[Striker2237]

Well that was fast! Ordered some parts and other items and everything got here in less than a week, I always love how fast the shipping is relative to some other places I buy stuff online.......

Anyhow I got a set of Challis grip bushings on recommendation from a member in this subforum as well as a full replacement spring set, spare TI firing pin (Thanks WCR for telling me these wear out) and also some "underpowered" springs in the form of a 15lb flatwire and matching mainspring so I can perform some testing tomorrow with a very wide range of power factors and magazines. I always like having a full set of spares with me and since I used my last "set" a while back I thought it would be smart to restock. I also got a new set of plunger tube detents in stainless to match my barrel/guiderod/grip screws, feel free to judge me for coordinating the look. :rofl:

Speaking of magazines I also bought two more ETM mags but these ones are special, I got the new compact .45 black version with low profile base plates for the express purpose of being my carry mags. I am impressed just how much of an improvement these are vs the 47s I have been using for carry, namely they are far easier to seat and seem to dramatically more spring pressure yet the top round doesn't "lock up" at all. The older 47s sometimes could hesitate during manual slow feeding of an HST off a full mag but the ETMs are far and away smoother even with the brand new springs. The black is just because it's cool........judge me for that but I like the unique color, also to be clear I have never had an issue with ANY of my 47s as long as I remembered to replace springs and followers to make sure the guns hold open. Just saying that as good as the 47 pattern mags are these are better in both 8 round versions, 10 rounds, and now 7 round in my personal observation. (make a 15 rounder that works plz, I would buy many)

Anyhow below is some obligatory pictures of the new stuff.


Fancy black mags!!!!!

The old screw/O-ring combo, the screws sit slightly high and if you press hard the grips do actually shift around but at least they don't rattle.

The new bushings (Yes I realize that the bottom O-ring is in the wrong place, I fixed that before installing them) next to the old setup. Turns out my old ones were loose anyway, two of them I could remove by hand. I figure that's just because I shoot it enough to rattle them loose since the old set was technically the 3rd since the originals and the replacements all died.

Installed/test fit, I liked it enough that I added the locktite and got the 1/4 inch TQ wrench.

I took these next two to demonstrate how nicely these new mags seat and just how far the bullet stack moves when you do seat.

 

[Striker2237]

You are going to love the way the Challis bushings work when you live fire. All my 1911's have them now, and none of them have experienced loosening since installation 2 years ago.

I was doubtful at first.......coming back after a 550 round session with half of the rounds being +P loads I am 100% sold on these. There was literally no shifting of the grips or even loosening of the screws! Man they are an improvement, I was not expecting to like them this much PLUS they also eliminated the "micro-shifting" of the grips on the frame so I don't have any additional finish wear. Even with my older system of O-rings under the screw heads they would loosen slightly when less shooting and under live fire move around enough to wear through the frame finish. All of that is now a thing of the past, dang I like these and ALL my guns are getting them right down to the ATI.

 

[Striker2237]

All you need is a Christmas Tree Striker...I see some HST +P-230. A tad more momentum, about 15% more energy than the non-+PHST230, and slightly less expansion than the non+P (Lucky Gunners results anyway). Any special reason why you are using +P over non +P beyond the additional energy (which is nice)? And how is the recoil with it vs standard?

Ah yes, glad you noticed that! First off they actually expand slightly more (lucky gunner averages them and there was one failure to deploy in their test so it ruins the value, I went off the median). Second I was wanting to experiment to see if my gun was able to run them without error as well as to see if I could feel a difference vs normal HSTs, they were leaving the barrel around 910 vs 870 for the non+P (so about 50 fps more). I also wanted to feel exactly how hard the gun would cycle and if ejection pattern was good plus how much harder it presses into my hand, I was not able to discern any difference whatsoever vs the normal HSTs in both group size and feel BUT in my NHC Predator 2 (4.25 inch flange barrel commander) the +P rounds flipped MUCH more and physically hurt my wrist like a high power revolver so there is a large difference and actually pushed it into the realm of being legitimately uncomfortable and I had to abandon the test after one mag due to how much it was hurting me.

Somehow the gun does work with [email protected] fps loads without me needing to changes springs and this is after getting it dirty (intentionally, I bought 300 rounds of blazer brass and ran through it as fast as physically possible to get the gun both dirty and extremely hot, having 30 mags and a 2nd person loading helped this alot) but the soft 200g stuff STILL cycled reliably even in known bad mags (For other guns, this one and my Ed brown are the only guns that have not cared about using this set of bad mags) even though I was fully expecting at least one or two failures to cycle or a bolt over base. I mean I know these are great guns but holy heck I was actually shocked that it is able to work with BOTH super light loads and very powerful ones without me changing away from my 22 recoil and 25 main springs all through questionable mag springs. I will say ejection gets WEAK with the 200s, cases literally fall 4-6 inches out of the gun instead of impacting the booth wall in the exact same place like the HSTs do, normal power ammo all eject back to my right but not with the precision of the higher power stuff. The target ammo has no recoil, at all. It makes my CZ Shadow feel like it kicks hard with 155g.

Lastly I wanted to feel exactly how the HST+P ammo felt and if I could control it well since the free recoil energy and velocity is going to be nearly the exact same (If I did my math on the comp and gasses right) as the 160g .450 SMC load I want to use. Since the gun had no issues functionally and the 160g stuff is easier for the mags to handle I am confident in trying it. Oh and the +P HSTs penirate more and have a smidge more energy and that's always nice, I liked how they run so much I am going to keep some boxes around as spares, I also shoot 20 rounds of barnes 185+P so I could see if I liked it and it recoiled much less (Press into my hand, not flip) for me than the HSTs but that's expected of the weaker loading.

Also the new ETM mags are AWESOME. I'm never going back to 47s for carry use.

 

[Striker2237]

Here is another thing to add to your care-package, since you do a lot of shooting - you will love them.

I don't spend much time on cleaning bore's, but when I do I want it to be fast'n-easy. I don't scrub with a brass-brush, but I like to get some of the carbon out after each trip without stripping the gun. I was using the OTis cleaning patches (big round ones) which you pull through with the mini-cable. These mega-Q-tips work much better. A much, much, tighter fit in the bore and even the chamber. Just oil them up and push them through from the chamber end. The handles are very flexible but still strong enough. A lot of crap comes out with each pass (many-multiple's of what comes out with an otis pull through patch). The last pass you can run dry to get the oil out of just slightly oiled depending on your individual belief about leaving a film of oil in the bore...I got them in 45 and super.

Tried them for the first time last week - Amazing. I hate cleaning guns, only because it is repetitive and monotonous (like cleaning anything over and over is), so anything which expedites the process is a little "win" (rated 5 star's by shooters on Amazon):

https://www.amazon.com/Caliber-RamR...27&sr=8-6&keywords=ramrodz+gun+cleaning+swabs

The first Challis bushings I saw were on my X-Tac. My Dan Wesson has ‘em now.

How do you like the aggressive starburst grips? They look good and I didn’t know VZ made those.

Well I have one of those on order now, seems perfectly inline with how I like to clean. Thanks! I also leave the bore dry since my perfered cleaner (break free CLP) should protect it, I don't do this with precision rifles since it messes with them untill it's burnt off.

Samuse: The grips are great, I picked them since they are the most agressive option available and for my carry and competition guns I perfer maximum traction. In my right hand it locks in well and my skin is quite calloused from these and other guns, in my left hand it's painful to hold/fire but very effective at its job. There is no shifting if you put your hand in 5-30oil and use the gun, I have no concerns with it falling out of my hand.