std Govt Model slide.

Do they still do this?

I would imagine they are back to heavier springs (16 - 18#) at least?

 

[Texas1911]

In a Glock, you can replace certain springs to make the trigger pull lighter. The same for other guns on the market like HKs, Sigs, etc. Depending on where the spring is located in the mechanism you either have to increase it's weight or reduce it to get the desired effect.

As far as recoil springs, sometimes a heavier spring helps feeding.

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

Texas 1911: It's my understanding that Series 80 Gold Cup slides don't have the relief cuts on the inside rear of the slide, since they have the hammer block safety, but someone with a Series 80 Gold Cup could check for you. Series 80 GCs have a heavier spring than the Series 70; I think either 14 or 16 pound.

 

[Texas1911]

Texas 1911: It's my understanding that Series 80 Gold Cup slides don't have the relief cuts on the inside rear of the slide, since they have the hammer block safety, but someone with a Series 80 Gold Cup could check for you. Series 80 GCs have a heavier spring than the Series 70; I think either 14 or 16 pound.

Pretty sure it's a 16# spring on the new ones. We have one at work I can take apart.

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

The relief cuts on the Series 70 are at the rear of the slide so you can see the extractor in it's slot, unlike on pre-Series 70s where the extractor is totally enclosed.

 

[Texas1911]

Cool, I'll look into it.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Changes in recoil spring weight will adjust the recoil impulse of a semi auto handgun. Think of it as coil springs on a car. Stiffer springs generally mean a bit more felt recoil and less travel. Sometimes a heavier spring is necessary to offset the increased recoil from heavier loads like maybe a steady diet of +P rounds or something, or if you are just pushing hot hand loads. Lighter springs generally result in less felt recoil (a softer ride lol) and more slide travel during the recoil process. If you are using hotter loads, in the extreme this can cause things like slide to frame battering as the recoil spring bottoms out and the spring doesn't provide enough attenuation of the recoil impulse. Generally factory springs are tuned for typical factory loads. Most mid-sized and full-sized handguns from reputable manufacturers are designed with recoil spring weights in mind to handle plenty of +P ammo. Some guns, like 1911's, get real picky about recoil spring weights so it may actually be necessary to play around with weights a little bit to get it setup perfectly. For the most part, messing with spring weights is only really necessary when it comes to competition shooting. Other than that, factory weights will work just fine in most cases for most good quality guns. Just remember, with a semi auto there is a relatively fine "window" for the gun to function properly. Put too stiff a recoil spring in and you may get short stroking which causes ejection failures and failures to feed. Too soft and you may get slide to frame battering which if prolonged could destroy the gun.

 

[eriadoc]

A friend of mine has a Glock 26 that he replaced the recoil spring on. He didn't just change the spring, but put in this inertial recoil system. The felt recoil is pretty dramatically reduced, and this is just a 9mm. It's very reliable with every bit of ammo I've crammed into it. I've borrowed it and used it to get my wife and my sister into shooting. They both handle their own semi-autos with no spring changes or anything, but I have a soft spot in my heart for that little Glock.

Unfortunately, the company that made the system was run by one guy and he passed away, so the company went out of business. So far, I haven't been able to find that system anywhere else.

 

[Biggy]

I continue to read and hear about people changing out the recoil spring from a stock to a heavier spring, or from stock to a lighter spring, or going back to a stock spring.

I understand about doing a spring job on a revolver, but what are the ramifications of and why do people change out their recoil spring weights on their 1911's, Glock's etc

I will just say IMHO if a pistol is going to be used for self defense I would stick to the factory engineered recoil spring weight.

 

[Army 1911]

In 1911s, many people change thier recoil springs to the heaviest spring that will cycle properly with the ammunition used. That may mean an 18 or 20 pd spring in a five inch with 230 gr factory loads or a 14 pd with 180 gr light target loads. YMMV