What weight is a west German 220 45cal. Recoil spring supposed to be. Date is 93 according to the code.

quote:

Originally posted by DNS:
What weight is a west German 220 45cal. Recoil spring supposed to be. Date is 93 according to the code.

Your KD coded P220 .45 auto would have shipped with a standard weight braided recoil spring. The heavier braided spring (painted green on one end) was introduced in 1994 (at serial number G 211300) along with the reinforced receiver. I'm not sure of the weight of either spring, though a modern green tipped recoil spring will work in your 1993 P220.

I wondered because I read that the w.german 45's used a lighter recoil spring, because of the lighter slide?

quote:

Originally posted by DNS:
I wondered because I read that the w.german 45's used a lighter recoil spring, because of the lighter slide?

This information is a bit misleading since stamped carbon steel slides were manufactured in Germany before and after unification. After some research, I've determined your KD coded P220 shipped from the factory with a 15 lb. recoil spring. The very earliest 45 auto P220's (including the Browning BDA, Hawes and at least some Interarms imports) shipped with a single strand, non-braided 14 lb. recoil spring. I believe the 15 lb. braided recoil spring was introduced during the later Interarms years, though my research is inconclusive. The introduction of the 20 lb. recoil spring appears to be commensurate with the reinforced receiver which was first observed at serial number G 211300 on a KE coded P220 - long before SIG began producing the heavier machined slides.