50,000 (now 88K) rounds and counting: Springfield Operator

[JohnK84]

Any updates on this Springfield or the high mileage colt??

[Ned Christiansen]

I will endeavor to get some updates in the next week or so!

[JohnK84]

I will endeavor to get some updates in the next week or so!

Looking forward to it!

[Colt Carson]

I'm not a fan of heavier recoils springs. My pref is a standard 16-pound recoil spring and 23 pound mainspring. On Commanders I have pretty much also always used the factory-standard recoils spring (22 pounds I think....?) and 23 on the mainspring..... until recent years where I've been using flat wire springs on Commanders but.... I've done only a few Commanders in the last 5-7 years.

Generic comments on spring weights: recoils springs, I want the gun to not short-cycle even if the shooter has a weak, imperfect grasp on the gun. Mainsprings, I want the gun to go off every time, which is why I never, ever use something like the 19 pound mainspring on a carry gun. For competition guns, anything goes and it's a great place to experiment. My compensated .50 GI bowling pin gun runs a 16 pound recoil spring where standard on .50 GI is 22 I believe. The weight of the comp necessitates the lighter spring. I don't even know what mainspring is in it, it's whatever came with which I'm guessing is a 23. I have a compensated competition-only 9 that has a 12 pound recoil spring and probably a 19 pound mainspring-- it seems awfully weak but it does seem to run (this is the gun shown on my site in 360 view).

If I remember correctly…
Colt uses the standard 23# mainspring, but I believe Wilson uses a 21# and Ed Brown uses a 19#. Why do these quality manufacturers use a lighter spring?

[Ned Christiansen]

If I remember correctly…
Colt uses the standard 23# mainspring, but I believe Wilson uses a 21# and Ed Brown uses a 19#. Why do these quality manufacturers use a lighter spring?

To give you a lighter trigger pull. Obviously you get a weaker hammer fall; maybe "less strong" would be better because I can't say misfires become chronic. But there's a whole sub-science where some high-end competitors will go lighter on the recoil spring and heavier on the mainspring to reduce forward-stroke movement while the heavier mainspring still modulates the back stroke. I have not really delved into this and not sure I'm sensitive enough to really notice the effect.

[sinister]

Ned, I shot a pre-Series 70 National Match with the factory-lightened wadcutter slide and a Heinie tungsten guide rod. I used a standard 16-pound recoil spring but a lightened mainspring.

I broke two of those tungsten guide rods where the threaded end of the rod snapped off the steel head.

I called Heinie to ask him about it and he got all ticked off and told me I didn't understand the dynamics of lightening the mainspring (which contributed to the slide's rearward velocity).

I threw away the bits and pieces, put the single remaining one I have in a parts box somewhere, and went back to a standard guide and recoil spring cap.

[1986s4]

To give you a lighter trigger pull. Obviously you get a weaker hammer fall; maybe "less strong" would be better because I can't say misfires become chronic. But there's a whole sub-science where some high-end competitors will go lighter on the recoil spring and heavier on the mainspring to reduce forward-stroke movement while the heavier mainspring still modulates the back stroke. I have not really delved into this and not sure I'm sensitive enough to really notice the effect.

I have tried what you describe, heavier [in my case standard mainspring] with lighter recoil spring on my Colt .38 super. It did make for a lighter feeling recoil stroke which I liked. But, there is no free lunch.. It came at the cost of less reliable feeding when the pistol was dirty and if my reloads were slightly out of spec they might hang up. These problems went away when I went back to a more powerful recoil spring and real, non-bunny fart loads.

[Colt Carson]

To give you a lighter trigger pull. Obviously you get a weaker hammer fall; maybe "less strong" would be better because I can't say misfires become chronic. But there's a whole sub-science where some high-end competitors will go lighter on the recoil spring and heavier on the mainspring to reduce forward-stroke movement while the heavier mainspring still modulates the back stroke. I have not really delved into this and not sure I'm sensitive enough to really notice the effect.

I have never tuned a 1911 trigger, but I’ve read that a 3.5# to 4.5# trigger can be achieved with the standard 23# mainspring. If this is true, I still don’t understand why they use these lighter mainsprings, unless it’s just to make the process of adjusting the trigger with the sear spring easier and quicker.

[JohnK84]

I will endeavor to get some updates in the next week or so!

I feel like I just saw one of your creations owned by the same person that owns this Springfield operator on addicts that appears to be very well used.

Aside from the Springfield and the high mileage Colt, are there any other examples of your handy work in the wild that have the same level of usage that you would be interested and/or able to post about, along with your findings? I don't mean to take you away from your work obviously but I swear this is one of the most informative threads as far longevity for 1911s on the internet and I love reading about this and the Colt and rationalizing about the experience these masters of their craft must possess.

It interests me both academically and as a fan of the 1911, along with the fact that I have spent the last 5-6 years dedicated to government model 1911s for carry, competition, classes, dry fire, etc. Sorry if I am being bothersome.

[Ned Christiansen]

Not at all bothersome. Those are indeed Rob's guns. Here's a bit about the one in the foreground of the pic you refer to:
https://forum.ltwguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4079

The other one is pretty much a spare..... I don't see and haven't seen a lot of it.