The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[SW CQB 45]

I’ve seen some on GB but they have been the subjects of last minute bidding wars pushing them into TRP/DW prices. In my experience it’s a 1911 are very hit or miss not inclined to spend big money on a base la gun when you don’t know if you’re getting a “Monday gun” or a “Wednesday gun.”

I’ve had good luck with my 2007 vintage MC Operator and factory RMR gun in .45 (basically a Long Beach operator with factory RMR) but I have too many .45s for the amount of .45 I shoot and should thin the herd. I’m hesitant though as I intend to resume reloading when I retire in a few years and can see mid range reloads making shooting .45 more practical.

I am in the same boat. I been reloading since the 80s and have components to last me a while.

When I retire (not sure when) my two Dillon 550s will get a workout with .45, .38, .44 and a crap load of Nina.

[CSW]

Nice score on the Specialist, SW CQB 45. Excellent base gun for a project. When I finally go RDS it will be with such a set up.

I can't express strongly enough how much I hate the thin grips that so many 1911s come with. I have a couple of sets in my box-o-grips that I'll never use, if anyone needs any.

I'll drop you a PM, Perhaps I have some regular grips we can trade for the thins.

[CSW]

Interesting YouTube find during lunch today.

https://youtu.be/aabWpL56SBE

[SW CQB 45]

I had to watch it all. Happy ending

[Jason F]

I had to watch it all. Happy ending

Same!! That was super interesting. Thanks for sharing it with us CSW

[SW CQB 45]

Same!! That was super interesting. Thanks for sharing it with us CSW

In the early 80s, living in Houston, Tx working oilfield, my dad brought home a co-worker's early 1911 (I can't recall the date, but it was not an A1) and the gun was locked up with a thin sheen of rust. It had been in the owner's family since brand new.

My dad asked me to see if I could get it running for them.

I soaked it in a metal coffee can filled with diesel (why diesel, it was plentiful at work). It soaked for a week, a couple of whacks with a rubber mallet and I got it apart. The barrel rifling was not pitted but hardly any rifling. I was told it was used for protection. I used cold blue and it cleaned up nice. I offered to buy it, but it was to stay in that family.

[SW CQB 45]

Opinions,

I am cleaning up my new to me Specialist and fitted the extractor. I came across something I don't see in carbon steel guns, so I thought I would get some opinions.

There is a decent dent in the slide coming in contact with the front corner of the slide stop. My guess, the slide stop material is harder than the slide and the stronger prevails.

Part of me wants to round or reduce the front corner of the slide stop to minimize the bully effect. The front edge of the slide stop has zero function and with no sharp corner, it will minmize digging into the fricken slide.

I feel the slide is raised in the the impact area.

what yall think?

[Chuck Whitlock]

I can think of no reason not to break that sharp corner.

[Catshooter]

If that was mine, I'd file on the cheapest part. Then I'd peen the slide material back to where it came from

I never liked the way stainless gun were so easy to scratch, so I started running them over a wire wheel. Then I could always easily and quickly touch up the finish when needed.

[358156hp]

Opinions,

I am cleaning up my new to me Specialist and fitted the extractor. I came across something I don't see in carbon steel guns, so I thought I would get some opinions.

There is a decent dent in the slide coming in contact with the front corner of the slide stop. My guess, the slide stop material is harder than the slide and the stronger prevails.

Part of me wants to round or reduce the front corner of the slide stop to minimize the bully effect. The front edge of the slide stop has zero function and with no sharp corner, it will minmize digging into the fricken slide.

I feel the slide is raised in the the impact area.

what yall think?

I have similar marks on my 4 inch SA in the same places. I too was marking it off to the slide being softer than my slide release, coupled with the slide velocity being a bit robust with the short slide. I've added a flat bottom firing pin stop to try to slow the slides rearward velocity a mite in hopes of slowing cycling a mite. I don't know if it'll work out this way, but the guns a bit of a handful at times with full power loads. We'll see if I guessed right, or even close. I'll also adjust the fit of the slide stop, and will start looking at other slide stop profiles to see if I find anything that makes sense. My current slide stop seems like the outer locking pad could stand to be a bit longer, but I've never looked closely at that aspect of them before.

Or it could simply be that my slides a bit on the soft side.