1911 Recoil springs....

[Blue]

I recently put a Wilson Combat Shok-Buff system into my 1911. 1 piece guide rod, their firing pin spring, and the little rubber thing on the guide rod. It came with two recoil springs, 10 pound and 18 pound. I've only shot it with the 10 pound spring and out of 300 rounds maybe 5 didn't chamber all the way. A light push on the back of the slide and the problem was fixed. So when I got home from the range I put the 18 pound spring in hoping this will fix the problem. I haven't taken it back to the range yet but it feels really tight. What's the stock spring rated at?

[Kruzr]

The stock spring for a 1911 is the 16# or 18# (usually 18.5) depending on the make. You don't need the buff when using it. You should only use the light spring if you are shooting light target ammo, like that used for Bullseye shooting.

[Sundowner]

Stock recoil springs for Government models are 16-18 lbs. I just put a new one in one of my Colts and, yes, it does feel stiff at first. The 10 lb spring is for soft loads and really shouldn't be used with standard ammo. (Dagnabit! Kruzr beat me to it! )

[Black Majik]

10 lbs is really light. Sounds like you were having FTRB (failure to return to battery), mainly because there wasn't enough force for the slide to close. Use the 18 lbs recoil spring.

Stock recoil spring weight varies, I believe somewhere from 16 - 18.5 lbs.

You should have no problems with the 18 lbs recoil spring.

P.S. Toss that shock buff.

Good luck.


Edit: Wow, looks like we all replied at the same time!

[Blue]

OK cool. I guess I'm going to have to see if my reloads will work with the new 18lb spring before I reload a bunch more. Thanks!