While it is sad that you had this experience, it is good to have one more data point and further substantiation for the already well-established less-than-adequate reliability of short 1911s.
While it is sad that you had this experience, it is good to have one more data point and further substantiation for the already well-established less-than-adequate reliability of short 1911s.
As frustrating (and ultimately not fruitful) as this was for you, data points like this are so valuable for the shooting community writ large. Thank you for your time and ammo expenditure. Hopefully at the very least you were able to spend some good time honing your 1911 skills.Originally Posted by Enel
Pistol: Springfield Range Officer Compact
Caliber: 9mm
Ammunition:
PPU 124 grain NATO
Federal HST 147 grain
Winchester Ranger T 124 +P
Federal American Eagle 147 grain
S&B 124 grain SB9B
MEN 9B 124 grain
Magtech 115 grain fmj
Wolf 115 grain FMJ mil Spec lacquer
Barnaul 115 grain white box lacquer
Wolf 115 grain Poly
Dates of testing: 2017-2018
Total rounds fired: 2094
Stoppages:
First 125 rounds before going back to Springfield Armory:
3 FTExtract
2 FTFeed from loading slide lock full mag
1 FTLB empty mag
4 Brass To Face
After going to Springfield, rounds 115-2094:
>20 Fail to Lock Back on Empty (FTLBE) these happened with Metalform 8 & 9 round magazines, Wilson 10 round, 9 round and Checkmate 8 round. They occurred more frequently as the test progressed.
4 light strikes due to firing pin hole being blocked by bits of primer from over pressure PPU NATO ammo. This is 100% bad ammo.
1 eject last live round out top end MEN 124 grain Mecgar 9 round. Sort of a WTF malfunction that never repeated.
>10 FTFeed when loading with slide release, these loaded with a slingshot technique.
>25 fail to completely go into battery when loading first round via slingshot. All went into battery with a tap to the back of the slide. This only happened with the first round from a full magazine.
5X dropped live rounds out bottom of magwell when swapping mags after loading 1 round out of a full 9 round magazine. In other words, I loaded a single round from a full 9 round mag and removed it to top the gun off to a full ten rounds by loading another full 9 rounder. When I pulled the first mag, the second round would eject. Mag issue more than gun issue.
1 FTFeed S&B 124 grain
1 FTFeed 147 grain HST
1 Stovepipe 124 grain Ranger T +P
The last three happened in the last 200 rounds.
Malfunctions: front sight hit 15 inches high from factory. Factory replaced it and after visit to SA, it was dead on at 25.
Breakages: front fiber optic fell out in the first 300 rounds. It was replaced and had no problems the rear of the test.
Comments: that is a heck of a lot of malfunctions, and you would think I would hate this gun. However, it was really delightful to shoot.
The vast majority of problems were FTLBEs and failures to go into battery when loading the first round (plus a few magazine weirdnesses). During the actual shooting cycle of fire, extract, eject and load, there were precious few, in fact, only three stoppages and those all happened when the gun was quite dirty and dry at the end of the test.
I am confident this gun will cycle after the first round is loaded until the magazine is empty. It may not lock back.
I am also sure with proper magazine vetting one could find several that work reliably.
Keep this gun clean and lubricated and it will make you happy.
It is too much drama for me. It was fun, but I am selling it off.
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State Government Attorney | Beretta, Glock, CZ & S&W Fan
Not to mention 9mm 1911s in general.
It actually wasn’t frustrating at all.
Stoppages that frustrate me occur mid magazine and without clear explanation. If I can tap a gun into battery when I load it and then shoot it dry over and over and over again as I did with this one, to me, it this a gun that wants to work. I even ran almost 400 rounds of various steel cased through it in one range session and it had zero bobbles from first to last round.
I really enjoyed the 9mm 1911 in general, I see their appeal now. I had a great time fully disassembling and cleaning it. This one just doesn’t respond well to neglect.
What weight recoil spring does that gun have?
Reason I ask is, I was just looking at a Ruger 9mm 1911, and it had like a 10# recoil spring. Reviews say that's too light. Dunno. 1911 is not my thing, probably not going to get one.
I dont know the spring rate. It is whatever SA Puts in for a factory spring. Remember this is the Compact model and has a proprietary recoil spring set up of some sort. The full sized came with I think a 9# spring that I pretty rapidly replaced with a 14# variable spring per TLG’s recommendation in his Springfield endurance test. 14# variable worked fine in the big gun.
Last edited by Doc_Glock; 08-14-2018 at 08:41 AM.
