Happy New Year to all.
First admitted dumb question of the year for me follows. What is the factory recoil spring weight for a 5" .38 Super? I have an Caspian/Springfield 9mm custom 1911 in 9mm that runs like a true 1911 should. Currently I have a reduced power spring in the 14 lb range installed for what I call "softball" loads of 115 fmj's @ just over 1,000fps. Digging around in the parts cabinet turned up an older Colt mfg conversion kit for .38 Super that was shipped along with the special run of 9x23 factory guns a decade or so back. Kit consists of a new long ejector and a barrel with fitted bushing in .38 Super, but no spring. I know that the 9x23 is a hot little number, so figured the proper one for super to be in the 18 to 20 lb. range.
The barrel seems to drop in just fine in the Springfield slide and lock up appears solid when the pistol is assembled. I ran 10 or so handloaded 130 fmj Supers @ 1100fps and had 2 or 3 failures to completely go into battery. When it does cycle it kind of goes boom, kachunk a chunk, as the slide's return isn't peppy enough. Switched to factory Federal 130 fmj's and had pretty much the same result. I don't want to batter the frame with the lighter spring. Looking for the collective knowledge of the gurus out there to enlighten me yet again.
First admitted dumb question of the year for me follows. What is the factory recoil spring weight for a 5" .38 Super? I have an Caspian/Springfield 9mm custom 1911 in 9mm that runs like a true 1911 should. Currently I have a reduced power spring in the 14 lb range installed for what I call "softball" loads of 115 fmj's @ just over 1,000fps. Digging around in the parts cabinet turned up an older Colt mfg conversion kit for .38 Super that was shipped along with the special run of 9x23 factory guns a decade or so back. Kit consists of a new long ejector and a barrel with fitted bushing in .38 Super, but no spring. I know that the 9x23 is a hot little number, so figured the proper one for super to be in the 18 to 20 lb. range.
The barrel seems to drop in just fine in the Springfield slide and lock up appears solid when the pistol is assembled. I ran 10 or so handloaded 130 fmj Supers @ 1100fps and had 2 or 3 failures to completely go into battery. When it does cycle it kind of goes boom, kachunk a chunk, as the slide's return isn't peppy enough. Switched to factory Federal 130 fmj's and had pretty much the same result. I don't want to batter the frame with the lighter spring. Looking for the collective knowledge of the gurus out there to enlighten me yet again.
