spring tension on 1911A1

[pelago]

i happen to own several 1911, all are either A1's or a configuration type such as the 1991A1, and have some colt defenders
one interesting note the two GI 1911A1's all have one thing in common working the action and the spring is like a hot knife thru butter, the other ones including one stainless one from Springfield armory, well lets say it takes a man and two boys to work the action, or chamber a round and cock.
so guess my question is is there a set tension for springs, my two GI are smooth and not hard to work, my wife can even work them they both fire fine and eject and chamber with no problem.
springs??

[rickgman]

Ira, The standard GI recoil spring is a 16# spring. Most modern 5" barrel 1911's use either a 16# or 18# spring. Commander or Officer models use heavier springs. I have found that some pistols have a high tension main spring which adds to the effort required to pull back the slide. Of course, cocking the hammer before pulling back the slide takes the main spring out of the equation. Rick

[Duane Hansen]

A spring that is too light can cause more wear and tear on your pistol when it cycles and if a spring is upgraded to a heavier spring, sometimes a pistol doesn't cycle properly or run the full cycle, ie ejecting a spent round and chambering a loaded round. Most factory hardball ammo will cycle a 16 lb spring reliably. Trouble can start when someone reloads and experiments with different loads. You could try a little bit lighter spring on some of your new pistols and see if you achieve a better result.

[Johnny P]

A too heavy main (hammer) spring will make the slide hard to cycle, and it will sure make it hard to cock. Combine it with a heavy recoil spring and it is a problem to hand cycle.

Remember that while a heavier than stock recoil spring slows the slide down going back, it speeds it up going forward where the only thing to stop it is the slide stop and barrel lug.