Does anyone know what strength recoil spring the SW1911 has in it? The one I have seems a lot harder to rack the slide than I recall the last time I had a 1911. I put an 18# spring in the SA I had back in the 80's and from memory, I don't think it felt as strong as this one. It functions fine-just hard to rack the slide. Maybe age...
Almost certainly a 16# spring. Keep in mind that the mainspring also comes in to play if the hammer is down and you rack the slide, as it will offer more resistance to the hammer cocking.
Wolf replacement springs list a 17# as "standard". Depending on the load intended to be used you might want a lighter or heavier spring. In a Gold cup with 700fps 200 gr. loads for bullseye I use a 12 lb spring. For IPSC major loads I use an 18.5 Lb spring.
Whatever weight the factory uses causes no problems. All I know is it's stiff. I just wanted to order a couple to have around as spares-like magazine springs. My 4506 isn't near as hard to retract the slide as this one is.