My current one is a Colt Combat Commander that had a weak recoil spring (I hope) that has failed to go into battery with factory WW ball ammo a couple of times. I've yet to shoot it after replacing with a Wolf standard power 18# spring, I have a 20# spring to try as well.
There is likely something else going on other than the weight of the recoil spring and it could be a number of issues. The 1911 is optimized to feed with a stock 16# spring and will feed fine with a 12# spring if everything else is correct.
First thing I would try is as different brand of ammo. WW White Box has been out-sourced in the past, and is often not made in the US. New factory ammo can be out of spec with oversized bullets, thick necks or rims. Make sure whatever ammo you want to try will drop in the barrel when it is disassembled from the pistol.
I think a 1911 should not be too particular so I prefer larger chambers that will feed just about anything, but some lots of factory ammo are just messed up.
Then there are mags...
I would stick with newer Colt 7rd mags made by Checkmate with the dimple on the follower.
That's #1 and #2 of troubleshooting, but there could just as easily be something else going on.
Anything from the chamber, barrel ramp, frame ramp, link down, extractor tuning, breech face, in addition to possible ammo or mag issues...
Most of these, except for ammo and mags, are gunsmith or armorer level issues. These things are normally relatively minor fixes but need to be done right.
You might want to see if there is a knowledgeable 1911 smith in your locale to take a look at it.
