Don's Guide Rod FAQ

[Jamess67]

I must be blonde. Can someone give me the link to the springs for a 5"

Im looking for 22#, 24# springs.

All I can find are 4" model springs.
Thanks

[Don]

Any springs for a standard or Government sized 1911 will work.
Links (in alphabetical order):

Pistol-gear
bottom of page

Wilson Combat
middle portion of the page

Wolff Gunsprings
top of page

XD-HS2000.com
second and third link down

There are others but this is a start, and you should be able to find them at a local gunstore too.

[Mike Wood]

I'm hearing all this talk about heavy recoil springs but a few things are being overlooked. I don't know how many of you are reloaders or reload for competition (aka gaming) but even the stock spring in my 40 tactical is too heavy for loads in the 150pf range, (180gr bullet).

If you use too heavy a spring not only is it hard to rack the slide but as your mag springs wear the rounds (particularly the last few) may not come up guick enough to meet that speeding slide in the right place and result in some of these malfunctions you guys are talking about.

My XD40-5" appears to have about an 18.5lb spring in it from the factory and functions 100% with factory loads from WW/Rem. but would malfunction constantly with the lighter loads. Simple matter of changing the spring to suit the load- we do it all the time with 1911's. And I'm so happy to hear from Don that the 1911 springs fit this gun because I've got a bunch of em.

Don't overspring the gun, the recoil control you may or may not be getting is offset by the slide beating the hell out of everything on the way back and an imbalance going on with the other springs including your firing pin spring, I doubt you'll go full auto but stranger things have happened. If you guys are using warm factory loads I would say the guys with the 5" guns are probably pretty close out of the box. Having not even handled the 4" or less guns, I couldn't say but you will need more spring than the 5", Also slides that have been lightened by porting etc. might change things also. I'm talking stock guns mostly.

[Old School]

That is why my Tactical runs with a 16# spring, Mike. It is a good weight for most loads and it balances the recoil nicely.

OS

[Mike Wood]

Yeah, OS, I just got this gun and haven't started working up loads for it (and 40 S&W) If I decide to work up lighter weight loads for this; I doubt seriously I'll end up way down at 130pf or so because that would be downright wussy- you know; BB gun. I'll most likely end up with a 14-16lb spring in it anyway. The slide seems a lot heavier than a 1911- having not weighed them, I can't say for sure.

I'd love to open the top of the slide up ala Glock 35 but IDPA rules dissallow it. I know I could hollow it out on the inside and no one would know but the additional barrel cooling wouldn't hurt things at all. I may get another one if I like the trigger after I have Rich do it, and use one for carry and the other for IDPA/USPSA.

[Old School]

My IDPA loads and Production minor loads are 130pf.

[Mike Wood]

What weight bullet are you using? You must have a 5" gun correct? Is it a 40? If it is, it must be a pop gun huh? I bet its softer than 9mm WWB. I'm thinking I'll get my softest loads from 180gr at that pf. I don't want to go to 200 because of the pressure. I also wish this gun came in 10mm. I guess the mag is too shallow to convert it.

Right now I'm shooting 1911 45 now at 165pf, nice load- 200gr Rainier SWC over 5.2gr. of N320 @ 853fps. It shot a little softer with the 230gr load I was using, but I LOVE those GREAT BIG COOKIE CUTTER HOLES. (easier to tell if I need a follow up)

[ZZ4 GTA]

Ok, so I'm a retard. The heavier spring = easier recoil management? Is that right or am I missing something?

[Hooz]

The amount of recoil never really changes, spring weight just affects its characteristics.

Lighter spring = Faster recoil, more snap, faster return to target (sight picture)
Heavier spring = Slower recoil, more push, slower return to target (sight picture)

The reason most people can reacquire their sight picture faster with a lighter spring is because of the force at which the slide returns to battery. Heavier springs return hard, so the muzzle has a tendency to dip. So your gun jumps with the initial recoil and then dips with the slide return. That's a lot of movement to control, and in gun games, movement equals time, and time is the enemy.

Some people (me included) like the "push" of the heavier spring with hotter loads like the .40 S&W. Competition shooters like the lighter springs a lot of the time with 9mm.

My advice (and what I did myself) is to buy a few different springs (they're cheap) and see what you like best with your load in your gun in your hands. That's really the only way to decide.

[jonny4523]

I know this is an extremely late reply, but is there another link to the video or has it been moved? I couldn't get it to work.