Question on 1911 carry

Nope, just shot almost 1000 rounds through it checking for issues before I called it good.

 

If it's already reliable, trying to make it more reliable might just make it less so.

Remember, if it isn't broke, fix it until it is!

 

Even with a "reliability" package you won't know if it is reliable until you shoot the thing. So, just shoot the thing!

Max

 

I don't believe there's any production gun out there that I would trust my life to without going thru it first.

I've heard all the "Fire X rounds thru it" talk, but what's to say that the 1012th round won't be the one to choke...and at the wrong time?

If the gun is gone thru, and will consistently fire every round that you would ever carry with you, that's about as good as it will get.

As always, proper maint. prevention is the key.

 

Pretty much this.....:thumb:

DAT85

 

One thing is to own a back yard plinker, it's a whole different story for duty or CCW. Now you and your family depends on it!

I truely believe in a "reliability" package on entry level and midgrade 1911's. One has to remember, that sometimes nothing has to be changed or refitted at all. A reliability package just ensure, that things mechanically has been installed and fitted the right way.
This especially counts for second hand guns, where one never knows who's been "inside" doing some home improvemnets on it.

The thing about just blasting rounds away to test it, don't really tell you the whole story. Especially if the user don't know what to look for at a technical level. Sometimes you can have a piece of machinery, that only works on a "borderline" level. This is where trained eyes are needed.
I personally don't belive in the phrase "If it works don't fix it", when my life is on the line. I believe in double checking the mechanics that in fact makes it work instead. We're not talking lawn movers here, but potential life saving devices.

Even top quality mechanics need periodically inspections and maint. So even the most expensive and reliable 1911 out there, needs to be checked out from time to time, just like a Mercedes. And if the owner don't know what to look for, or how to maintain it propperly, then it's really just a matter of time before something "gives up" in there.
Some don't even know how to take a 1911 completely apart etc.

The only difference between a car mechanic and a pistolsmith, is that the pistolsmith builds the product from ground up, and then like the mechanic knows how to repair and mantain them.

 

Having owned several Mercedes, and being a mechanic, I know from personal experience that quality products still need TLC to be at their best. And having wrenched on custom fire apparatus for almost 20 years, I also know that 'Custom' doesn't always equate to quality or reliability. Also, while I'm really good with most mechanical gizmos & I work on my own range/competition guns, my defensive guns go to the pros for work.

My approach is to start out with a high quality gun. Entry level and even mid-grade guns need not apply for defensive use IMHO. For me, that means one of three types of guns:

• A military-grade DA/SA service pistol (Sig P-Classic, Beretta 92F, H&K). You might put others on the list, but that's my list because I've got no use for an SAO or striker-action gun in the middle of the night when the brain is half asleep.
• A small high quality gun with a long but smooth trigger - again no short/fast triggers
• A high quality 1911

My preferred home defense gun is the Sig P226 in 40S&W. I've had two of them and both were sent to the Sig Custom Shop for their Action Enhancement and reliability package. I also use them in IDPA competition because even though the DA/SA P226 isn't competitive, competition wrings out the guns and hones my skills on using them.

My preferred carry gun is a Kahr because they are very high quality and extremely efficient in terms of size and weight for the power they pack. And yes, I also use my Kahr K9 in IDPA a few times a year for the reasons I use my Sigs. My favorite CCW is my Kahr PM40 because of its amazing power/weight ratio - incredibly comfortable to wear, yet without compromise in power.
But, it NEEDED help to be reliable, so it made the requisite visit to Kahr and is reliable now with all of my favorite CCW ammo. The other ones are the Sig P238 for those occasions when I need to carry a pocket gun and my wife's Sig P238.

While I like 1911's in general and love the finer ones, I'm not one of those that thinks the1911 is the cat's meow for CCW. My main issue is that wonderfully fast and smooth trigger makes it too easy to make a mistake I don't want to make. The other issue is reliability. It seems that 1911's aren't inherently reliable and even the best ones that are out of the box still need TLC to stay that way - just like my Benz.

None the less, I finally bought a 1911 for CCW last month. After months and months of research and hand wringing, I popped for a Dan Wesson CCO. While I have had some issues with the gun and the purchase (more shall be revealed later) none of the problems have been related to reliability. So, while there have been some issues, it has proven to be totally reliable with everything I have fed it. None the less, it would have gone back to DW or to my local 1911 gunsmith/builder for a thorough exam and tune-up if it wasn't being replaced with a new one tomorrow. I've got my fingers crossed that the new CCO will be perfect, but I won't know until it's been broken in and thoroughly checked out.

You may have noticed that there is only one polymer gun on my list of defensive guns. Hmmm.

 

I hadn't quite considered that. A 1911 is like a German car in a lot of ways. Feels like nothing else when working right, but you have to be on top of what it needs with preventative maintenence.

And you either need to know how to work on it or have lots of money.

W126 and 1911 for me.

 

While my favorite was the W140, it seems that a 911 and a 1911 would make a more logical combination.

 

Well, it definitely visually fits better. I've never owned a 911 though. By the time they got technologically up to date, they didn't have the things I liked about them (lightness, simplicity). But I'm not an expert. I'd worry about the W140 HVAC and biodegrading wiring harnesses too much, for me. ...and that's really off topic.

 

I think that the gun you carry should be shot on a regular basis and I believe in detail stripping everytime I shoot it so that I can inspect each part for wear or any other potential problems and also to make it perfectly clean for the next time it is shot.
This is my way of making sure that my reliable carry gun remains reliable.

 

Shoot it. If it malfunctions, figure out why and fix it. If it doesn't malfunction, don't fix what isn't broken. The main issue is training. Are you able to tactically deal with a malfunction? Murphy's law is always in effect. You may have a weapon that has had 25k of flawless rounds through it but the 3rd round in your mag is way out of spec and doesn't eject causing a double feed in your hour of need. What in your training has prepared you for this moment? Tap-rack-ready? Rip-rack-ready? Guns are machines with many working parts and many variables could go wrong. Your brain is the only one that you know whether or not it is reliable.

 

There are some known modifications to the original JMB 1911 design that enhance the reliability of the pistol with modern truncated SD ammunition - so, if I were considering carrying for SD a 1911 pattern pistol that came from the manufacturer without these modifications (maybe a purposefully retro model, or a Norinco, or some such) then I would certainly have the ejection port lowered and flared (or dimpled, if you prefer that term), the barrel throated and polished, the feed ramp polished, extractor tuned, maybe an extended length ejector fitted, and more appropriate sights mounted, if necessary. I think almost all current production 1911 pattern pistols pretty much incorporate these modifications (to a greater or lesser degree) as standard nowadays, so shooting a bunch of ammo would help you ascertain if further work may be required, or if you are good to go. For what it's worth, my Wilson is factory standard, and my Colt 1991A1, after visiting the Wilson shop, came home to me extensively modified from it's factory configuration.

 

Depends on the make, My Kimbers, good to go. My Desert Eagle, good to go. Anything less than $600 needs tuning. Mind you gentlemen, this is my own experience and opinion.

 

Here is a thought on reliability, if whatever you carry has one in the chamber and you are cocked and locked, make the best of that first shot and unless the gods are against you, you will not have to worry about reliability. That's a mouth full but think about it.