I have two new production 9mm Colt 1911 Commanders (one LW and one all Steel) and a Colt Competition 70 Series in 9mm as well. I have been shooting the LW Commander and the other two arrive tomorrow! All 3 have the new Dual Recoil Spring setup.

When I buy a new pistol that I know I am going to shoot a lot and keep, I always order some extra parts, especially recoil springs. I like to change them out every few thousand rounds. I want to buy some of the new Colt recoil spring.

First, I cannot find them anywhere! Brownell's only lists one factory dual spring for the 45acp Colt Rail Gun 5". But they are out of stock. So is Miday.

Neither however, list any springs for 9mm. I would think the 9mm and 45acp springs are different. Next I would think that the 9mm Gov't and Commander springs are different. So I would think Colt would offer at least 4 different sets of Springs, 2 for 45acp (Govt & Commander), and 2 for 9mm. Am I correct? Where do I find these bad boys???



UPDATE:


I called Colt. Here are the part numbers. I have to call Brownell's to place a special order and it will them get in their system.

Dual 9mm Commander Springs:
SP300586 - Inner Spring
SP300585 - Outer Spring

Colt Competition 9mm (Government Size 9mm):
SP300570 - Inner Spring
SP300556 - Outer Spring

I actually just emailed Brownell's Special Order Dept. Hope to hear back soon.

Save the headache and switch it back to a single spring set up.

email Wolff

I have plenty of the standard Wolff springs. I prefer the dual spring system. It softens recoil a bit, it's easier on the frame which my alloy framed Commander appreciates, and they last much longer. Why go backwards?

Every thread i've seen says the 9mm dual springs are unobtanium currently.

It may change tomorrow but if you need springs now u have no choice.

ask wolff about the dual recoil system, they may have something not cataloged, or they will send out an email when they have product.

They say the colt system has a crazy long service life and they used it in the marine Marsoc pistols

There's certainly a difference when firing my .45 Colt Competition and my other 1911's that do not have the dual springs.

Kinda hard to describe, almost like it's a softer push.

15,000 cycles, about double what a single spring system can go.

Because the 9mm guns are oversprung. There's no reason that a full size 9mm 1911 needs a recoil spring of greater than 12lbs. And a gunsmith who worked for Colt who posts on 1911 forum suggests you go even lighter than that. He suggests 10 for a full size, and 12 for a Commander. I'd suggest 12 for a full size, and 14 for a Commander, but he's the guy with a real resume.

Stealing velocity from the slide, which the 9mm round already lacks, is stealing energy from the ejection process. The case hits the ejector with less force, and as such the gun will eject at all sorts of wonky angles, and sometimes just barely trickle out of the gun, and if the extractor needs work, then the gun will get numerous failures in that arena too.

With .45s it's great. (Go to Brownell's.)

In 9mms, go to a 12lb single spring setup, even in the LW. You're not going to batter the gun up, and you're not gonna get stress cracks.

OP HERE:

I called Colt. Here are the part numbers. I have to call Brownell's to place a special order and it will them get in their system.

Dual 9mm Commander Springs:
SP300586 - Inner Spring
SP300585 - Outer Spring

Colt Competition 9mm (Government Size 9mm):
SP300570 - Inner Spring
SP300556 - Outer Spring

I actually just emailed Brownell's Special Order Dept. Hope to hear back soon.

I'm surprised you can't order them directly from Colt.

Colt no longer sells parts to the public. They have contracted with Brownell's and Midway to sell their parts.

Ah.  That's dumb.

Meanwhile Brownells emailed me this AM and told me Colt has a 50 unit Minimum on each of the Springs and I have to order 50 of each. After I got done Laughing, I explained as Colt's Official Part Supplier, it is their job to stock the most basic of parts, in this case recoil springs, and it is NOT my responsibility to meet Colt's wholesale minimums!

I happen to have the email address of one of Brownells senior buyers and copied him on the email to their special order rep. I then called Colt and explained the situation. I said it is crazy that no one in the US carries these recoil spings, especially since every gun Colt has made in the last two years uses this dual recoil system. He said that was absolutely NOT true, and continued to tell me Brownells and Midway definigtely carry all of the springs, and I'm just not searching correctly (LOL). I again assured him they did not and told him to go online and search the part numbers on Midway and Brownells websites. After 10 mins on hold he came back and admitted defeat. He put me on hold again for a few minutes and came back and told me, the Brownells buyer I had emailed got in touch with Colt this AM and they are trying to work it out.

My email to the buyer at Brownells was obviously effective. I simply said that EVERY Colt pistol made for the last 2 years has the Dual Recoil system, and as Colt's official Part Supplier to the public, it was their responsibility to carry these parts, and not my responsibility to order 50. Colt said to check back in 2 weeks.

So for you guys looking for these springs, check back with Brownells in 2 weeks!

If they list the 9mm springs in two weeks, I would directly credit you directly. Great work!

Have you shot the new recoil spring design?  Night and day difference.  I got my information from Frank Moody who teaches Colt Factory Armorer classes.  He got me a set and the way the gun shoots is so much softer but a much more positive extraction.  Not sure how they do it but I'm slowly converting all my 1911's over to the system to include a Kimber TLE and a DCM hardball gun.

Dan

OP HERE:

The three new Colt 9mm 1911s I purchased all shoot like a dream. Recoil is very mild, even on my LW Commander. There is definitely a difference between the new dual spring set up and the traditional single spring.

As usual, on the forum, you get folks who have never tried it and go on to tell you how it sucks, or makes no difference, etc. It's really best not to give advice until you at least try it!

Terrible idea. The dual spring setup is nice.

Can I just say, on behalf of all Colt owners, THANK YOU! for going through all that time-consuming rigamarole to get their shit straightened out.

I need to get a factory DR spring set for my M45A1.  So, job well done.  

OP HERE:

I will believe it when I see it. When I checked last week, they were still not up there. Hopefully they will do the right thing.

Not if you need the parts "right now".

Ran into a similar issue with my Sig 1911 (5") recoil spring.  It is a 22# flat wound spring, but I could only find them in commander length anywhere online.  Sig couldn't sell me one, so they just shipped me one from their assembly line.

I'm confused.  The very first thing everyone says to do with the 10mm (Delta Elite) is throw out the dual spring setup and put in a single.

Which reminds me, I probably ought to put new springs in the Delta.  I'm guessing those springs are unobtainable as well.

Just put a few on backorder at Brownells. Mine took a few weeks, but I got several springs (inner and outer) and replacement polymer guide rods.

There’s no need to replace the Delta’s dual spring and polymer guide rod setup with a steel guide rod and a single spring. In fact, the folks at Colt specifically put a polymer guide rod in there so that it absorbs some of the impact that would go straight to the frame if you swapped in a steel guide rod. The only way to mitigate this with a steel GR is to add a shok-buff, and that will end up reducing slide travel.

Inspect the guide rod for wear and tear. If you see anything out of the ordinary, dispose of it and replace with a new one. Replace dual springs as needed.