1911 issues again

Watch where the empty casings fall.
The main spring and the the recoil spring should work together.

Metro Arms (from what I have seen) offer an inexpensive 1911.
To keep costs down, they make do with questionable parts.

I'm glad things worked out. Now, shoot the snot out of it.

 

I love my 1911. It's a pleasure to shoot but honestly, and this is just my opinion, the design is not perfect. Yes, it feels perfect to shoot but the design is not perfect (nor is any other gun design) because if it were perfect then no 1911 owner would ever have a problem. The fact is that form doesn't always follow function. Charlize Theron may look perfect but, who knows, maybe she farts a lot in bed?

The 1911 requires A LOT more tuning to make it as consistently reliable as an out-of-the-box modern pistol: Glock, Sig Sauer, H&K, Beretta,...

Now complicating matters is that the 1911 patent has expired and now anyone and everyone can fabricate a 1911. The problem, I think, is that every manufacturer makes the 1911 with slight deviations and, as an example, not all 1911 magazines work well with every manufacturer's 1911.

 

I think after one hundred years of use in 2 world wars and countless battles it is a proven weapon. When the modern FBI HRT Units sent their modern Semiautos back they ordered, yes 1911 pistols. But they are like smooth whisky and good horses some men just keep buying rot gut and betting on old nags.

 

I don't like the way all 1911's are lumped into these problem areas. I don't get to shoot nearly as much as I should or want to, but mine has a little over or around 1k through it with three malfunctions. In the gun's defense, I INTENTIONALLY used some dangerously out of spec reloads just to see what it would take to choke it. I even started a thread on it, look for "I wonder what it would take" in the FTF search.

I think that really the biggest 1911 problem are the questionable makers. Mine isn't some multi thousand dollar custom job either, it's a bone stock springer milspec, $640. My good buddy here on the forum, Mr. Wray has a cheaper Filipino make, a High Standard, and he's had zero malfunctions.

If your gun is built by the lowest bidder, and uses parts made by the lowest bidder, your going to have problems. Do a little research and get one from a reputable maker. High Standard is pretty cheap, and Rock Island is getting a LOT of love from their customers lately, and their most basic guns can be had for sometimes as little as $350 in the best case.

Cheap doesn't have to mean a crappy gun. And crappy guns aren't always cheap. I really like learning all I can about guns, and have been doing so since I was 7, giving me 20 years of reading, but unfortunately due to funding, I don't have nearly as much hands on experience with civilian arms (which I count the 1911 as one, even with it's current uses and military history, because I was issued the Beretta), but even with all the reading I've done, I've never heard of your maker. I don't claim to know everything, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know quite a bit (notice I won't even claim to know a lot), but that by itself says something to me.

 

I'm not getting into a battle about 1911's especially because my favorite gun that I currently shoot is a 1911 (a Made in USA one that costs above $1200 so it's not a junk 1911).

But the fact is they are NOT perfect. It wasn't perfect 100 years ago, and it's not perfect now. Let's not let sentimentality cloud this fact. You can admire a 50 year old, automatic Rolex Submariner for its engineering and say "they don't make 'em like that anymore" but a $30 modern digital watch is still going to be more accurate. The Rolex isn't for everyone and neither is the 1911.

There are people with far more expertise than me, like R Lee Ermey, and Larry Vickers who would argue that the 1911 is not the most reliable platform. Now, I'm not saying these guys' opinions are better than any other expert but you have to consider... Larry Vickers:

"...I feel most people are best served NOT using a 1911 as a primary sidearm. Two criteria come to mind a) A passion for the 1911 platform and b) you are willing to be your own armorer and can fix relatively minor problems or fit certain parts yourself. If you are the kind of guy that doesn’t mind tinkering with your Harley Davidson motorcycle to keep it running then you are a candidate. If however you treat your pistols like we all treat our lawnmowers then don’t get a 1911 – use a Glock."

Now, Larry Vickers is NOT putting down the 1911 nor am I. He is merely stating that it does not serve everyone's purpose. The 1911 is not for everyone. It requires tinkering, tuning, and dialing in.

But I'm proof that you can be a critic of the 1911, and still love it just as Larry Vickers implies. I use mine at the range so I like the weight. I'm not in a life and death situation so an occasional feed and battery problems are not a huge concern. The grip and ergos are incredible, and nothing beats the single-action...but it's far from perfect and many companies have altered the designed from JMB's original design such as adding a feed ramp, larger ejection ports, just to name a few.

