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Thread: How to get a Reliable Hard Use 1911?

  1. #191
    Quote Originally Posted by farscott View Post
    ... have seen two "identical" STI Trojans that needed two different recoil springs as one would throw the brass into the next county while the other using the same spring dumped empties into a pile onto a tarp about six feet away. Just an anecdote but educational.
    Maybe more than anecdotal... what I find interesting about that statement is that the recoil spring likely had very little to do with the perceived problem. Changing the weight may have only served to mask the symptom described as the ejection pattern/distance difference from one gun to another. Which brings up a thought...

    People are often frustrated by 1911s because there seems to be differing standards of what is right and applicable remedies for when things are thought to be wrong. At the same time many new 1911 owners use their previous experience with other pistol platforms (fairly enough) as a measure of what should be “normal” or “correct” on a 1911 when that standard or experience is not necessarily equatable from gun to gun. It’s often just with little things such as “how hard should it be to rack the slide” or “it’s hard to release the slide using the slide stop” or “how hard should it be to seat a magazine?” or “why do my grip screws come loose?” or "how much take-up should the trigger have?"

    Point being that it's important to recognize that in some aspects the 1911 is different than other pistol platforms and than can be a source of confusion or frustration for a new 1911 owner and at time we use a false equation for what is correct or how to correct something we think is wrong. As a final thought, and to use your example, I’m often asked how far the gun should eject empty brass and my answer is always the same... out of the gun. I care very little if it’s 3 feet or 6 feet or 28 feet so long as it is reliably coming out of the gun and being properly controlled by the extractor.
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  2. #192
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    Proper parts, proper assembly/fitting, proper magazine, proper ammo.
    Brian Searcy of Pilot Mountain Arms built my pistol. Few thousand rounds of good 230gr Lawman and lube and it's just as boringly reliable as a polymer striker fired gun.
    The phrase "you get what you pay for" rings true.

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  3. #193
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe View Post
    Proper parts, proper assembly/fitting, proper magazine, proper ammo.
    Brian Searcy of Pilot Mountain Arms built my pistol. Few thousand rounds of good 230gr Lawman and lube and it's just as boringly reliable as a polymer striker fired gun.
    The phrase "you get what you pay for" rings true.

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    is this his Operator Model?

    thanks a cool piece!!!
    If you're going to be a bear….be a GRIZZLY!

  4. #194
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    Quote Originally Posted by SW CQB 45 View Post
    is this his Operator Model?
    It is but I asked for a few slight deviations (full length guide rod, fiber optic front sight, flat trigger, no markings on the slide).

  5. #195
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    Quote Originally Posted by farscott View Post
    Yet Colt Rail Gun frames cracked very early in the M45 tests. From above on the M45 tests.





    The slide cracks were attributed by some to stress risers from the sharp front cocking serrations, but the round count, on its own, when the cracks were noted did not seem high enough to warrant cracking. The location of the FCS resulted in the slide being very thin in that area. The frame crack was at the accessory rail. I would note that the material of the M45 test units was 410/416 stainless. I suspect a high carbon steel like 4140 would be much more resistant to notch failures.

    I would also note that the tests showed issues with recoil springs and the GI spring guides binding. Felt recoil was noted by the shooters to be higher than existing pistols. All suggesting the recoil spring was not properly specified for the application.

    That only points out that adding material in and of itself is not a panacea when it comes to 1911 frames and slide cracking. For me, a true high round count gun starts with major components made from carbon steel with springs properly specified for that pistol. I am not a 1911 smith of the stature of Mr. Burton, but I have seen two "identical" STI Trojans that needed two different recoil springs as one would throw the brass into the next county while the other using the same spring dumped empties into a pile onto a tarp about six feet away. Just an anecdote but educational.


    Ahh, but context is everything. The first iteration of rail guns Colt sent, had the area "under" the light rail in the dust cover milled out, causing the recoil spring system to buckle under recoil. It bent/broke the springs, caused massive amounts of battering, etc. See photo 5 here. Note the big chunk of dust cover area missing...where they hollowed it out to save weight. Whoopsie. This was Colt "testing in production", as it were. This was fixed/not milled out in runs after, nor in the updated Rail Gun or CCU guns.

    The forward slide serrations were definitely an issue, and it's why current Colts have the wider slide serrations in the front of the slide, ever since.

  6. #196
    Quote Originally Posted by JohnK View Post
    Confession, I found some Wolf ammo that my brother had from years ago (about 150 rounds) and my TRP loved every bite.
    I used about 35 cases of 230 grain Wolf over two seasons of USPSA Single Stack in a Springfield built be Dave Williams.

    I ran it with a 15lb recoil spring and cleaned it maybe every 7-10K rounds. Did fine.

  7. #197
    I am not a 1911 guy so please cut me some slack.

    I have read in multiple places that the best /most reliable non-custom/non-high dollar 1911 are the S&W E-Series.

    Is this still the case and if so do you guys think it would meet the OP's criteria?

  8. #198
    Site Supporter Trooper224's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EzGoingKev View Post
    I am not a 1911 guy so please cut me some slack.

    I have read in multiple places that the best /most reliable non-custom/non-high dollar 1911 are the S&W E-Series.

    Is this still the case and if so do you guys think it would meet the OP's criteria?
    That was never the case. An S&W is pretty much like a Colt: it's a 90% gun. By that I mean they suffer from the same things most current Colts do, occasional mushy thumb safeties, occasional creepy triggers, etc. They run the ball right up to the five yard line, then often fuck up the end game. Like Kimber, S&W puts some lipstick on them, like cool fish scale slide serrations and such. However, while they have the lipstick they aren't the pigs that Kimbers are. Pretty decent pistols for the most part, but hardly a benchmark.

    I think they'd probably meet the OPs criteria, because I doubt his use would be overly hard.
    We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......

  9. #199
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    Quote Originally Posted by EzGoingKev View Post
    I am not a 1911 guy so please cut me some slack.

    I have read in multiple places that the best /most reliable non-custom/non-high dollar 1911 are the S&W E-Series.

    Is this still the case and if so do you guys think it would meet the OP's criteria?
    I would rate the S&W 1911s above Sig and Kimber, about on par with Colt and Springfield Armory depending on model. They are a pretty decent gun for the money. One thing I will say about the S&W guns is that while non-traditional their external extractors tend to work very well.

  10. #200
    Member SecondsCount's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robinson View Post
    I would rate the S&W 1911s above Sig and Kimber, about on par with Colt and Springfield Armory depending on model. They are a pretty decent gun for the money. One thing I will say about the S&W guns is that while non-traditional their external extractors tend to work very well.
    How can I say this politely...

    To this day do not understand how Colt gets any kind of credit for their low quality product.

    I'm not a fan of the use of an external extractor but like you said, S&W seems to get it right, and their fit and finish is twice as good as anything Colt puts out.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

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