Our friends at the Colt Custom Shop graciously supplied us with some of the dual recoil springs and guide rods for long term testing in other 1911 platforms. As seen in my earlier article on the M45 Spring System, the dual spring system does function in a standard 1911 platform, but we will be looking at long term results, such as long term reliability and whether or not there are adverse effects on the slide and frame. Stay tuned!
5 thoughts on “Photo of the Day: M45 Spring Testing”
Really looking forward to information about this new system. Anything to keep the joints from being beaten to hell while shooting my 1911.
Some people have commented that the M45 seems to shoot softer than a standard Govt Model. Personally, I didn’t find this to be the case. I didn’t feel any noticeable difference in felt recoil between the M45 and the Colt Rail Gun. I would look to the spring system on the M45 to reduce wear and tear on the gun and/or lengthen the intervals between spring changes.
Coming from Colt, these aught to be awesome. One of the problems with Browning’s 1911 design is that he didn’t have access to Finite Element Analysis software to check the stresses on his compression springs. As a result, the magazine and recoil springs are definitely overstressed. A properly designed compression spring should never take a permanent, shorter set over time. I expect that a lot of analysis and testing went into these recoil springs and I hope your testing shows that they last much longer.
I suspect you’re spot on with that analysis Davey. The tech is available for use so I wouldn’t doubt to see an improvement. Hopefully a big one too.
Really looking forward to information about this new system. Anything to keep the joints from being beaten to hell while shooting my 1911.
Some people have commented that the M45 seems to shoot softer than a standard Govt Model. Personally, I didn’t find this to be the case. I didn’t feel any noticeable difference in felt recoil between the M45 and the Colt Rail Gun. I would look to the spring system on the M45 to reduce wear and tear on the gun and/or lengthen the intervals between spring changes.
The dual spring system is interesting, but should be compared with what Wilson Combat is doing with flatwire springs. Additionally Bill Riehl, at Pistol-forum.com, (aka BLR on 1911 Forum, or Feral on 1911 enthusiasts) has written some very interesting stuff discussing braided wire and flatwire springs. Here’s a link to one:
http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4772-2012-13-PTC-Test-Guns-Springfield-9mm-1911/page15&highlight=twisted+wire+magazine+springs
There is more to this story…..
Coming from Colt, these aught to be awesome. One of the problems with Browning’s 1911 design is that he didn’t have access to Finite Element Analysis software to check the stresses on his compression springs. As a result, the magazine and recoil springs are definitely overstressed. A properly designed compression spring should never take a permanent, shorter set over time. I expect that a lot of analysis and testing went into these recoil springs and I hope your testing shows that they last much longer.
I suspect you’re spot on with that analysis Davey. The tech is available for use so I wouldn’t doubt to see an improvement. Hopefully a big one too.