Four Inch 1911 Recoil Springs

[Rick McC.]

A little info for those who own four inch 1911s.

I’ve been having a time for the last few years finding a recoil spring with over an 11 pound rating for my Wilson Professional. Wilson doesn’t list any over 11 pounds, and a couple of hours spent searching online wasn’t turning up anything. So, when I saw a plethora of recoil springs for Commanders (4 1/4” 1911s), I said the hell with it, and ordered a couple of 13 pounders.

I figured that when I received them, I’d check for coil bind, and either get lucky, or have to cut a coil or two off.

I got lucky! A Commander sized recoil spring will fit in a four inch 1911 with no coil bind at all.

The recoil spring comes in a set which includes a firing pin spring, and is made by Wolff. I found them at Midway. Interestingly enough; I visited the Wolff website, and could NOT find them there at all.

So, FYI 1911 guys; which should cover pretty much all the members here!

[sdmc530]

I just wanted to say not to hijack your post that I have always used Wolff springs and like you have had excellent results. Seemed to always work very well for me. I have only ever had to "trim" one spring from them.

[RKP]

Great info Rick, thanks for sharing !!

[Riverpigusmc]

Thanks Rick

[Horse'nround]

So Rick,
I have to ask… Have you fired it yet with the new springs?
I will have to assume a couple of things.
1. .45acp.
2. It is the current Wilson production professional series.
I haven’t had the pleasure of holding one, yet. I currently rotate through a small stack of Wesson combats and a Kimber eclipse carry (Just to remind me of what not to do). I have been eyeballing a couple of EB’s for a while now. A Cobra and an Executive Carry. I really like that EC. Just wondering how you like the Wilson being the middle? It’s only a ¼ inch shorter but a full size frame. I ran through a few of the ultra size guns didn’t like them at all. In .45 and a small frame just plain squirrely, wicked muzzle flip and the Kimbers had a nasty twist to the right. The ECO was a little thicker in the grip panels and a little nose heavy which didn’t seem to help with the flip. Backing them down to 185gr target round helped a little, but with any good SD round put the first one in the nuts and the second would be in the head. The Kimber was a good 2 manner, guy on the left in the nuts guy on the right in the head… round 3 God only knows!
Just wondering what your feelings were on it. Any advantages over the 4.25 standard combat size?

[Rick McC.]

Originally Posted by Horse'nround

So Rick,
I have to ask… Have you fired it yet with the new springs?
I will have to assume a couple of things.
1. .45acp.
2. It is the current Wilson production professional series.
I haven’t had the pleasure of holding one, yet. I currently rotate through a small stack of Wesson combats and a Kimber eclipse carry (Just to remind me of what not to do). I have been eyeballing a couple of EB’s for a while now. A Cobra and an Executive Carry. I really like that EC. Just wondering how you like the Wilson being the middle? It’s only a ¼ inch shorter but a full size frame. I ran through a few of the ultra size guns didn’t like them at all. In .45 and a small frame just plain squirrely, wicked muzzle flip and the Kimbers had a nasty twist to the right. The ECO was a little thicker in the grip panels and a little nose heavy which didn’t seem to help with the flip. Backing them down to 185gr target round helped a little, but with any good SD round put the first one in the nuts and the second would be in the head. The Kimber was a good 2 manner, guy on the left in the nuts guy on the right in the head… round 3 God only knows!
Just wondering what your feelings were on it. Any advantages over the 4.25 standard combat size?

Yes, I’ve shot the Wilson Pro a good bit with the 13 pound springs. It came with a 10 pound recoil spring, and I used 11 pounders for several years after that.

1. No, it’s a 9mm.

2. No. It was made in the first run in 2005.

Commander sized 1911s, which the Professional almost is, are my favorites.

I do own two sub-compact 1911s; a Sig Ultra Tribal, and a Kimber Ultra CDP II. Both are in .45 acp. Recoil has never been a problem for me, and they both shoot fine. That said, I did spend a good bit of time and $$ in making the Kimber reliable. If it wasn’t a present from the wife, I’d have sold it long ago, along with the other Kimbers I used to own.

Right after I finished working on it, I took it to an IDPA practice to wring it out. We started shooting the standards, and after a bit, wound up shooting at 25 yards. The SO was advising everyone to take their time and “shoot small.” When he go to me and another guy shooting something small, he said; those are made for shooting across the living room, just try to hit somewhere on the target. I did fine, keeping about all the shots zero down, with a couple just outside the line. He obviously didn’t know as much as he thought he did; he shot a Glock.

Even though the little Kimber runs perfectly, I rarely carry it, I guess because of my experience with the brand. I frequently carry the little Sig, and it’s run flawlessly from day one.

The advantage of the little ones for me is less to carry on bad back days. I mostly carry the Commanders, and occasionally full sized 1911s. I’v been carrying the Professional regularly for the last couple of months.

[Caleb]

Thanks for the info. Two of my 1911s have a four inch barrel like s undercarriage. I have not had any problems with them tho.


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[Rick McC.]

Originally Posted by Caleb

Thanks for the info. Two of my 1911s have a four inch barrel like s undercarriage. I have not had any problems with them tho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well nothing lasts forever!

As Dr. Chan used to say; “ boys, there’s only two things in the whole world that don’t wear out, and one of ‘em’s a hog snout”...

[Horse'nround]

Originally Posted by Rick McC.

Commander sized 1911s, which the Professional almost is, are my favorites.

I do own two sub-compact 1911s; a Sig Ultra Tribal, and a Kimber Ultra CDP II. Both are in .45 acp. Recoil has never been a problem for me, and they both shoot fine. That said, I did spend a good bit of time and $$ in making the Kimber reliable. If it wasn’t a present from the wife, I’d have sold it long ago, along with the other Kimbers I used to own.

He obviously didn’t know as much as he thought he did; he shot a Glock.

Even though the little Kimber runs perfectly, I rarely carry it, I guess because of my experience with the brand. I frequently carry the little Sig, and it’s run flawlessly from day one.

The advantage of the little ones for me is less to carry on bad back days. I mostly carry the Commanders, and occasionally full sized 1911s. I’v been carrying the Professional regularly for the last couple of months.

Same for my Eclipse II, Mama Bought it for my birthday so it will never leave. It's pretty, I spent A LOT of time and $$ getting it running right. It was a good learning gun. I now know how much a Schwartz can screw things up. It shoots well, but it rarely leaves the Nightstand. I pretty much stay with my commanders. In the the summer time I move to my Sig 938.

NO Comment on Glockers...

My brother in law picked up CDP ultra carry in 9mm and had it worked over, said he liked it enough to park his CBOB. Then my sister went to the range with him and shot it... Now he's back to his CBOB.

Originally Posted by Caleb

Thanks for the info. Two of my 1911s have a four inch barrel like s undercarriage. I have not had any problems with them tho.

We really don't want to know HOW YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PIG'S UNDERCARRIAGE !!!!

[Caleb]

Originally Posted by Horse'nround

Same for my Eclipse II, Mama Bought it for my birthday so it will never leave. It's pretty, I spent A LOT of time and $$ getting it running right. It was a good learning gun. I now know how much a Schwartz can screw things up. It shoots well, but it rarely leaves the Nightstand. I pretty much stay with my commanders. In the the summer time I move to my Sig 938.

NO Comment on Glockers...

My brother in law picked up CDP ultra carry in 9mm and had it worked over, said he liked it enough to park his CBOB. Then my sister went to the range with him and shot it... Now he's back to his CBOB.



We really don't want to know HOW YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PIG'S UNDERCARRIAGE !!!!

It’s in his profile page, he brags about it.


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