Likewise- to me, they're neither attractive nor functional.
Likewise- to me, they're neither attractive nor functional.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
Agree 100%.Originally Posted by TGS
I am one of those who manipulate the slide from the front. I share your concerns and actually address the slide from just in front of the ejection port. Even I agree the FCS are pretty much worthless where makers put them. Too far forward to be safe and they look horrible in the middle where they would be useful. I’m unsure who described it earlier, but the serrated slide tops do more to aid in cycling than the FCS. They (FCS) were originally put up front to assist in under hand press checks. Which could open up an entire new can of worms.
I'm picking up the Colt tomorrow and I ordered a few Tripp Research 7 round mags. Figured I should make sure they play nice with my gun before I load up more. Also planning to try some 7rd Wilson 47's to see if I have better luck with them than the 8 round 47D's.
The first time I remember seeing FCSs was on Open Competition guns back in the day. The large electronic sights of the day made using the rear serrations impossible. Very light recoil springs made working the slide easy.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Thr Chip McCormick 8 round Power Mag is another top choice.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
If you still have 47D's in your inventory, you can just order the rebuild kit for the 47 and convert them
While my post was indeed referring to slide serrations, I can address the second part of your post. I like checkering. I hear people complain about 20lpi, and that is by far my preference. My TRP has 20lpi machine checkering and the Pro has 20lpi hand checkering. I’ve owned a few 1911s with 30lpi and I definitely like the 20 better.
On those 1911s that don’t have checkering, I still want something to allow my fingers to “bite” into the frontstrap, and I have found that true skateboard tape - the stuff you go to a real skate shop to get - is WAY superior to anything else out there. I’ve had skateboard tape on a few of my 1911s for between 5-8 years, and Berettas for longer than that. I’ve been shooting in summers in well over 100 degrees, and they stay put. One of my friends has some on his M&P and he’s put the gun through our industrial ultrasonic cleaner twice. It’s still on there. To top it off, it’s available in “colors”, so you can get clear or white or grey to match (sorta) stainless guns as well as black finished pistols.
I’ve tried some of the gun-centric grip tape things and they sucked... I’ll stick with skateboard tape. Yes, I feel a bit awkward going into a skate shop when I obviously don’t skate and know nothing about skating except a vague recollection of some early 80s movies when I was a kid... but it’s worth it.
AAaaaannnddd... Since I wanted to talk about slide serrations anyway...
Aesthetics:
To me, a “classic” 1911 won’t have them. Front serrations are like a really weird spice. They are perfect for some things but in other cases will ruin an otherwise great recipe. I like lots of different 1911 “looks”, but my sweet spot is the early - mid 1990s custom guns and front serrations are not in the recipe. I still like them on some guns, but less commonly.
Practicality:
I admit to using both front and rear of ejection port for chamber checks. Like TOTS I will sometimes chamber check from in front of the ejection port, especially on an optic-equipped pistol like one of my Staccatos or the Prodigy... and I’m okay with a minor bit of variation for administrative functions such as chamber checks. For any manipulation I expect to do without having to be deliberate (like fast and under stress), I want the action to be consistent across platforms as much as possible and to me that means malfunction clearances and such get done with rear serrations always.
One facet of front strap checkering that is sometimes overlooked is the reduction in frame depth that the checkering produces--it is subtle, but definitely noticeable.
I was going through some older threads and saw where @jetfire said he has seen too many guns shit the bed with the Tripp mags. I think that's the first time I've heard anything bad about them. Jetfire: what are your preferred mags for a 5" steel .45 1911?
Has anyone else had any issues with the Tripp mags? It seems the 1911 mags I see recommended the most are the CMC Powermags, the Wilson ETM's, the Wilson 7rd 47's, and Tripp Research.
Last edited by SwampDweller; 05-31-2023 at 07:01 AM.
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