The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[maximus83]

Every 1911 ambi-safety I've ever even held irritated the hell out of my right hand index finger knuckle and operated for shit left handed; weak engagement and/or too much flex. That said, I haven't tried them all and I still want to find one I like and trust. I've meant to ask in the STI thread if they've found a better method.

I'm a lefty and that's definitely an issue that I've run into. The one I like best so far and operates well left-handed, is the Wilson bulletproof. Only thing I regret is I got the 'tactical' version--which has narrower thumb levers. If getting it today I'd try the wide levers version.

[Rex G]

The Wilson ambi Bulletproof, on the pre-owned Hackathorn Special that I handled, felt quite good, in my left hand, until I tried to move it to the on-safe position. Doing so was impossible with my left thumb, alone, while maintaining a firing grip, and when it finally moved, it was a gritty, sudden, clunky movement. I hope that WC would do better than that, if they installed the safety, themselves, at WC. (I have no way of knowing whether a local kitchen table parts-changer may have installed this ambi WC Bulletproof, or if WC did it.)

I looked at their site: the same LGS has another pre-owned WC pistol, with the ambi Bulletproof, so, if Tropical Storm Imelda cooperates, by continuing to move away, I will visit, again, tomorrow.

Les Baer ambi safety levers flex too much, and are too high, for my taste, based upon the narrow tactical width on a lightweight, Commander-sized Concept pistol I bought in 1997, and later sold, and my currently-owned Monolith, with the wider variant. (The right thumb’s lever looks like a gas pedal; the left thumb’s lever is narrower, but still prominent.)

It would be nice to find a really good ambi safety set-up. Perhaps I am being too picky? The good thing is that I am not trying to be all-1911, as I did from 1997 to 2000, for both duty and carry. In 2000, I worked my GP100 back into the equation, and added SP101 fiveguns, more GP100 sixguns, a 4” Speed Sixes, a Model 19 to replace the one I let get away, and more recently, S&W 64-2 and Speed Six snub-guns. Plus, Glocks. So, I have plenty of guns I can carry, that have no safety levers, for lefty-accessible carry.

[maximus83]

The Wilson ambi Bulletproof, on the pre-owned Hackathorn Special that I handled, felt quite good, in my left hand, until I tried to move it to the on-safe position. Doing so was impossible with my left thumb, alone, while maintaining a firing grip, and when it finally moved, it was a gritty, sudden, clunky movement. I hope that WC would do better than that, if they installed the safety, themselves, at WC. (I have no way of knowing whether a local kitchen table parts-changer may have installed this ambi WC Bulletproof, or if WC did it.).

That's gotta be frustrating. Mine was installed by Springfield Custom and runs great.

[awp_101]

Apparently I can't embed a video from Full30 like I can from elsewhere so I'll just leave this link here...https://www.full30.com/watch/MDIxODk...leloading-1911

[UNM1136]

I ran 8 round flush fit mags in the gun, with 10 rounders for reloads. CMC Powermags, and Cobra mags. .45 ACP.

After some high round count classes I stopped using 10 round mags. I had different problems with each. The 10 round Powermags would spread at the feed lips, ultimately trapping a round in the feed lips far enough forward to preclude removal of the mag from the gun. Happened twice with two mags over about five years, but twice was enough. The gun needed to be disassembled with tools to get the mag out of the gun. The 10 round Cobra mags were prone to over insertion, not insurmountable, but irritating. The Tripps also seemed to be prone to disassembling themselves when dropped on concrete during speed loads. The 8 round mags from each manufacturer had no problems in my experience.

Learning your particular gun is also important. My 1911 would not drop the slide using the overhand technique with a shock buff installed. The slide stop notch was just a little forward and would not cam down the slide stop. For a duty gun, the shock buff was a nice to have, not a gotta have. I ran the shock buff and dropped the slide with my thumbs, preferring a support hand thumb when I could, but equally adept with the strong hand thumb. I learned TLG's tensioned slide release technique on this gun, and still teach it.

I also vastly preferred GI length guide rods.

pat

[awp_101]

I've got consistent failures to extract with a 5" 9mm kit build/long term project. Do we want to go through the background and troubleshooting steps here or should I start a thread in the Armorer section?

[45dotACP]

I've got consistent failures to extract with a 5" 9mm kit build/long term project. Do we want to go through the background and troubleshooting steps here or should I start a thread in the Armorer section?

Any failures to extract I would mostly be suspecting your extractor or ejector as the culprit.

Maybe run the 10-8 extractor test?

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[Shorikid]

Any failures to extract I would mostly be suspecting your extractor or ejector as the culprit.

Maybe run the 10-8 extractor test?

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I would shake test it and then on to the 10-8 test.

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[JohnO]

I've got consistent failures to extract with a 5" 9mm kit build/long term project. Do we want to go through the background and troubleshooting steps here or should I start a thread in the Armorer section?

If this is a internal extractor gun you built yourself then answer this question. Is there significant curvature in your extractor such that it is difficult to both install and remove it? The 9mm case size presents a challenge to the extractor. The extractor must reach significantly further in order to grab a 9mm case.

[awp_101]

The gun was put together with a Rock Island builders kit. I'll wait until the laughter stops... This project was very much a case of "They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting in to. I say, let'em crash!"

Even though it's happening inconsistently, when it does happen there's a pattern to the failures. IF one is going to happen, it starts with round #3. Rounds 1-2 seem to eject reliably. From there it's usually #3, sometimes 3-4 and occasionally 3-4-5. Only rarely has there been a problem with any rounds later than that extracting.

I'm using 2 .38 Super Mec-Gar mags which should be fine (I do have a new 9mm mag but haven't been to the range since it came in). Sometimes I can get through 1 mag no problem, sometimes both mags will run back to back. Ammo used has been 115g FMJ Blazer, 124g MEN FMJ, 115g LAX reman FMJ (a one time buy that won't happen again) and another 115g FMJ that I can't recall offhand.

I don't remember the extractor tension weight but I used the Weigand tool and brass gage to set it. I need to find out what the 10-8 extractor test is. It's one of those things I've heard about but never looked for the info before setting this aside and moving on to something else for a while.

I've polished the chamber, I've run the gun wet and then I've run it wetter. It can happen first mag of a session or it might not happen until 3 mags in.

The easy button would be to just pick up an SA or Ruger and drive on since this just a fun gun and not a carry piece. The RO Elite I had my eye on for a super price disappeared before my consignment rifle sold. Now that the rifle is sold, the Fusion top ends at Brownells that were my Plan B have gone up ~$50 and aren't as attractive a deal as they were so I figure why not try some more to figure out what's going on with this thing.