But I guess my point is that why should we 1911 shooters apologize or make excuses? The 1911 requires some input and experimentation - optimum springs, finding reliable ammo and magazine combination. That's all there is to it and that's what makes them fun.

 

You could save yourself some money by polishing the feed ramp yourself. It's not rocket science. You polish the feed ramp to create a slicker surface for the bullet to feed into the breech. Right?

Just get a Dremel tool, a felt polish tip, and Flitz polish and you'll get a mirror shine. The Flitz won't take any material off like sanding and grinding but it will fill in the machining grooves and give the surface a high mirror polish.

 

Think of it this way too, Gearhead...

You're learning a lot more about your firearm, and how it works, than some other guy who just buys a Glock, shoots it out of the box, and field strips it now and again to clean it.

That 1911 is actually your teacher. So that education is priceless.

 

Before doing that, didn't you say it worked "flawlessly"?
If it works don't change it, if it doesn't work, fix it.

To "fix" a problem that is not affecting anything could introduce other problems.

 

Public forums are where people post opinions and observations. If you don't like it, grow a thicker skin. This thread started out with you explaining how you got your 1911 fixed up, and then it immediately went into opinion mode. His is just another opinion and/or observation.

Opinions and observations are like *******s. everyone has one, and most of them are ugly and seem to stink.

If you don't like someone's posts, there are a number of things to do about it.

First, you can report it to a mod. Don't do this just because you don't like what someone has to say, save the reporting for if/when someone goes into personal attacks and insults. Our mods don't have a very easy job refereeing our forum, several of them say it's like trying to herd cats. So don't waste their time over a simple difference of opinion.

You can also block a user from your profile, so that all of their posts are hidden from your view. I don't know exactly how to do this, but I'm sure if you ask the procedure of a mod or another member, it WON'T be considered a waste of their time. We would all rather see people get along without each other than to fight with each other.

Another option is exactly as you mentioned. Ignore it. No one can ever control the actions of another man, but you, and you alone, are the only one who has control over how you respond.

I hope this helps. I'm not trying to jump down your throat on this. Lately there have been a lot of trolls and a lot of infighting in our forum. I happen to like it here. If I have a bunch of friends over at my place, and a couple of them aren't getting along, I'm going to try to head off any trouble before it goes too far. I'm taking the same philosophy here.

 

Polishing the feed ramp yourself can be a sketchy area for someone that doesnt exactly know what they are doing. I definately wouldnt take a dremel tool to my feed ramp,it needs to be done by hand IMO. If you even just barely over do it you will change the angle of the feed ramp, now you have a bigger problem.

 

Wray, I agree that hand polishing the ramp works just as well but with more time. Yes, if one is really concerned then better to stay on the safe side.

But, really, a Dremel tool with FELT tip (not a sander or grinder tip) is perfectly safe especially if your Dremel tool has a variable speed and it is set on low. The felt tip would get worn down way before it could even put a micrometer dent in the chromium steel of the feel ramp.

Flitz is magical stuff. I don't even know how it is formulated. It is more than a microabrasive metal polisher. It even puts a rust protectant on the surface because water beads up after you treat steel with Flitz. The only bugger about Flitz is that it is hard to undo. That is if you take low-glare satin steel and polish it with Flitz it is hard to make it go back to low-glare. Anyone know how?

To get-off-topic, when many people say that the 100 year old design of the 1911 is so perfect that it's been in service for a 100 years is a bit of revisionist history.

If that is the case then why did so many law enforcement agencies stick to the reliability of six round .38 revolver until the "Wonder Nines" became popular in the 80's?

Furthermore, guns like the Glock, Beretta, and Sig Sauer are used far more by law enforcement and military than the 1911 (any 1911 regardless of brand name)...and just to note before someone accuses me of trolling I do not own any of the above brands but I do own a 1911. Once again, I'm just for objectivity, rather than sentimentality which just gets in the way of facts.

But shooting a 1911 is a treat and I get a real feeling of connection with it so I'm willing to live with the occasional feed issue.

 

I hope that you didnt take my comment as an insult to you, you sound like you know what you are doing. I just know how some people are, you tell them to grab a dremel and get after it, then later they come back on here and say " welp i took the dremel to it like you said, now the feed ramp is half gone...but its shiney as hell" lol

 

That cracks me up. Half gone and shiney as hell.

 

anthing manmade isn't ever going to be perfect, ever. the 1911 in design, and this is my opinion, is about as close to perfection in a pistol there is. IMO, also the 1911 has proven track record in the military and LE, for over 100 years. would i trust my life to one of my 1911's as a primary sidearm? yes, without hesitation.