Dug my old USPSA SS gun out of the safe.

Since 2023 is going to be the year of the 1911 for me I've spent the last few days digging out and organizing all of my old gear, mags, parts, holsters, and detail-stripping all of the guns. The last pistol to clean was my primary USPSA pistol, a gun that I haven't shot since 2017.

I first started shooting USPSA in 07 or early 08. After cycling through a few different 1911's as I learned the game and the platform, I finally settled on a very early Kimber Series 1 gun that I pulled off GunBroker. It was an unusual gun in that it had a Yonkers frame but a two-line slide from the Clackamas-era guns. I stuck with that gun for 9 years, until I shot my final USPSA match in 2017. Over that period of time it easily pushed 100,000 rounds of Major PF 45 ammo (likely closer to 150,000), and probably just as much 22LR through a Kimber .22 conversion. The only parts that are still original are the frame, slide, and grip safety. It's on its 2nd barrel from Kimber, the rest of the internals and small parts are Ed Brown. A S&W mag well was blended in with hand tools by a close friend and shooting mentor Shin Tanaka . The gun was also touched by Johnny Lim from Limcat Custom several times. It's not pretty, but it runs, and it will still hold the head A/B zone of a USPSA target at 50. I doubt this gun will ever see another USPSA match, but if a buddy showed up and said "get in, we are going down to shoot Area 2", this is the gun I'd grab.

My favorite thing about this gun is the "character" in the magwell. I used to dry fire religiously 2x a day for 15 minutes per session with one of those sessions being strictly reload drills. The magwell has taken a beating and there is noticeably less material on the outboard side of the well from constantly taking the abuse of my not-always-perfect reloads. I used to have the frame and magwell refinished once a year to keep the gun looking sharp, looking back I wish I would have just let it go and worn the slide and magwell down to bare metal.

I popped some new springs it in tonight, checked the extractor tension, and melted in a new fiber optic rod up front. Once all this damn snow melts I'll take it out for a spin. I used to shoot 200gr LSWC over Titegroup, but my pistol reloading days are long behind me. I'll see how it likes Speer 230gr FMJ and 230gr Gold Dot. I remember ASYM always being the "best of the best" for match ammo, but they aren't around anymore. What other options are out there besides FGMM and the stuff from Wilson Combat?