1911 Talk (formerly Colt Government Talk)Everything about 1911 model pistols and their derivatives and knock-offs! Get advice about the Colt Government pistols, post items about your experience with these pistols and accessories for these pistols.
Been a member on PU for a long time but this is my first post in about 2 years.
Just showing off the newest addition to the collection...any tips for a new 1911 owner? Been doing research and stuff on what to do to improve reliability and such. I hope the pictures turn out alright...not much of a photographer.
Very Nice!!
1. Buy only good magazines (Wilson, McCormick, etc.). Bad magazines are by far the most common cause of malfunctions.
2. Lubricate it correctly.
3. Shoot it. A lot.
4. Then decide about any mods.
All of my 1911s are pretty much stock. The only thing I've done to them is change to Wolff springs (factory weight), add nicer wood grips, and replace the ILS mainspring housing on the Springfield Armory guns with a regular one. I used to use recoil spring buffers in the full-size guns (never on Commander/Officer length guns), but don't bother anymore. Same with full-length guide rods; they're now in the Big Box O' 1911 Bits, and plain old GI recoil spring plugs are in the guns.
Despite the internet "gospel" that 1911s are unreliable, they are (with rare exception) quite reliable and accurate out of the box.
The design, however, is not well understood by your average kitchen-table amateur gunsmith (like me), as well as many "professional" gunsmiths. It's when these sorts of folks muck about with them that reliability problems crop up.
Despite the internet "gospel" that 1911s are unreliable, they are (with rare exception) quite reliable and accurate out of the box.
I don't even understand how that sort of assumption comes about...the 1911 design has been the king of the range and has served in every branch of the military and has been time proven and reliable under the worst of conditions. I think that speaks for itself haha.
What is the difference between the recoil spring that came with my gun and one of these Wolff ones...I have heard about them before. Are they stronger/weaker?
Wolf spring come in different sizes, I installed one on my Glock 19, and one on my Essex 1911, they made a differance in the recoil for the better. It depends on how you want to setup you gun, lighter spring or heavier to suite your needs and for control, never regretted doing it, and plan on doing to to some of my other guns as well. Wolf also make great springs for mags to help with feeding problems if you have them, installed one on an old rusty broken AK mag that had a broke spring now it works like it's new.
The "factory stock" spring rate for a 5" 1911 .45 ACP is 16 lbs. This is probably what you have in your SIG, although some makers are said to "overspring" their guns. Wilson specifies 14 - 18.5 lbs; Brian Enos (who is a professional 1911 shooter) runs 14 lbs in his hardball gun, and doesn't like anything over 16 lb.
A Wolff 16 lb spring is going to be a higher-quality, more consistent spring than your factory spring. They make them in significantly heavier and lighter spring rates than stock (about 10 - 22 lb, IIRC), so you can match the spring to your load. At less than $10, I look at it as a cheap, easy reliability upgrade that will likely last longer than the factory spring.
The myth of 1911 unreliability started in the 60s and 70s. Back then, it was all the rage to "accurize" all those cheap surplus GI guns, which meant tightening up all those loose tolerances. When done by folks who understood the gun, there were no problems, but the demand was so great that every Tom, Dick and Harry with a bench vise and a hammer was tightening up everything they could beat on, including many areas that had no bearing on accuracy, but did affect reliability.
This was also the time when Practical Pistol was taking off, and speed became king. Now even more modifications were done to "game" the competition. The whole thing was sort of like trying to turn a pickup truck into a top fuel dragster: you can do it, but reliability is going to suffer, and not everyone can do it successfully.
The gun rags added fuel to the fire by writing glowing articles on "xxxxx's New Combat 1911", wherein they would breathlessly describe how their rattly old POS GI 1911 wouldn't feed the new, sooper-awesome hollowpoints (out of tired old GI mags up an unramped barrel), until they sent it off to xxxxx gunsmith, who made it reliable and accurate for a mere $400 (about the cost of a new 1911 in those days).
The irony is that a new Colt 1911 of that era, feeding ball ammo out Colt magazines (i.e., as John Browning designed it) was pretty much stone reliable.
I'm sure this has been posted before, but it always amuses me:
The Book of Armaments
also called the Book of John Moses (Browning)
Chapter One
In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was the pistol, and it was good. For John Moses of the tribe of Browning went up into the mountain, even unto the top of the mountain. And there he prayed and fasted for a time, making himself ready to receive the Designs of the Lord. And John Moses received from the Lord many designs, and he received also the 1911, yea, and the design thereof, and rendered it into steel. And the Lord saw that the 1911 was good, and blessed it, and said "Let it be made in .45ACP, that you may smite thine enemies a mighty blow, for the .45ACP shall cleave unto the 1911 as a man shall cleave unto his wife, and likewise the 1911 shall cleave also unto the .45ACP, just as the HiPower shall cleave unto the 9mm Parabellum, for these unions are holy in My sight, and thou shalt not stray from them." So the 1911 in .45ACP came to pass, and it was good, and the righteous therefore smote the minions of evil, as the Lord had intended.
