1911 recoil spring weight

[10MILFANATIC]

I have a Ruger SR1911 NightWatchman and am curious about the best recoil spring rate for my 1911. Stock it has a 18lb recoil spring and I installed a 22lb spring to accommodate the 150gr Underwood's I have. I have not got to test this setup due to not having access to the range at this time. Any advice is appreciated.

[Graybeard]

Kimber puts an 18.5lb recoil spring in their 10mm offerings and to the best of my knowledge Colt still puts a 23lb recoil spring in theirs. I've run a 24lb Wolff recoil spring in the DE and didn't notice much difference. My rule of thumb is heavier springs for heavier loads. You gun may run just fine with anything in that range, or heavier. I believe Wolff offers up to 28lb recoil springs for 1911s. So as long as it doesn't change the reliability you can change the recoil spring to tune the gun for the way you want it to feel. That's one of the nice things about 1911s.

I bet your gun will run just fine with the 22lb spring.

[BEEMER!]

Colt is running a double nested spring in their current Delta Elites. 

The outer spring is a standard 1911 14# spring when pulled to the 1.625" length which is full recoil for a 5" 1911. 

The inner spring is shorter and just touches the bushing at full battery and pulls 9# when compressed to the 1.625" length.

Wolff replaces them with a 23# spring.

[Graybeard]

Beemer is correct. I meant to type springs not spring for Colt. FWIW, my DE has a Wilson flgr and a 24lb Wolff spring in it for full power 10mm loads.

[sqlbullet]

Flat bottom firing pin stop is a better upgrade for recoil mitigation than a stiffer recoil spring.  I run an 18.5 lb spring along with an EGW flat bottom stop.

[Graybeard]

Flat bottom firing pin stop is a better upgrade for recoil mitigation than a stiffer recoil spring.  I run an 18.5 lb spring along with an EGW flat bottom stop.

I would agree the flat bottom firing stop makes the biggest difference in the slide speed rearward, possibly giving the perception of less recoil. The heavier recoil spring can offer faster slide speed forward and some people prefer that as it seems to snap the front sight back on target quicker. Almost everyone I've met at competitive shoots falls into one of those two categories.

The other thing that can change the perception of recoil is a heavier mainspring. But that's going to change the trigger, as well.