The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[SW CQB 45]

Gen 1 MCOP came my way. I need to check it. It will be assigned to me so it will end up for duty carry.

I think I have a junker MSH magwell that I need to put the guts in and drop this ILS and run some rounds through it.

[JAD]

If I shake the gun, and it cycles....

[MGW]

If I shake the gun, and it cycles....

I’m not very good at keeping round counts. My replacement cycle is pretty close to this. Full disclosure I practice mostly with low power reloads. So I can get away with it.

[JohnK]

Gen 1 MCOP came my way. I need to check it. It will be assigned to me so it will end up for duty carry.

I think I have a junker MSH magwell that I need to put the guts in and drop this ILS and run some rounds through it.

That's a helluva good score there, if I don't say so myself. You said it will be assigned to you so I am guessing it isn't won't be a personal weapon? Pretty good almost duplicate to take the place of yours, in my opinion.

More to the point of the question above, I change my recoil springs every 3,000-5,000 rounds. It also depends on how much dry fire I do and of course with the hand cycling of the weapon. While the gun isn't under full load while cycling the weapon, I do count those as 1 round through the spring (I estimate and don't keep a firm number on that). I've also been using Wilson shok-buffs in my guns that don't get carried and cycle those out around 500 rounds for a new one. I don't believe or feel that the buffer reduces felt recoil but based on some dudes past advice that shoot way more than me, they feel it slows down on the wear and tear of the gun.

[SW CQB 45]

You said it will be assigned to you so I am guessing it isn't won't be a personal weapon?

you are correct. It will belong to the dept and assigned to me. Since its a dept weapon, the night sights are dead and there are no mags.... so I need to justify to admin for the purchase of this equipment.

I will work on getting mags first and run it with dead sights.

I will also re spring the entire piece since its a early model. Well before 2008.

I brought it home to clean up this weekend.

[JohnK]

you are correct. It will belong to the dept and assigned to me. Since its a dept weapon, the night sights are dead and there are no mags.... so I need to justify to admin for the purchase of this equipment.

I will work on getting mags first and run it with dead sights.

I will also re spring the entire piece since its a early model. Well before 2008.

I brought it home to clean up this weekend.

I am not LEO but I have been told that duty guns cannot usually be modified in any way without prior approval... do you have to get permission to freshen that up before it is carried or put back into service? Springs and sights and magazines? Sorry if I am repeating you.

[Chuck Whitlock]

I am not LEO but I have been told that duty guns cannot usually be modified in any way without prior approval... do you have to get permission to freshen that up before it is carried or put back into service? Springs and sights and magazines? Sorry if I am repeating you.

The answer will be specific per agency. My previous agency had such a policy, but as a certified armorer, I was prepared to argue "modified" v. "accessorized".

[SW CQB 45]

I am the guy in charge of that and a LE 1911 armorer.

I plan to run at least 500 plus through it before I attempt to carry.

I took it apart and found the usual MIM stuff and glued ejector. The sear pin is odd in that it has a raised edge. This piece has been shot but not to the point of wearing an edge on the sear pin. The trigger and sear pin have rough ends. My guess those pins are not original as the thumb safety is not a Springer part either.

Barrel hood has some slight push. The extractor had zero tension on it. The other odd thing I noticed is the dust cover edges are not even. The night sights still work, just faint. I will paint the front sight as a temp fix.

I plan to replace worn parts and springs with quality replacements and if it runs 100% with acceptable duty accuracy... I will carry this one on duty. A co-worker will inspect this firearm and it must meet duty specs/documentation.



someone started an idiot scratch.... I made an adjustment to prevent that.



here is the dust cover thickness differences.

[farscott]

Is it an option to return it to SA for warranty service? I would think SA would be amenable, especially for a LE weapon. I would not be surprised if SA provided updated sights for gratis or for much less than retail.

[JohnK]

Is it an option to return it to SA for warranty service? I would think SA would be amenable, especially for a LE weapon. I would not be surprised if SA provided updated sights for gratis or for much less than retail.

Thats a really good point.