And behold the Lord said, "Thou shalt not muck about with the 1911 of the prophet John Moses, for it is good and it worketh. For John Moses made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, have given him upon the mountain. And shouldst thou muck with it and hang all manner of foul implements upon it, and profane its internal parts, thou shalt surely have malfunctions, and in the midst of battle thou shalt surely come to harm".
And as the ages passed men became proud, and they did forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the Gamesmen did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their artisans didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by avarice. And lo, they did install adjustable sights, which are an abomination unto the Lord, for they break and lose their zero when true aim is needed.
And man in his foolishness heeded not the Word of the Lord, but the falsehoods of the gunwriter whores, who wrote that man must have these things, lest evil overcome him. So the artisans and metalsmiths did hang all manner of foul implements upon the 1911 and did so alter it that it became only for the wealthy, for they demanded many shekels for these their abominations, and the workers of the field toiled in vain, for they could not render this price. And so were the people separated from the Lord, for they had not His 1911. And yet the profaning of the internal parts didst verily render the 1911 unworkable when the dust of the land fell upon it and sensitive even unto the ammunition it was fed.
And so it came to pass that fearful malfunctions came upon these, the abominations of the artisans and metalsmiths who had set themselves up upon a high place, that man would worship their works, and the evil one did see these things also. Seeing the malfunctions and the confusion of men, and planning that he might further ensnare man, Satan did bring forth pistols made of plastic, whose form was such that they looked and felt like a brick, and being a deceitful spirit the lord of the underworld did create these plastic pistols in such a way that the artisans of man were unable to muck about with the design, and lo, therefore, did these pistols function. And Satan did also make these pistols hold many rounds and so man forsook the rites of accurate pistolcraft, saying it required much effort, that he might instead spray many bullets and hope to strike his foe. And Satan made these plastic abominations in 9mm Parabellum, so that man would believe that, as the round is holy, so also must the plastic pistol be holy. So therefore were the eyes of man clouded, even the workers in the field, and they were consumed by the plastic pistol and did buy vast quantities of them. And the evil one also brought forth pistols in which the trigger did both cock and fire them and which require a dingus to make them appear safe. But men, being stupid, did not understand these new pistols and did shoot themselves with the plastic pistol, and with the trigger cocking pistol, for lo their manual of arms required great intelligence, which man had long since forsaken. Yet man continued to sing the praises of these new pistols, and forsook the 1911, for they knew it now only in the form of an abomination. And Satan did also cause them to forsake the .45ACP, which God had given them, for it fit not into the plastic guns, and man desired now many bullets to spray at his foe.
And the lord of the underworld did cause mankind to believe, therefore, that they should have a new cartridge for the new plastic pistol. And he did cause them to believe they could create of their own will a cartridge better than the .45ACP and 9mm Parabellum, that the Lord had given them. So it came to pass that man brought forth yet another abomination, and he called it the .40 S&W. And in his pride, man cried, "It shall smite our enemies a blow as mighty as the holy .45ACP, yet we shall have also many more of them in our plastic pistols, and so shall we attain the Kingdom of Heaven". But the .40 S&W, being an abomination of Satan, did bring evil upon the heads of man. And so a plague of terrible Ka-BOOM did descend upon man and the plastic pistols, and thus did this Nemesis deliver retribution upon the pride of men. And there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth in the land, and confusion amongst those who were yet blinded by Satan.
But the righteous saw the sinfulness of the plastic pistol, and of those with a dingus, and also the abomination that was the .40S&W, and they forsook all these evil things and rent their garments and purified themselves. Then did they behold again the Word of the Lord, and sought again the 1911 in its holy form. And seeing that the eyes of man were opened, and that man was truly sorrowful for his sinful misdeeds, the Lord did send his messengers in the form of artisans who did hear and obey the teachings of the prophet and who restored the profaned 1911s to their proper configuration, and lo, to the amazement of men they worked as the prophet had designed and the Lord had intended. And there was great rejoicing. And so the men of the land drove out the charlatans and profaners from the land, and there was joy and peace in the land. And the evil men who would prey on the men and women of the land were therefore sent to the place of eternal damnation by the followers of the Lord.
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