Combat Commander

arch308 · February 5, 2013, 07:05 PM

I recently aquired a Combat Commander 70 series. First trip to range I had one misfire and two failure to completely return to battery using my reloads. I decided to replace all springs just because of the age. Now, I'm new to 1911's and this was my first teardown to this extent. It was very interesting to say the least. After a few problems I got it back together and it seems to function great, although I haven't had a chance to get to the range.
My question concerns the mainspring. The one that came out was quite a bit shorter than the new one( as were all of them). The original looked as if it had been cut/shortened and was quite a bit shorter/weaker. When I put the new spring(Wolff) in the hammer seemed excessively stiff. Is there some sort of tweeking going on here or should I leave the spring as it is. I'm refering to the hammer spring.
My love affair with 1911's is realitively new but I'm learning. Any advise would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks.

Dfariswheel · February 5, 2013, 07:50 PM

It's common for owners to either cut or replace the mainspring to get a lighter trigger pull.

Cutting the spring is not a good idea, especially now that you can easily find lighter springs everywhere.
In fact, lightening the mainspring doesn't have that much effect on trigger pull weight, you get more by bending the flat sear spring.
However, this also increases the problem with the hammer following the slide down.

If you read much on the gun forums you'll find a LOT of posts about "My hammer is following the slide, what's wrong"? In most all cases someone has attempted to get a lighter trigger pull or it's a factory gun that came with a lighter pull and they got it wrong.

Unless you're a qualified gunsmith who knows and understands the 1911 trigger assembly and how it functions, you're better off to just install a factory spec set of springs.
Your Colt was designed to operate correctly with the original type of springs and most 1911 problems are caused by people trying to "improve" the gun by switching springs to lighter or heavier springs.

In your case, the only spring that's different from the full size Government Model is the recoil spring which is shorter in the Commander models.
The factory weight Commander recoil spring is a 20 pound spring.
If you're shooting loads over the standard 860 fps, you can go up to a 22 pound spring.

arch308 · February 6, 2013, 06:37 PM

Thanks a bunch!

jrothWA · February 7, 2013, 02:33 PM

back enough to have the feeding round presented properly to feed up the ramp.

Check your reloads to insure proper headspace, by pulling barrel out and place rounds into chamber, if the case-head is equal or slightly above the barrel hood, then good, if below then the firing pin is traveling far and wasting it impluse before hitting the primer.
light grease on the rails insure full travel of slide and minimum loss of slide velocity.

DMK · February 7, 2013, 03:29 PM

If the gun shoots fine after the new springs are in, don't worry about it.

Wolff won't steer you wrong. They are good springs. I'd be more suspect of what was in a used gun than what Wolff sent you.

arch308 · February 21, 2013, 09:01 AM

I finally got to the range, the gun runs great. No malfunctions of any kind. Kudos to Wolff Springs!

February 5, 2013, 07:05 PM	#1
arch308 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2011 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 876	Combat Commander I recently aquired a Combat Commander 70 series. First trip to range I had one misfire and two failure to completely return to battery using my reloads. I decided to replace all springs just because of the age. Now, I'm new to 1911's and this was my first teardown to this extent. It was very interesting to say the least. After a few problems I got it back together and it seems to function great, although I haven't had a chance to get to the range. My question concerns the mainspring. The one that came out was quite a bit shorter than the new one( as were all of them). The original looked as if it had been cut/shortened and was quite a bit shorter/weaker. When I put the new spring(Wolff) in the hammer seemed excessively stiff. Is there some sort of tweeking going on here or should I leave the spring as it is. I'm refering to the hammer spring. My love affair with 1911's is realitively new but I'm learning. Any advise would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks.

February 5, 2013, 07:50 PM	#2
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	It's common for owners to either cut or replace the mainspring to get a lighter trigger pull. Cutting the spring is not a good idea, especially now that you can easily find lighter springs everywhere. In fact, lightening the mainspring doesn't have that much effect on trigger pull weight, you get more by bending the flat sear spring. However, this also increases the problem with the hammer following the slide down. If you read much on the gun forums you'll find a LOT of posts about "My hammer is following the slide, what's wrong"? In most all cases someone has attempted to get a lighter trigger pull or it's a factory gun that came with a lighter pull and they got it wrong. Unless you're a qualified gunsmith who knows and understands the 1911 trigger assembly and how it functions, you're better off to just install a factory spec set of springs. Your Colt was designed to operate correctly with the original type of springs and most 1911 problems are caused by people trying to "improve" the gun by switching springs to lighter or heavier springs. In your case, the only spring that's different from the full size Government Model is the recoil spring which is shorter in the Commander models. The factory weight Commander recoil spring is a 20 pound spring. If you're shooting loads over the standard 860 fps, you can go up to a 22 pound spring. Last edited by Dfariswheel; February 5, 2013 at 07:56 PM.

February 7, 2013, 02:33 PM	#4
jrothWA Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 2006 Posts: 2,519	Your reloads may not be cycling the slide back enough to have the feeding round presented properly to feed up the ramp. Check your reloads to insure proper headspace, by pulling barrel out and place rounds into chamber, if the case-head is equal or slightly above the barrel hood, then good, if below then the firing pin is traveling far and wasting it impluse before hitting the primer. light grease on the rails insure full travel of slide and minimum loss of slide velocity.

February 7, 2013, 03:29 PM	#5
DMK Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2001 Location: Over the hills and far, far away Posts: 3,206	If the gun shoots fine after the new springs are in, don't worry about it. Wolff won't steer you wrong. They are good springs. I'd be more suspect of what was in a used gun than what Wolff sent you. __________________ - Homeland Security begins at home: Support your Second Amendment - www.gunowners.org - www.saf.org - act.nraila.org - www.grnc.org

February 6, 2013, 06:37 PM	#3
arch308 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2011 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 876	Thanks a bunch!

February 21, 2013, 09:01 AM	#6
arch308 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2011 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 876	I finally got to the range, the gun runs great. No malfunctions of any kind. Kudos to Wolff Springs!