1911 hardball recoil spring / ejected brass direction

I don't like the way my hardball 1911 is throwing ejected brass.  Thoughts welcome.

I have a recently-built ,dedicated 1911 hardball pistol that has a new Wolff 16 lb recoil spring  (pistolsmithed fitted Kart barrel/bushing, trigger job, sights, frame/slide fitting, ...a true match hardball gun).  It is ejecting brass over my head to my 5 o'clock postion (behind me and just off to the right.  I'm right handed, shooting one-handed).  It is a Springfield 1911 NM-prefix base pistol. I'm shooting 4.4-4.8 grains of Bullseye with a 230 grain Zero fmj bullet.  OAL=1.26", and crimped to .469+" (<.470").  It's 100% reliable.  No FTF or FTE.  I'm using RP brass.  All loaded ammo fits nicely into a Dillon case gauge with a nice "plop."  WW LP primer.  It does have a reduced power full length trigger spring (I think 18 lbs, instead of the Springfield factory "short" ~ 22-23 lb spring).  I fugure the light trigger spring may be making the recoil spring do more of the work , as the hammer resistance is less on the recoiling slide.  Not sure how much this could be, but if I'm taking off 4 lbs on the trigger spring, would I have to add more lbs (and how much) to the recoil spring over the factory 16 lb recoil spring.

I have a second Springfield 1911 Milspec, which is unmodified-except that it has had a 4 lb trigger job and long trigger added-with replaced trigger spring (18 lb, instead of short factory ~22-23 lb spring).  It has the factory 16 lb recoil spring of unknown age/light round count. It shoots the same above load to the right of me at ~ 3-4 o'clock at about 6 feet away.  I like this better (I COULD use a brass catcher on this pistol, not my hardball gun).

Is it just a case of using a higher poundage recoil sping in the hardball pistol (17-18.5 lbs?), or could it be something else? 

I was going to swap out the two recoil springs this afternoon and see how the shot, but upon observing both springs, the hardball spring was definitely "stronger", and about 1/2" longer than the "stock" Milspec 1911.  I will shoot them tomorrow and see.  I was expecting to see just the opposite.

I have an order with Wolff for a 16, 17, and 18.5 lb spring (not the silcon carbon, but the "regular" spring steel).  I'll have those in about a week.

Would welcome your thoughts on why my hardball pistol is flinging it's brass over my head 8-10 feet away.  I would like to use a brass catcher on the bench to my right/back side. I can't do it now, unless I duck tape a butterfly net handle to my right leg, and have the mesh loop 1 foot over my right ear.

Sounds to me like you are on the right track with the recoil spring being too light for the zippy hardball loads you are shooting.  I'm guessing if you were shooting LSWC with 3.8gr of BE they would go right into your brass catcher.

I'm betting the MilSpec's stock spring is heavier than the 16lbs that you think it is.

buttstock,

I've tuned a few 1911's to direct ejected brass.  While the recoil spring and to a lesser degree the hammer spring can affect ejection it seems the nose of the ejector and the extractor tension and shape of hook have more control over where the fired case lands.  Unfortunately, I never discovered any "rules" of tuning these parts. Each gun seems to want something different.   Extractor tension is the easiest to check.  You might have a "standard" ejector and not an extended ejector.  It's the extended ejector that can be tuned.  Often, the ejection port needs to be lowered to get the brass to go into a net.

The power of your handloads also can sometimes determine how the case leaves the gun.  At least lighter loads won't eject as far.....

I'm leary of going to heavier than 16lb recoil springs -  heavier than 16 lbs moves the slide into battery with greater force and results in additonal battering of everything that moves/locks-up as the gun goes into battery.


You might check with the smith that built the gun.

I agree with everything Art says except the part about recoil springs over 16 lbs.  It's far more important for the recoil spring to consume all of the recoil to protect the gun from getting battered by the hardball ammo you are shooting.

When the gun is going back into battery, there is cushion from the round being stripped off the magazine and into the chamber.  When the gun is in recoil there is nothing stopping the gun from battering itself.

Buttstock wrote:
 "I would like to use a brass catcher on the bench to my right/back side. I can't do it now, unless I duck tape a butterfly net handle to my right leg, and have the mesh loop 1 foot over my right ear."


I like this idea. Thinking outside the box!

Ron

If your gun doesnt have the ejection port lowered and opened up they will throw brass straight back.

I am having the same issues with flung brass. I have a Clark hardball that has a lowed ejection port. The last match i had some brass fly straight back and hit me right b'tween my eyes. I am okay with loosing the brass, but when it is a distraction, that is a problem. Never thought that it would be a too light of a recoil spring. Its is definitely stronger than my wad gun, and seemed about the same as the RO. This would also explain why my rear bomar sight keeps getting stuck in a down position causing the impact to be in the 5 ring at 25. When I bought the gun it came with a clark grip mount and had a 3.5# trigger pull, so it may have been re-purposed as a wad gun.

change the ejector, if it has a short, install a long one, if long try a short one.

Changing the ejector is easy, just drive out the roll pin and try another one in its place.  See if that changes the direction.

I still think that it is very important to your gun that you have the stiffest possible recoil spring that still cycles with the ammo you are using.

I have a great 1911 that can't be used for 50 yards anymore because the previous owner battered the slide stop pin hole oblong.  So sad that a gun with such a great trigger is a paperweight....

little more to it most times, most good brand ejectors do not have the slot for the roll pin already cut, some of the cheaper ones do, its not hard to fit one, take out the old one and push in the new one and use a maker to mark the shaft where the roll pins hits it and take a file and file a slot a little at a time till the roll pin has a tight fit thru the cut you made.

As for your 1911, A good gunsmith can weld up the frame and re-drill it so the slide stop fits nice and tight.