[Laislo]

Welcome to the family!

This one seems so basic and obvious, but never try to lower the hammer on a loaded chamber. People do it, and they claim they can do it safely, but my personal opinion is that this practice is completely insane.

Always remove the magazine, cycle the slide to eject the round in the chamber, and visually inspect the chamber it to ensure it's empty.

Also, if you don't already have a pack of snap-caps in your 1911's caliber, get some, and familiarize yourself with the mechanics by firmly and swiftly cycling the snap-caps through the gun (the slide should lock back automatically after the last one is ejected), operating the thumb safety repeatedly, observing how much force is required on your grip safety to drop the hammer when your finger is pulling the trigger, etc. The goal, of course, is to ensure that you can handle the pistol safely and competently when it comes to the administrative handling... loading, unloading, etc., and that you understand the safety devices on the 1911.

Best of luck on your journey!

 

[Laislo]

Feed the wire cleaning brushes through chamber end of the barrel only. You don't have to use the wire brushes after every range session since the ammo is jacketed. Just clean with the patches routinely and that should suffice unless you notice some build-up in the twisties.

Is it okay to pull the brush back through the barrel when the brush is fed from the rear?

Or is it necessary to unscrew the brush each time it emerges from the front, retract the rod, reattach the brush, and then feed it back through the same direction each time?!

 

[Laislo]

YouTube the short video's from ACW... Rob speaks truth. Follow our resident gunsmith threads here the knowledge shared is terrific.

And know them by handle, lest you dismiss them as clueless hacks with incorrigible manners when they chime-in on other threads!

 

[Laislo]

I’ve always been under the impression that reversing directions while still inside the barrel was bad practice and ruined the brushes. I’ve always pushed all the way thru and then back. I’m not really sure where I heard that or if it’s even true but that’s how I learned to clean a barrel.

It might be. I don’t know. I certainly haven’t had that happen from experience. But I don’t use my brushes that often on my 1911s.

Reversing does tend to make the brush not as tight (aka less friction and less cleaning). However, its also really good at getting stuck on junk out of the barrel. Funny enough, I believe Atlas said you should never have to clean a pistol barrel (though they also stated shooting a jacketed bullet should "clean" the rifling if you shoot other types) - would need to look it up to confirm exactly what they say

Nothing like a good barrel Bikeshedding!

The old Kimber manuals from the 90s absolutely admonished the user for not brushing the barrel after every use (maybe they still do!).

 

[Laislo]

You should know that carrying a 1911/2011 "Cocked and Locked" with a round chambered is perfectly safe.

As long as your sear doesn't fail catastrophically, and you don't have a Series 80 nor Swartz system in place.

But you have a better chance of falling and dying in your shower, by several orders of magnitude.

 

[Laislo]

This hurts because I’m already actively searching for a Full Size (I picked up a commander first)

He's addicted! Yessss!!!