So I got out to the farm early on Friday afternoon and it was pouring rain but I set up my steel in the field at 200 yards. I had a couple hunting rifles I needed to confirm zero on and some other bang sticks that I hadn’t zero’d or were just in need of a good zero. The hunting rifles were the main concern and everything else could wait. I watched the weather come and go and at about 2:00 the radar said I would have about 2 hours of dry time before the rains came back. Zeroing the rifles went off without a hitch and I dragged my AR pistol down to the plate and got a 37 yard (pace) zero on the EO Tech that I had moved forward on the rail then took it back to 200 yds just to see if the ballistics worked like I had calculated.
Not bad for a 7.5" barrel! 15 rounds @ 200 yards with a 0X optic,
Then I FINALLY got to function check my 1911, spent 7 rounds chasing a beer can around the ground at about 10 yards. Everything worked as John Browning foresaw.
Two seven round mags and one in the pipe after pacing off 15 yards. I can probably do better on the vertical on paper as the steel was swinging and I am not used to holding my head back to middle view on my brandy new tri-focals so the horizontal is me and my new eyes.
All in all very pleased 15 rounds @ 15 paces, shots at less than 1 second between each
No time for the November Target Challenge as the rains moved in as I was shooting this.
Cheers,
Craig6
PS: I had a great day in the woods the next day and bounced many doe’s in my wanders (bucks only). I retired early as the rains moved in and I didn’t want to screw up a great day by having to work (clean, gut, drag) in the dark and in the rain. I spent the evening in the company of a good mindless book (Tom Clancey) and a bottle of Cabernet. It was a great day!
@Craig6 Wonderful shooting! Looks like you had a pretty nice week or weekend. I’m not surprised your 1911 worked just fine and you seem to be a really good shot. Too bad the rains moved in and cut your time short. I really enjoy reading your posts. Please keep it up!
@Nancy, glad you are enjoying the thread and I hope that I am not too over anyone’s head on my descriptions of parts and what I have done. I salt in the pictures to cut down on the words for which I have been accused of using too liberally.
Please if there are any questions or commentary (from anyone) feel free to post or PM me if you prefer and I will do my best to accommodate.
This one will probably wind down as the few things left to do are either pretty basic or REALLY hard to describe OR I’m going to have someone else do it (Slide serrations and carbon black Cerecoat). That said there may be an AR build in the near future if Santa is good to a bad little boy
@Scotty A long time ago there was a great debate about them at the gun store I used to inhabit. Essentially the debate devolved into fact based experiments. The less radius on the bottom of the FPS (Firing Pin Stop) resulted in a slower slide time and made the slide MUCH harder to rack, some said it reduced recoil but I never experienced that.
It was determined that it was most effective with “hardball” ammo along the lines of TZZ Match which was stupid accurate but was a beast to shoot (IIRC: 1150fps w/ a 230gr ball round) as it lowered the point of impact on the hammer requiring more force to cam the hammer back. For those punching holes in paper at 25 yards using “softball” loads it would induce FTF & FTE issues almost immediately. The end result was that if you only shot one type of ammo you could “tune” the FPS to that ammo for optimum performance of that ammo. Some opted for a larger radius and a heavier main spring to ease the “rackability” and not induce frame battering.
This is one of those down in the weeds topics where you need to be able to play with multiple components and understand the effects of each. At a minimum you will be looking at not only the FPS but your recoil springs to adjust the slide timing and not induce frame battering. Then you could also play around with the trigger main spring weights or hammer weights/materials.
Your pistol being a 10mm is already pushing the capability limits of a 1911 frame so I would advise caution when messing with things that effect the frame. In this case a reduced radius FPS “MAY” prove beneficial in that it will slow the slide down and by doing so reduce frame battering. That said it may serve you well to have a fair stock of recoil springs on hand as they do wear out and as they do your frame will take a beating.
I replaced fiber optic front sight with Trijicon. Easy, cheap and fast job. No more problems with replacing fiber rod every week (my cleaning solvent made the fiber matte and then it broke within few days).
And I like the trijicon better.
As @Craig6 mentioned - most 1911 parts are interchangeable. This one is a kit - flat spring with stainless steel rod. As Wilson Combat promised - up to 40K rounds life time.
Brother I was just reading your post, I love your photos and illustrations and the way you explained the work that was done. Takes a lot of work and knowledge. The 1911 platform is not easy to work on but with the right tools and equipment you can do just about anything. Thanks @Craig6 for teaching me some stuff I did not know especially when I am thinking about getting back into a 1911. Hope you are there when I get it.
There is more coming as I don’t like the hammer going farther back than it need to and the sear is a bit light. I also have not given it my world famous throat job so that it will feed empty cases from the mag. It is passable now but there are things to improve upon.
