On the 16 pound standard spring, is the lenght supposed to be 6.5 inches or 6.25 inches (45 acp caliber PT 1911 pistol use) ?
I just read this off a thread and am confused by it: "wont lock the slide on empty, i had to get a new longer slide stop"
Do they make slide stops that have sizes to them, who sells such an item? I see no numbers on my slide stops but I have slides that routinely fail to lock to the rear but the mags will do it on other pistols.
I am assuming there are slide stops for the Taurus PT1911 or does this weapon take a generic part?
There are slide stops for 45acp and slide stops for 9mm/38super. The latter have a slightly longer lug on the inside to be more reliably caught by the follower. A 45 frame that is a little thicker than spec. at that point might benefit by using the 9mm/38s slide stop. Some fitting may be required. The difference in recoil springs between 6.25" and 6.5" is due to different weight springs or the same weight after use which will cause the recoil spring to take a set. The difference is minor, but may eventually need to be replaced. Brownell's and Midway are two major parts suppliers.
Other than the lug length that BigJon mentioned, about the only other dimensional thing you'll see is ads for slide stops with (♫ ta-da ♪) oversized pins - and claiming they'll provide tighter lockups and allow you to put 10 shots into a soup can at 100 yards. It's mostly all hogwash.
They're not oversized in the sense they're bigger than they're supposed to be. They're just made close to the upper limit of the specification for the pin which is 0.2005" - 0.0020". You can usually tell it's pure hype because no dimension is given in the ad.
But there are 1 or 2 companies that can actually provide them with truly oversized (bigger than 0.2005") pins - for when the frame holes get wallowed out.
Quote:
On the 16 pound standard spring, is the length supposed to be 6.5 inches or
6.25 inches
That's the free length, and it doesn't make any difference.
More accurately, that's not what we care about. A coil spring's strength is a function of several variables: The free length, the diameter of the coil, the diameter od the wire itself, and the number of coils. In a 1911, what we are really concerned with is the spring's strength when the slide is fully retracted and the spring is fully (or nearly fully) compressed. The standard spring is considered to be 16 pounds when compressed to a length of 1.625 (1- 5/8) inches.
Quote:
Do they make slide stops that have sizes to them
Everything has tolerances. What they are referring to here is the depth to which the slide stop lug extends into the magazine well of the frame. If you get a combination of a frame at the maximum for outside width and a slide stop with a lug that's at a minimum, the lug may fail to be engaged by the follower of some (or all) magazines. I am not aware of anyone who advertises a slide stop with a deeper than standard lug, but some makes may run more toward the maximum while others may tend more toward the minimum.
Point of interest: we also see the opposite problem -- on occasion, the slide stop lug extends too far or is shaped wrong and the last round will engage it while feeding, which locks up the gun. This has been discussed here several times.
Quote:
I thank you for you response and help. I am assuming there are slide stops
for the Taurus PT1911 or does this weapon take a generic part?
When Taurus introduced their 1911 line, they made a big deal out of proclaiming that their 1911s would be 100 percent true to the riginal dimensions and specifications. That may have been their intent, but reality has shown that (as is typical with Taurus) the quality control is sadly lacking, and adherence to standard dimensional tolerances is a matter of luck. A Taurus should take standard (generic) parts, but you can never assume that any part will drop in and fit perfectly in any make or model of 1911.
I put in a spring of 16 pounds and its now measuring 6 inches. Is that below minimum lenght?
I seem to recall one of the checks in the military was measuring spring length.
I seem to recall this spring was 6.5 inches long initially , so at 6 inches, is it time to toss it.
Army Ordnance specifications for the M1911A1 recoil spring are available in our Tech Issues section, 14th link down. I tell you, as Hawkmoon has in his previous post, that free length means little. It is, however, your recoil spring so you may replace it based on whatever criteria you choose.
The two most important things about the recoil spring is that it not be compressed to its solid length by the gun (or the spring will break the gun) and it should exert (for a 5" gun) a force of about 16 pounds when compressed to 1 5/8 inch.
Think of it this way: when in use, the recoil spring is compressed to either 3 3/4 inch or 1 5/8 inch; do you really care how long it is when it's not being used?
I am trying to determine when a spring should be replaced but it looks like the consensus is lenght of spring is no criteria for determining when a spring is shot.
How do you all determine when a spring is shot ? Every 1K, 2K rounds thru the weapon or ?
Quote:
How do you all determine when a spring is shot ? Every 1K, 2K rounds thru
the weapon or ?
That's your best bet. 2,500-3,000 rounds for a 5" pistol is a good time to replace the recoil spring.
Here is a thread that has some additional ways to check a springs actual performance...
Thank you for the help gents. I got an idea of what to do now.