Replacing hammer spring and recoil spring?

Good afternoon. I had success reloading for 32ACP, so thought I would finally try 45. I have probably 2k factory 230gr loads through this 45 and can only remember one failure to eject. It has a 13pound recoil spring from factory,  not sure about hammer spring.  Loaded up some 4.6 and 4.7 of bullseye with 185 zeros.  Factory recoil spring wouldn’t cycle at all. Ordered some from Wolff. Tried 11 and 10 pound springs. They cycled most of the time, although some ejects were like a dribble, which makes me nervous. However, a new issue arose with the lighter springs. The slide sometimes doesn’t go all the way forward after a shot. Are you supposed to replace the hammer spring if you change the recoil spring?  I noticed Wolff included a hammer spring in the package with the recoil spring. Should I try a nine pound spring?  Thanks for any help.

Hmmmm. Need to know what pistol you are shooting? Was it gunsmithed?

As hot as those loads are, they should be flying out of the pistol. Long or short ejector? Extractor tension could be too little and ejected brass is being bobbled out of the ejection port instead of positively ejected.
Jon

I recently changed the springs in my 1911 with Wolff's and I'm pretty sure that's a firing pin spring that they include.

At any rate, that's a fairly hot load.

Ouch!

Les Baer hardball.  I bought it new several years ago.  Has never had any work done to it, and has been extremely reliable with 230 factory stuff. I am not sure about ejector, or even how to tell, I will do some research on it.  The ejected cases seem to go behind me (5:00), not sure if that means anything.  I shoot it mostly at 50 feet club and informal matches. I would like to start shooting it at 25/50 yards though. Magtech factory stuff shot great at 50 feet, but seemed to get lost going to target at 50 yards.  My reloads didn’t cycle reliably, but at least my shots are in the scoring rings at 50 yards now. That’s an improvement.

Pinetree wrote:I recently changed the springs in my 1911 with Wolff's and I'm pretty sure that's a firing pin spring that they include.

At any rate, that's a fairly hot load.

Probably is.  I never paid much attention to it when I opened package because all I thought I needed was recoil spring.

Hmm, maybe I am thinking about it wrong.  I have no issues with a lighter load, but seeems like I would have even more cycling issues.

If you remove the recoil spring, does it hard snap out of battery or come out easy?
You've been shooting warm factory level loads which typically any 45 will run reliably with. If the Zero loads are dribbling out it sounds like extractor tension. Since your not going into battery everytime, I'm leaning towards too much tension. Th extractor will push too hard on the case rim and it will not fully chamber. But the dribbling out sounds like too little pressure. Making this hard lol. 
If your load a cartridge, are you getting any dents on the edge of the brass? Potentially from the feed ramp transition to the chamber.
If you remove recoil spring, can you easily feed a cartridge into the chamber hand cycling it slow? If not, try without the extractor in the pistol.

Trying real hard to be helpful

Jon

how much do you flare the cases in your powder step, and how much crimp do you have on the casings after the crimp step? I've seen big flares with not enough crimp cuase slight bulges that get caught up and stop guns from going into full batttery.

Jon Eulette wrote:If you remove the recoil spring, does it hard snap out of battery or come out easy?
You've been shooting warm factory level loads which typically any 45 will run reliably with. If the Zero loads are dribbling out it sounds like extractor tension. Since your not going into battery everytime, I'm leaning towards too much tension. Th extractor will push too hard on the case rim and it will not fully chamber. But the dribbling out sounds like too little pressure. Making this hard lol. 
If your load a cartridge, are you getting any dents on the edge of the brass? Potentially from the feed ramp transition to the chamber.
If you remove recoil spring, can you easily feed a cartridge into the chamber hand cycling it slow? If not, try without the extractor in the pistol.

Trying real hard to be helpful

Jon

Haven’t had time to look at again since last posted. Will remove recoil spring tonight and see what happens. No dents on brass when load a cartridge.

10sandxs wrote:how much do you flare the cases in your powder step, and how much crimp do you have on the casings after the crimp step? I've seen big flares with not enough crimp cuase slight bulges that get caught up and stop guns from going into full batttery.

Only flaring enough to start bullet into case. Haven’t measured, but it is not much flare. Crimped to .470. I use a Lee FCD for the crimp. I been reloading rifle a long time, but new to handgun and crimp. When I pull case back out of FCD, there is kinda popping sound. Is this normal? The only other handgun I have reloaded for is 32ACP, and it doesn’t do that.

That doesn't sound like enough crimp to me. Try .465 to .463. I use .463. That is a hot load though.

Shootin, are the 185 Zeros you're using jacketed or a lead semi-wadcutter?
As an aside to your question about sticking in the FCD, a couple years ago I bought a batch of Zero 185 JHPs (I believe just before they replaced some of the tooling) and the diameter of the bullets were two thousandths over spec and I thought to measure their diameter only after I tried to load them and they would stick in the FCD. FCD for pistol taper crimp is fairly out of fashion in these parts BTW (but it has its fans, and probably isnt the source of your issues).

Seems like your load is plenty warm to cycle a 13lb action spring. How far are you seating the projectiles?

I have no problem getting my ammo to cycle factory-spring metallic sight guns (16lb recoil/23lb mainspring).  I run a 15lb recoil spring because of a preference for feel but it’s not necessary.

My load is 185gr Zero JHP, 4.5gr BE, 1.207” COAL, 0.469” crimp.  Yes, the “pop” when you pull a round out of the crimp die is normal.  It makes an airtight seal.  I hear it occasionally.

It sounds like you have a gun problem and not a spring or ammo problem.  Extractors can cause a lot of problems in the feed cycle.  If not, it may be a bigger issue with slide stop/link/barrel/bushing fit.

Looks my earlier post didn’t make it somehow.  Anyway, I had time to devote to 1911 and loads yesterday.  My loads have a COAL of 1.210 by the way.  I probably broke a rule, and changed to many things at once, but it was cycling 4.3 and 4.6 of Bullseye fine with a 10 pound spring .  It was actually ejecting them pretty good, and think I will try the original 13 pound spring next time. Can’t say for sure what is was, but I gave it a good cleaning and some CLP. I wouldn’t have considered it “dirty” before though. It was also warmer yesterday. I don’t know how fast Bullseye gets effected by the cold.  New magazine also.  Thanks for all help. I run into some issues, but it’s fun and challenging starting a new discipline.