I’m way late on this thread for hospital reasons but maybe somebody will read my reply.
More power the cartridge has ( bullet weight depending ) the more recoil delivered to the gun ( weight depending ). With semi auto pistols the gun cycles, that is the slide retracts, extracts, ejects and strips a round from the mag to the chamber all under the mechanical force delivered by the recoil spring. The slide and spring are in affect using your recoil energy to pull this off. Unlike some long guns this energy and impact is not very dampening compared to shotguns which bleed off or use shell’s gas pressure to cycle the action. If you are shooting full power 9,40 or 45’s, whatever, then you’ll need to have a recoil spring installed that will prevent the slide from battering the frame or on light target/Bullseye loads a spring that still offers enough energy to cycle the pistol with very light target loads. It’s Newton’s Law.
It is Newton's Third Law of Motion that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When a gun fires, the bullet goes one way, the gun the other–it's commonly known as recoil or kick.
Springs can run a wide spread of weights. The 1911 Colt for instance can run generally fro 20+ lbs all the way the 9- lbs. I know when I was competing both Bullseye and IPSC I had an inventory of somewhere around seven or eight different weights. Change your powder charge or bullet weight and you may benefit from a lighter or heavier spring. Springs are cheap and on full power loads so are buffers as they not only improve gun handling but prevent battering damage to the frame from hard slide impact. With a good well made and balanced pistol a shooter can work up his perfect load then tailor the right spring for the job until the gun is nicely balanced. For Colts an extra pound is insurance when things get dirty. Anybody can do it.
BTW though I’m out of the gunsmithing/lost income business I’m not as shy about opinions anymore and I do have a few on springs. Springs are metallurgy and design and after that there are no freebies. Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to visually identify high quality hardened and tempered steel flat or coiled springs. For me anyway I find quality boils down to cost and what the good mechanics are using. At 76 years of age I’m still too young or stupid to know the art of making good springs out of scrap metal like some can do. I do know though that coil main or recoil springs have a certain service life. With the 1911’s or High Powers and similar shooting mid to full power levels 3000-5000 rounds is generally the spring life. You can’t ever take a spring for granted in a good firearm
Rick
