I finally got a single spring recoil system up and running on my Fred Craig inspired (Phantom) Wide body / officers model. With the spring tunnel cut on a slant (Like a Slant Nose Porsche) the recoil system is shorter than an Officers model(3.5) and longer than a Micro(3') The rest of the build can be seen here: http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=294204
A custom reverse plug is in order, and I opted for a shoulder reverse plug instead of the flange type to retain the full stroke of the slide and to not have to cut back more of the spring tunnel. This may void the warranty of your slide so be advise using the flange type plugs. Sharp corners may cause the slides to crack( stress risers). A supported barrel plug is needed not only to fill the unwanted spot between the spring plug and the bull barrel but to keep the plug from clocking and the slanted plug in its right place. Being that this item does not seem to be available through the regular channels, I opted to make my own.
A stock Officers spring guide was thinned and shortened to fill the .440" id plug to a depth of .565". A EGW/ISMI flat wound spring was used after shortening a coil or two to fit the depth of the new plug without spring bind.
Also a EGW firing pin stop with no bevel( flat) was used to help delay the slide and make the 23 lb mainspring work a little harder at keeping the slide speeds under control.
Next step is to try to use one of the dual spring recoil rod systems from a 3" gun so I can get the 38 Super Power Factor back up to Major (180), and not have to worry about the slide beating its self up
Wide spaced EGW/ISMI spring
George at EGW was kind enough to let me try one of his new Wide Spaced ISMI spring for short barreled guns. First I checked that the spring would compress down into the Slant nose spring plug and not coil bind. No problems here. It appears to have more space then my previous springs and a longer Over all length. Installing the longer spring was a little tricky as this is a reverse plug system without a full length guide rod to retain the parts. With a little finesse I was able to assemble the gun.
Immediately I notice that the slide had more spring pressure holding the slide close in battery and more pressure cocking the slide to chamber a round too. Both big pluses for a short barrel gun. After a few cycles of the slide the spring was removed and inspected. The spring took its initial set and reassembly was much easier. This did not seem to effect the way the slide was held closed or cocking of the slide. Still Lots of Power in this spring.
At the range this weekend I put about 100 rounds of 38 supers through the gun and did not have any problems. The PF of the rounds was about 150- 160 with the empties falling about 6-8 feet away. NICE
The last mag was some 125g HP loaded to 180 P. This is the same load as my 9x23 win and they too did not have any problems feeding and ejecting with the brass falling at about 10 feet (standard length ejector) they may be slipping off the ejector a little early as I used rimless brass for this test so the extractor tension may be a little light.
After 150 rounds I took the gun apart and inspected for sings of wear or anything out of the ordinary. Nothing odd was observed. And the spring feels about as strong as when I started. Not like my Officers 45 that has a spring life of about 400- 500 rounds and would have shown signs of fatigue and getting soft at this point.
Thanks again George, I will be sure to order a few more of these spring as soon as you can get them on your shelves
All I can say is I'm in love with that gun! Very nice looking shooter... Kinda has some Jericho 941 lines going on.
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All I can say is I'm in love with that gun! Very nice looking shooter...
Kinda has some Jericho 941 lines going on.
I had to look it up on a internet search. It looks like Jericho copied my Slant nose!
Thanks for the kind words and support
What keeps the spring plug in?
The Bob Nose has been done by Pistolwrench for some time. He was doing his compensators that way for even longer that I know of...
Nice job.
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What keeps the spring plug in?
The enlarged collar on the back of the plug fits a matching stepped recess in the back of the spring tunnel.
I first saw a slant nose on a compensator by Paul Liebenburg... about 26 years ago!
That's the one that sealed my addiction. I miss the days of that creativity.
Clean, flowing lines.
Because of the picture angles and shadows I couldn't see that the top of the spring tunnel is relieved for the protrusion on the top of the plug. That of course means it is installed from the rear and the shoulder retains it. You can imagine my puzzlement over that because there's no way the thing can be front-loaded.
ETA: I guess I also forgot that the 'relief' is already in every 1911 slide to allow the barrel to be installed and removed. I think this 'slant-nose' treatment is a very exciting development, and this particular pistol looks fantastic.
L.S.T. (Dustin Bonar, last name sound familiar?) has a very cool version of a slant cut with a proprietary bushing mod and spring plug, called the Gaboon:
More details can be found here:
http://www.lstfirearms.com/5inchGaboon.htm