I have a custom (no, really) Springfield Champion slide (4 in. barrel) on a steel Springfield lower. The slide has been fitted with an old school coned, flanged barrel, along with the usual reverse spring plug. When the gun gets dirty, it has difficulty returning fully into battery and depending on how dirty it is, I may have to push the slide forward with my thumb, perhaps a 1/4 inch or so. At this point, the recoil spring feels really weak, totally sacked. It takes practically no effort to push the slide forward, so I believe the issue is likely my spring rate, which is 22 lbs, and is an ISMI spring. I do not run a buffer in the gun. My next step seems to be to replace the 22 lb spring with a 24 lb, which seems strange because I would think the 22 lb spring should be able to do the job. It appears to me that recoil spring weights need to go up as slide length and weight go down. I have a low round count 22 lb ISMI spring in the gun (as mentioned before), and am using Commander length springs that I cut down slightly to fit the shorter barrel. Full length Commander springs will stack in my 4 inch gun, and that of course is likely to damage the gun. I cut Commander springs down 1.2 coil at a time until the slide will lock back with the slide lock/release (whatever). Then I remove one extra coil for safety.
Am I going about this correctly? There are no recoil springs offered specifically for this particular gun. Since I need to re-examine the recoil spring weight, I thought I’d re-examine everything while I’m at it.
How many rounds do you have through the gun with that spring? Standard round wire recoil springs are good for about 2000-3000 rounds on a 5" gun. When you shorten the slide, the spring life is reduced dramatically. You should probably change your recoil spring every 1000 rounds, if not more. Your gun’s recoil spring more than likely needs to be changed. Additionally, stick with 4" recoil springs instead of cutting commander length ones. Try calling Springfield Armory for the correct recoil spring. Or you can go to the following links and order them from Wilson Combat.
At this point, the spring in it has perhaps 200 rounds on it. Being a custom gun, I was unaware that there had actually been a 4 inch factory gun. I see that Kimber offered a 4 inch as well. I just want the gun to run for me. All my other 1911s do…
I do have two 22 lb springs coming from Brownells. They’re a bitch to find the first time. Nobody seems to offer a 24 lb spring. I guess Sherlock Holmes would call that a “clue”. The old girls not a “true” Champion, but a full-sized 1911 with a Compact upper.
I bought the 22 lb, a pair of them actually. I always try to keep a few spares around. Oddly, it is much stiffer than the 22 lb Commander spring I shortened for the gun originally. That spring had a similar number of coils, but the spring tension was less than half of the spare I kept from the last time.
It’s late, and I’m tired, and starting to babble a bit.
Thanks to all for the advice, I don’t know why I was in denial over a simple sacked spring.
I do have two 22 lb springs coming from Brownells. They’re a bitch to find the first time. Nobody seems to offer a 24 lb spring. I guess Sherlock Holmes would call that a “clue”. The old girls not a “true” Champion, but a full-sized 1911 with a Compact upper.