Josh,
You pretty much described JMB's tilting barrel design which encompasses almost every locked breech pistol ever made - Modern plastic included.
What separates the 1911 from most designs is controlled feed.
The lack of a hammer and hammer spring is a big factor in modern striker fired locked breech actions too. That changes the mechanics of the dwell time, and our ability as consumers to tune it.
Hammer spring, striker spring - potAto, potato. Sure, designs differ in the degree the striker is cocked by the slide. Even in a 1911 the main spring is poor choice for tuning.
It's not potAto, potato, there is a very significant difference. You may not understand it, but it is there.
I also disagree with GunGeek's assertion that the hammer/mainspring does not significantly affect dwell time. Mechanically, the barrel link controls
where the slide unlocks in it's travel, sure, but a stiffer mainspring and FBFPS do affect
when the slide retracts to that point to unlock in the firing cycle. You can feel the difference when racking the slide, and can see the effect in the brass when comparing both ways with hot loads, like 10mm or 45 Super.
Agree with Yondering
A heavier mainspring combined with a SBFPS effects Dwell time significantly. Keeping the fired round in battery is the goal here. If you are running potent loads, they reduce wear and tear on the gun in general. Allowing the use of lighter recoil springs. Heavy recoil springs are hard on frames. That is why I do not like the .45 Super. The 10mm is about the limit in power factor in the standard 1911 for me. The Delta elite also has a heavy round top slide which is needed. The stock spring in a Delta Elite is 23lbs. Dual springs in the new model. With a SBFPS and going up 2 lbs. with the mainspring, I can go down to a 20 lb. spring and still reduce the distance of ejected cases. The brass ejects about 4 to 6 Feet. Racking the slide with the hammer down, well lets just say it might not be good in all defense situations.
Now, I am a big fan of the .460 Rowland. The well designed compensator changes everything. Plain and simple--- it works and performs like no other 1911. Loading loads equal to a 4" .44 Magnum Revolver, and using 20 lb. recoil spring, SBFPS and stock Main Spring. I can get off a full magazine accurately in the same time I can shoot 3 in my .44 Magnum Mountain gun. They weigh the same. The compensator works. The barrel/slide release happens at about the same chamber pressure as a .45 ACP +P. It starts at 39k PSI. I do download to an estimated 34-35k PSI. You are limited to about 265gr. bullets though.
But like MM was saying basically, the gun needs to be balanced for the load you are using. For reliability, functionality and longevity.
Think of the 1911 as a balanced system that needs to stay in balance with the load your using. It is very forgiving when deviating from the standard hardball loads it was designed for. But it does have it's limits.
I have many more 1911s than the average Joe. I shoot them all except for a couple of collectables. Except for about six of them that are used for hunting and self defense, I have reduced my loads to protect the guns and increase my enjoyment of shooting them. I keep a separate file on every gun to keep it simple. Trying new load components is fun for me. I am about out of new options to try. But I keep looking. In the last few years there has been some interesting new powders to try. Just for the hell of it.
