It's really only the Devel follower as found in the McCormick line-up, PowerMag and Match Grade for example, that you need to avoid.Originally Posted by Stephanie B
Avoid this follower https://www.cmproducts.com/Magazine-...und_p_223.html and you should be fine.
What he said.
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Congrats! I have been wanting a vintage Lightweight Commander for some time.
I’d lose the Allen head grip screws for normal flathead screws.
Add an EGW slide stop (.200 pin is std) instead of that extended thing, and an EGW oversized firing pin stop (locks the extractor down) and then shoot the hell out of it.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.
That Devel follower is whats in my Ruger P 90 mags. It is ironic that the initial mag for the '90 had a plastic follower. I guess the current mag was a change to shoe horn 8 rounds into the mag body.
That's correct. Ruger ended up with the Devel follower in all three of their .45 Auto's of the era, the P90, P97, and P345. They were either aluminum framed (P90) or polymer framed (P97/P345) and the follower dinged those guns too, but they all had integral barrel feed ramps and the dinging was on the frame which was merely an internal cosmetic issue.
Yeah, this thread has my gears turning towards this destination too. As always, it's wants vs needs. Logically I don't need it, but.............Congrats! I have been wanting a vintage Lightweight Commander for some time.
I got hold of a vintage (‘68) LWC and wound up doing some really neat stuff to it through MARS guns. Unmodified it is not a terribly comfortable gun to shoot a ton of rounds through. If you reload or have a buddy, the H&G68 at 800 fps is a good friend to have.
Wilson 47Ds have worked for me in five out of five LWCs.
Ignore Alien Orders
The ‘68
Post MARS
Ignore Alien Orders
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Shooting will smooth up and lighten trigger pull. Slide stops sometimes must be fitted. If not, contact between bullet nose and front of stop will force stop upwards resulting in premature slide lock up. Event occurs most often with 230 grain ball. For this reason, I would not replace the original.
Grip safeties, ejectors, and extractors are not drop-in parts. In many cases, slide stops are not either. Yet, shooters delight in replacing them. Extended slide stops may be the worst offenders. Their extra weight provides additional inertia from recoil, and this oomph tends to boost them upwards when they should stay down. Also, the thumb can bump an extended slide stop.
Think twice before removing grip screws. Each screw turns into a threaded bushing which then screws into the frame. Often when unscrewing grip screws, bushings will unscrew with them. Per grip panel, when one bushing unscrews, and the other does not, you have a cluster event. When both bushings turn with the two screws, then the two must be separated--hard to do without damaging bushing threads. Factories should use loctite on bushing threads.
I am guilty of having committed about every mistake possible when tinkering with 1911's. Hence, I suggest not to replace parts that work. Remember that the gunsmith who replaces them might or might not have needed skill and knowledge.
One other point. The design of some after market grip safeties will lower the shooter's grip. Result is axis of bore is higher. Fitting some custom grip safeties requires grinding frame to fit contour of safety. Then rebluing is necessary. This procedure is more complicated with aluminum frames. I expect some to state that their aftermarket grip safety dropped right in, works fine, and cured hammer bite and no frame grinding and refinishing were needed. I will say good and keep my mouth shut that the hand now sits farther down on the grip.
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