Ruger SR1911

Guys, I own a Ruger SR1911 in 45ACP. I love the gun it's accurate and I love the looks. My problem is it's hard to rack the slide. Yes, I can do it, I just wished it was easier as it takes some effort to do it. People have told me to fire at least 500 rounds through it and it should loosen up a little. At the price of ammo, I don't think I'm going to spend that kind of money to do that. Does anybody know if getting a lighter spring would do that and what weight spring should I get?

A lighter spring could possibly cause undue wear on the gun during recoil, unless you stuck to lighter loads. Repeatedly racking the slide should have a similar effect to firing live rounds as far as "wearing in" would go... but, then lies the problem of the slide being too hard to rack. Another possible solution would be Heinie "hook sights," which are designed with a small ledge so that you can rack the slide by pushing the rear sight against something, but THEN you run into the problem of muzzle discipline while doing so. They're more for "tactical" use.

Unload the gun. Take out the magazine and rack the slide until you get tired. Keep doing this for several sessions until you have racked it about 500 times. It will be easier to rack. Problem is it makes the gun wear faster. Won’t be a problem unless you shoot thousands of rounds through it.

When we work on putting in new springs for repairs we always work them a while to break in a little bit at the shop

I've rack the slide like suggested. It might be my imagination, but it seemed to help a little. I sent a message to Ruger asking if I could use a lighter spring and they wrote back if I did, it would void the warranty. They suggested like you said to rack the slide, but also leave the slide locked to the rear for a few months as they feel it will help weaken the spring a little more as well? So far I have the slide locked to the rear for about 3 weeks. Time will tell?

HC, It's a lot cheaper doing it this way than firing 500 plus rounds. GRIN