This reminds me.
I should get some more spare recoil springs. And with every spare recoil spring change, change the firing pin spring on your 1911. I only have a couple spares.
What's that? When do you need to change them? What round count? Well, it's not so much round count as it is when you need em. And you don't know your round count, really, unless you record your range sessions.
A gov't can go 6000 round tho. An officer? Some say 500.
I know that my 3" 1911's take a new spring after about 200 rounds (I change my carry gun after 1500 'cause my recordkeeping is lacking(.
ReplyDeletea full size 1911 is good to in excess of 5000 rounds before changing.
YMMV, of course.
In my experience...
ReplyDeleteGovernment Model .45 5-6k standard loads 4k ish for +p
2,500-3k for 10mm
I do my .38 Super LW Commander around the same as the 10mm. It is/was my primary carry gun so I am a little proactive. That being said, the ejection pattern start to noticeably change after 3k or so. I also run a lot of hotter then typical factory loads through it.
The basic rule for me is the shorter the slide or higher pressure the ammo the more frequent the change. Also, don't ignore the hammer spring in the equation; it retards the initial movement of the slide a fair bit.
The Officers Model spring can go more than 600 rounds easily. The biggest problem is the damn spring plug design. DO NOT rely on one of those guns with an OEM type recoil spring plug. There is NO WAY to judge when they need to be replaced. I've seen them break at 6k, and at less than 400 rounds. They BREAK. If you examine one in use, it looks like the tab is peeling off the body from peaning. That is not the problem. It is flexing from that impact point back to the open end in a V-shaped area. Eventually the metal fatigues and that triangular section breaks off and the spring and the plug body depart downrange. Finding that broken section in my range bag sitting at my feet clued me in on the actual failure mode. A reverse spring plug must be used. If you fit one with the flat faced flange, you can then use the soft recoil dampers. They will not get shredded like the stock dust cover normally does to them on the 1911, and will last much longer.
ReplyDelete