Lighter recoil spring for Rock Island 1911?

[canoeguy]

I have a Rock Island "G.I." 1911 that will not lock open on an empty magazine when you are shooting it. Factory 230 grain FMJ ammo. If you place an empty magazine in the pistol and rack the slide all the way back, it will lock open. The recoil spring feels much stronger than other 1911's I've owned, I'm thinking I need a lighter recoil spring to get it to lock open on the last round.

Looking on Midway USA, there are a crazy amount of options for recoil springs. I don't know how many "Pounds" there are in my stock spring, so don't know which one to choose. They are cheap enough, so I may buy several in different weights to try.

Any suggestions at which spring weight to start? I will be shooting a mild cast lead hand load of a 230 grain cast lead bullet at 800 FPS, and factory 230 grain FMJ....

 

[pistolpete10]

Borrow a different magazine from someone and test it with it if you haven't already.

 

[stansdds]

Factory standard recoil spring for a 1911-A1 "Government Model" is 16 pounds.

You mention that the magazine does not lock the slide after the last round is fired. This could be the fault of the magazine, either a weak magazine spring or a poorly designed magazine follower. If you can, get a Colt, Springfield Armory, or Mec-Gar 7-round 1911 magazine and see if it works better.

 

[canoeguy]

OK, I'll try some different magazines tomorrow. I have some Chip Mcormick as well as four Rock Island magazines....

 

[stansdds]

OK, I'll try some different magazines tomorrow. I have some Chip Mcormick as well as four Rock Island magazines....

Very good, awaiting your report.

 

[stansdds]

OK, I'll try some different magazines tomorrow. I have some Chip Mcormick as well as four Rock Island magazines....

Well? Tested some different mags yet?

 

[Muley Gil]

Well? Tested some different mags yet?

Canoeguy may have too much snow on his place to get to his range. I've had to use 4WD to get up and down my driveway for over a week.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Usually, the stock spring for a standard 5" barrel 1911 is 16lbs. Wolff Gun springs has stock 16lb springs and calibration packs to see which will work best with your gun and your ammo.

 

[canoeguy]

I'm actually waiting for my Great Nephew to come over and test the pistol for me, I had a wrist surgery several months ago that keeps me from shooting a lot of center fire pistol. .38 Special and 9MM are OK, ran a few rounds through the Rock Island .45 and had to stop after three rounds.

Once I get this pistol running right, it will probably be passed down to the Great Nephew. He is getting to be a good pistol shot, and a very safety conscious shooter. Very mature for 15 years old. Here's a pic of him with my Springfield 9MM 1911, in his hand is a small Rotel can he shot, rolling it on the ground from 10 to 20 yards:

 

[sheppard]

I suspect that you are limp writing due to your post-surgical condition. Also until you have put 500 rounds through your RIA 1911 it is not considered to be broken in by Armscorp. You also need to try full strength 230 grain ball .45 ACP.

 

[stansdds]

The revelation of wrist surgery does bring the specter of limp wristing. Limp wristing will affect slide velocity, the usual result being failures to fully extract, but I suppose it is also possible that the brass makes it out, but the slide is not coming back quite far enough to reliably engage the stop.

 

[canoeguy]

Tested the Rock Island today with five different magazines (Great Nephew shooting) and found that out of the five magazines, it would lock open with two of them, a Chip Mcormick and a Rock Island magazine. So, maybe it is picky about which magazines it likes. I marked the magazines that would'nt allow the pistol to lock open on the last shot and do my shooting with the two good magazines.

 

[M29since14]

Over the years I have seen .45 recoil springs take a set, so to speak, and cause this problem. You can check your spring easily by simply placing it next to a new spring from a reliable manufacturer. (My own preference for a gun that is used with hardball is a Wilson 17#.) If your old spring is substantially shorter than the new one, then try the new spring and see if things improve.

My Colt .45 Commander is really sensitive about this so when I am not using the gun I take the slide off the frame. Before I started doing that I accumulated a small pile of Colt-brand Commander springs (purchased from Brownell’s) that are about 3/4”-1” shorter than a new spring. Correct number of coils, just poor quality springs that failed while simply sitting in a rarely used gun.

 

[Dvus]

Just a shot in the dark, but is the slide stop detent rough, or spring too stiff when you work the slide stop up and down without slide pressure on it? A rough face or too deep detent recess on the slide stop, or to strong of a detent spring will cause this issue. I have also seen the angle of the rear face to have been ground wrong and do this too.

 

[stansdds]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dvus makes a good point.

 

[jmiles1960]

I have RIA 1911A1 Govt model and not have a single problem with it accepting any manufacturer's mags. I would definitely look into something with the gun itself regarding this problem. Bought the gun in 2016 and frankly have been nothing but impressed with it's performance for the price paid.

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

Swap springs from your 1911 that does lock back. I would also swap slide locks.