Pistol: Glock 34 Gen3
Caliber: 9mm
Ammunition: 1.5k Freedom Munition Steel Cased 9mm 115gr, 500 rounds Aguila 124gr NATO
Dates of testing: 7/18-8/18
Total rounds fired: 2032
Stoppages: 3
Malfunctions: 0
Breakages: 0
Comments:
Mods
Dawson Adjustable height fiber front, blacked rear
Griptape and some Ranger Bands on grip
RCS Freya
Lantac Polished Plunger, 6lbs ZEV trigger spring, 3.5 Ghost connector
stoppages from having a high grip in which the web of my hand stopped the slide from moving (Vogel style I guess).
Shot the gun during my first month of USPSA in Limited Minor (from concealment out of JM AIWB hoslters).
noticed that the top smaller pin drifted out during fire a number of times after high round cadences, I was the only able to do it after having other people shoot the gun some, determined by just shear gripping into the gun and locking it up. a drop of red loctite on each side of the pin solved the issue. (around 750 rounds in)
Gun only received 5 drops of M-Pro 7 prior to first shots after parts install.
Magazines: primarily Glock factory, KCI, Magpul, Glock Factory+TTI basepads
Pistol: Glock G17 G4
Ammunition:
1100 Winchester Winclean 124gr
350 Federal Champion Aluminum 115 gr
300 Federal American Eagle 147gr & 115gr
240 Blazer Brass 115gr
200 Winchester NATO 124gr
150 Speer Lawman 147gr
40 Speer Gold Dot 147gr
Date of Testing: March 2018- August 2018
Total rounds Fired: 2,380
Stoppages:
1 Failure to Eject with WinClean 124gr, round stovepiped in ejection port.
1 Failure to Extract with WinClean 124gr, round also failed to fully cycle slide.
Note that both times, the rounds were perceptibly weaker than normal, with the second instance so much so that I stopped and checked for a bullet left in the barrel, as there had been no recoil and no noticeable report. No obstructions were found, and the rest of the magazine fired without issue.
WinClean in general has seemed to be relatively lightly loaded compared to other loads. I originally bought it because Luckygunner had it on sale, ending up with over 2,000 rounds of it. I generally like how clean it shoots, how little flash or smoke it has compared to cheap 115gr like Blazer Brass, and its recoil seems less snappy relative to other loads. However, at its regular price I doubt I will be buying more, as even though those are the only two malfunctions I have had, there have been other instances of inconsistent performance from it.
It should also be noted that I used the same two Magpul P-mags for the entirety of the test, though rarely loaded to full capacity, I had no problems with them at all. The orange followers are now black though.
Last edited by MandoWookie; 08-26-2018 at 05:12 PM.
Pistol: Ruger LCR 9mm
Caliber: 9mm
Ammunition: Wolf 115 grain Mil Spec
Barnaul 115 grain white box
Wolf 115 grain poly coat
Fiocchi 115 grain FMJ
S&B 115 grain FMJ SB9A
S&B 124 grain FMJ SB9B
Federal HST 147 grain
American Eagle 147 grain FMJ
Speer Lawman 147 grain FMJ
Speer Lawman 124 grain FMJ
Speer Lawman 115 grain FMJ
Winchester Ranger T +P 124 grain
Magtech 115 grain FMJ
Magtech 124 grain FMJ
Dates of testing: 8/2018
Total rounds fired: 2015
Stoppages: 5 light strikes on steel ammo, 1 light strike Speer Lawman 115 grain. All fired second strike.
Malfunctions: On round 1985 this happened:
First the pivot pin fell out, then the cylinder release fell out. The gun still fired the last cylinder but I needed some tools to get the release and pin back in to open it. Took about 5 minutes to figure it out. Fired the last 30 rounds uneventfully.
Breakages: 0
It is a great, reliable revolver. I abused this gun heavily. Many times the cylinder was too hot to handle on reloads. Nearly perfect reliability. If I had checked screws for looseness more often it would have been a perfect run. It didn’t like Russian steel case but had no difficulty lighting off really hard S&B primers. I am unsure why it had a problem with the 115 grain Speer round, but that is the same ammo that gave my Langdon LTT 92 some fits.
I am unaware of any attempted 2k challenges with a revolver and had previously thought revolvers to be a bit fragile. My thoughts have been changed by this gun.
I found it to be extremely accurate when I did my part (which was not easy) and capable of printing 3-4" groups at 25 yards.
I am unsure what to do with it, as it does not really fit a carry niche for me and it is unpleasant to shoot. Thinking about getting a larger grip for it. But is is absolutely reliable.
Pros: Great ballistics, great reliability, light weight, reliable extraction and relatively quick reloads with moon clips
Cons: Snappy recoil, difficult but not impossible to shoot well, kinda big and possibly a little heavy for the pocket, low capacity.
Great write-up!
How was the cylinder lock-up with the trigger held back, compared to before the test? Any shaving or spitting? Any loosening of front to back movement of the cylinder?
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