1911 shock buff questions

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:11 am

The front side of the spring guide. The wear there is caused by the slide's hollow spring cavity striking the recoil spring guide. If you look at the front underside of your slide you'll see some wear marks there too.

The first question I have is what weight recoil spring is in it now? Hardball through a 5" barreled, plain slide (no slide mounted optics), can take up to an #18 spring, although #16 is the normal spring weight. You say your empties are being cast 4 to 5', well that's pretty much the optimum distance for ejection. Which takes me back to my original statement "The wear is not excessive." I would not change the spring weight at all for this load.

If the rear of the spring guide looked like the front side, then I'd be concerned. That would mean the slide is forcefully driving the spring guide rearwards into the frame. The light wear on the backside of your's tells me that everything is fine.

Oldman is correct when he says that changing the radius on the firing pin stop can have an effect on absorbed recoil. But doing this also means changes in the mainspring and the recoil system to compensate and maintain proper timing of the pistol.

R,
Bullseye

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:47 am

Got my specs and the FPS from a friend down South who lives 1911's. Don't know any one more knowledgeable and helpful than the Tuner.

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:21 am

John knows his stuff that's for sure.

R,
Bullseye

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:33 am

Bullseye wrote:John knows his stuff that's for sure.

R,
Bullseye

Figured you knew Johnny, he is a real dog lover and is into rescue of unwanted dogs. He usually has a herd of them at his place, sure would like to meet him face to face sometime. Have not been active on that forum in some some. Any man who loves dogs and guns has go to be all right. My carry guns are both SA, a Micro Compact and a V-10 and they will run reliably on my low powered practice ammo. Only problem that I ever had was when a dozen or so crimped loads got in the wring box, pretty soon it will get warm enough to go to the range and shoot more than 50 rounds without freezing, but not for a month or so yet.

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:05 pm

I remember someone on 1911.org saying the Les Baer hardball has a #16 spring, but it's all hearsay to me because I have no clue. The wear on the front side of the spring guide actually started occurring to about this degree after only 400 rounds, however the back side hasn't really changed (atleast to my eye)since the first time i field stripped the pistol at 200 rounds.

I'm not sure how changing the radius of the firing pin stop. Perhaps if one of you two get some spare time you could explain?

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:19 pm

The original design by JMB had a very small radius maybe .040, Bullseye can verify this. This changes the contact point with the hammer thereby decreasing the mechanical advantage by moving the contact point closer to the pivot. The Army did not like i because it made the pistol harder to hand cock with the slide, so it was change to I believe 7/32 to make it hand cock easier. My personal gun has the small rad FPS and I normally cock the hammer before pulling back the slide, just makes it easier, bu then I do not do this on horseback. This way you can use a lighter spring and a shok buff, the slows slows on the way back reducing muzzle flip and returns to battery a little less briskly to reduce muzzle dip. I hope I have explained this properly, it is done to the best of my ability, I like the may my gun functions and I am the only one it was intended to please, others may not like it that way.

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:36 pm

Interesting. Might be a project for a big bore plinker one day.

How often should the spring guide be replaced? Or is it a part that should last the life of the pistol?

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:48 pm

Georgezilla wrote:Interesting. Might be a project for a big bore plinker one day.

How often should the spring guide be replaced? Or is it a part that should last the life of the pistol?

I don't know, I will wear out long before that pistol does. When something is broke I fix it, if it ain't I don't mess with it.

Post by **Bullseye** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:50 pm

They'll last a lifetime.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:21 pm

I sanded a shock buff down enough to allow the normal operation of the slide stop. The buff is now 0.05" in thickness, the original thickness was 0.11". Would using the modified thinner buff be beneficial?

toyfj40 · Post by **toyfj40** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 7:42 pm

There's only a 'chance in a million' that the thin-buff
would wear and manage to twist around the spring
to cause a mis-feed...

There's only a 'chance in a million' that your "carry"
would experience a mis-feed when you need it...

huh... what a coincidence... what are the "odds" ?
-- toy

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 8:13 pm

No shok buff in my carry gun, it's an SA Micro, c can't use one anyway. Dont really care what the recoil feels like on a carry piece as long as it keeps on shooting. Saw a guy at the range. he said something about the recoil of a 2 pound gu and it;s accuracy, told him yes, it does jump around but it ain't no target gun. Keeps controlled pairs smaller than your outspread hand for 12 shots and that is good enough too do the job.

Post by **Bullseye** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:37 am

I can't say how effective your reduced thickness shock buffer will be. I've never messed with the thickness of them. I'd keep an eye on it and see how it reacts over time. These buffers tend to harden with time and exposure to solvents and oils. Keep checking it periodically for hardness or cracks when you clean your pistol. If you see signs of deterioration then discard it.

R,
Bullseye

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:10 am

Bullseye wrote:I can't say how effective your reduced thickness shock buffer will be. I've never messed with the thickness of them. I'd keep an eye on it and see how it reacts over time. These buffers tend to harden with time and exposure to solvents and oils. Keep checking it periodically for hardness or cracks when you clean your pistol. If you see signs of deterioration then discard it.

R,
Bullseye

Like all plastics they do brittle up from heat and solvents, that thin may not really have much effect. I think the firing pin stop mod makes much more difference.

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:13 pm

Bullseye, since you have never done this modification I will be sure to let you know how many rounds the modified shock buffer lasts.

Oldman, I have no doubt that the reduced radius firing pin stop mod would be a great mechanical addition to the pistol, but I feel my mechanical understanding of 1911 pistols isn't there enough to try and mess with the timing of the pistol -- This thread has kinda shown my my lack of knowledge of the pistol, just when I thought I knew a decent bit about it. For example I didn't even know the bottom region of the slide came into contact with the recoil guide (even though the wear was there for me to see), I thought the buffer was there to buff against the spring. Furthermore I don't know any gunsmiths in my area and I'm not going to trust someone I don't know.