Posted: 7/7/2015 7:56:45 PM EDT
| Ok, so I changed out my recoil spring and went to shoot a box of federal american eagle. During the short range session of 1 box to test the function of my kimber with the new recoil spring I was hit in the face with about 4-5 pieces of brass. Weather conditions were overcast with a 10-15 knot southwesterly breeze. I was facing due west. This is the first time I have used Federal American Eagle in this firearm. Have used it in others with no issues. Do you guys think the wind could have been the culprit or look more towards the extractor or ammo? I did a full slide break down and clean last night after the session and noticed what may be some light possibly usnusual wear on the front face of the extractor. If it is the extractor it may be easier and cheaper to swap the piece out or find a go DIY video for tuning it. And the recoil spring seems to work very well. |
| Pro carry 2, 22# flatwire kit from Wilson Combat. Factory weight is 20#. It cycles fine and all but I have caught a few in the forehead once or twice before the recoil spring change. And yes I will admit when I first got it I did a few chamber rounds instead of letting the slide strip the mag. No more though. Quit that practice a while back. |
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22 sounds a little heavy, but it sounds like it did it before with a 20. IDK if running a lighter spring would fix it, but I keep an 18 # spring in my 4.25 1911 and don't have that issue. Tuning the ejector is above my pay grade, mabye someone else will chime in.
Really, unless you are shooting really heavy loads, that 22#er will beat on the gun pretty hard. You also have to consider the weight of the mainspring. From Wilson: •The proper recoil spring weight for a 1911 pistol is dependent on the caliber, length of the barrel and the tension of the hammer spring. •It is advised to tune your spring weights based on the type of loads you prefer to shoot most often. If you shoot mostly lighter loadings, use weights at the lower of the spectrum; conversely if you prefer heavier or +P loads, try heavier springs. •For all-around reliability try spring weights in the median of the recommended spectrum. •If your pistol fails to lock back on the last round after installing a new recoil spring you may need to try a lighter weight spring. . . |
| And it was with my factory mag. I will try it with another type of ammo as well when I get a chance and see if that may have any effect. As I mentioned on another forum the extractor really didn't seem to have much spring tension either when reinstalling it into the slide after the cleaning. |
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I'd bet on the heavier spring being the cause. One of my 1911's is in 9mm. With the factory 16 lb. spring and shooting 115 or 124 gr
rounds, I was getting brass in the face. 147 gr rounds were fine. Went to a 13 lb. spring and that solved the problem with the lighter loads. |
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Quoted:
And it was with my factory mag. I will try it with another type of ammo as well when I get a chance and see if that may have any effect. As I mentioned on another forum the extractor really didn't seem to have much spring tension either when reinstalling it into the slide after the cleaning. It would not hurt to see if a different mag changes things, but it probably won't. My 1911 extractors do not show much tension going in/out of the tunnel. |
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Quoted:
The other issue I can't seem to wrap my head around atm is why with all the glowing reviews I see all over the interweb mine would be the only one to not work right. a lot of owners do not shoot what they own. What does the ejector look like the angle may need to be adjusted or replaced, does the extractor clock in the gun? you may need to adjust/replace and tune it. Wilson Flat-wire springs never used them, try a more conventional spring of the correct weight, leave the snake oil on the shelf. |
| OK so I field stripped the slide and slid a round up the beach face beyond the extractor claw and it had enough tension to hold the round there. Question though, should the be daylight between the case rim and the belly/edge of the claw on the extractor? Seems to be gap the width of a case rim between the case rim and the belly of the extractor. Just curious. |
| Ok, well I made it out to the range on sunday and put about 75 rounds down range using a different ammo without any issues. So I'm thinking either the spring needed a few rounds to break in like the factory spring did or the off chance it didn't like the ammo. I'm leaning towards the break-in period. |