P-85 spring tension question.

I read where the factory re-coil spring tension on the Ruger P-85 is 11 lbs but Wolf springs have them down to 8 lbs.
My question is what determines what tension spring one would use in this pistol?
It seems to me the slide is quite hard to pull at 11 lbs. Would putting a weaker spring, say 8 lb, help the slide pull tension?

The slide pull would be easier but the gun may not cycle as it should if the recoil spring is too weak. I use factory spring in everything. Well almost, I did change to lighter springs in my GP100 but that is really different.

According to Coffeepot, the OEM P85/P89 recoil spring was literally designed to be a "lifetime" spring-my interpretation is that it should be good for some 10K - 20K rounds of use, if not more.

Best, Jon

Changing out the spring could also affect the recoil of the gun, so keep that in mind. If the tension is too much, then you might consider it, but dropping from 11 to 8 will be a big difference and you will notice performance differences and maybe even find that you run into cycling issues.

Substituting recoil springs for one of a different "weight" than the manufacturer's OEM is usually done to adapt the gun to a specific load. For example, to have the gun cycle reliably with low power target loads often requires a lighter spring. A stronger spring may be used for loads above the usual power level but they are likely to damage the rest of the gun if used routinely.

The OEM spring is chosen to make the gun as reliable and durable as possible over a reasonable range of ammunition. Change it only if you know exactly what you are doing.