reflections on initial .45 choices....a year's worth!!.Long post!!
Dark Wolf said:
I am looking for my first .45 acp or gap. I have been looking for a little while and I am really having a hard time deciding on one. I like the Kimber 1911, Glocks, H&Ks, Sigs and Springfield XDs. All are very nice in the hand, but I'm really not too sure about the polymer vs alloy vs Stainless Steel....
Any advice, tips, comments to help me in this endevour would be great.
<Since I was cruising around, actually looking for inspiration on when, after 25 years away from a trigger, should I consider my skills good enough for competition...I thought you might be interested in the year-long process I went through prior to purchase of my current, only .45 1911...I have a lot of past decades in machinist and toolroom inspection-type activity, manufacturing engineering and such, but had only recently been released from 'gunlessness furlough' by my wife, misguided as she was for the time our kids were at home...I am just grateful for the momentary ***** in her armor that got her to agree!!....but I digress...knowing a bunch of metallurgy and composite technology can get one in tremendous trouble with the current crop of 1911 'clones', if you can excuse that term...mostly because, with the long-time gunsmiths, each technology has had huge experience, and has been honed(pun fully intended) to a high state of reliability, strength, blah, blah...my choices depended on several considerations, the most important of which was a self-analysis of the shootist behind the trigger...was this a plinker, a defender or dual-purpose(admittedly like a one-size-fits-nobody concept) desire...was I going to be carrying initially or later, was I likely to be cleaning every couple hundred rounds or abusing it...was I going to throw the gun around in a drawer, or keep it 'papoosed',... did I wish to re-load...was I thinking about shooting competitively if I could keep my wobble even on the paper after 25 years...ammo expense per cartridge...ability to upgrade a base weapon as it wore or as my desire to increase reliability, accuracy and rapid-fire escalated...500 rounds a week or 500 rounds a month...and that important one, with 3 in college...total price of admission with bags, cleaner, break-in ammo, extra mags........and others I have not recalled or that entered either longer ago, or at the time of this typing I have neglected as either obvious or obscure(!!)....Sooooo........
I went looking with a magnifier and a Helios high precision calipers, and found that all the top manufacturers made what I would call 'entry level' 1911s that were both credible and had individual manufacturing weaknesses...but after narrowing things down to Colt, SA, Kimber, a couple of 'higher end' sidearms for a reality check..WC, LB, and STI...random exams of three of each manufacturer led me to choose the Kimber as most consistent, gun to gun...not necessarily the visually best looker, nor certainly shiniest...but just on exam had less part to part variability in construction and execution...which for me, meant easier and more reliable parts interchangeability...and it didn't hurt for it to have a reputation for accuracy without further 'accurizing' hone work, etc....was I put off a bit by reports of FTF/FTL/FTE here and elsewhere?....after examining the guns, it was clear that all the entry guns needed either lots and lots of rounds to smooth things in the ramp and barrel verge or polishing work or both, and that there were as many opinions about extractors and springs, etc., as there were models of 1911!!....Soooo....new Kimber Custom II, with immediate Pachmayr American Legends grips for the front strap finger scallops, and McC Shooting Star 8-rounders times 4, a Boyt range bag and individual pistol bag, 10 boxes of Magtech 230gr FMC for break-in, a clean kit with lots of patches and plenty of gunk, my eyewear is already safety glass, my ear protection from drag racing tuning is fine also, and the entire budget came in at just under $800, from two separate sources, and I am not LEO, so yes, I think I bought OK for pricing!!...So........
Now it is 350 rounds later, about 2/3 into break-in, with no FTEs, no FTFs, and 4 FTL first rounds, all of which occurred in the first 6 mags worth or so, and all were accompanied by what I would call overly cautious chambering...did I use the slidestop method as recommended, or slingshot?....I started with the slidestop, as the factory recommends it, and immediately had the first 3 mags FTL...changed to slingshot, and after 1 because I did it slowly, I let 'er rip on loading, and every single round went without a hitch...cleaned after 150, cleaned after 350, will clean at 500, and then every 500 or so, unless I see problems.....which I predict will come from the MIM pieces, which will slowly be replaced with billet or forged, at low cost...I expect to change the barrel when I 'deserve it', as a milestone when and if I get all 'in the black' at 50 ft. slow fire #2s.....So.....
My first 334 rounds I considered to be sub-optimal for the usual reasons, all of which had to do with the fact that I had a very rigid plan about learning how to handle this gun after a long lay-off, etc....then I got a timely and very appropriate tip from a deadly accurate octagenarian who was a lane away, who told me it was time for me to start thinking less, pausing a bit
longer after exhale, and get my supporting hand away from my safety thumb
so that I could do things without changing my grip...and then he handed me a 25 ft. #2 and told me to just do my last two clips into it, without examining the target between.....my entire wobble area was 1 3/4" x 4", perfectly vertically in the long dimension, and about exactly half of the black was obliterated....his slow exam and comment to me, as I handed it to him was...
"Well, sonny, you may wish to give some thought to signing up for a match in a short while, as this would be about a 6th place finish here, locally"....
Notwithstanding his friendly exaggeration, I have to admit that with a relatively fuzzy view of my front sight, poor upper extremity strength, and no
prior two-handed shooting experience(I was taught by my WWII vet dad, decades ago, one-handed)...I was fairly satisfied with my choice, not to mention encouraged somewhat that I might get more accurate with experience...
The post-350 round exam of the sidearm....there is already signs of slight eccentric link hole wear, not measurable but visible, the extractor will obviously need replacing or tweaking pretty quickly or it will stovepipe sooner or later without a few quick caresses with stoning...the barrel interior shows mild coking after cleaning, so I need to do that a bit better...the barrel hood had a small burr or 'dink' from slider slamming, and the cause appears to be the outer final barrel grinding chatter in about a quadrant of the barrel....that will remain untouched, as it is polishing out and should seat, I would think, just looking how the gun works...the ramp clearly would benefit from polishing as well as the bore chamfer at the verge, but I will be patient with this and see if loading goes OK, now that I am pulling the slide back more definitively, etc....the black oxide finish on this gun is suspect for long term wear, with a higher amount of scratching than I would have anticipated from the extremely gentle care it has gotten(I am using the Boyt rugs during reloading as well as for bench use)...I can't wait to get back and try some real shooting, when I am well rested, and the gun a bit 'looser', and my early caution tempered by some more experience handling her...and I will definitely be going from my current eyewear to my contact lenses plus safety shooting glasses, to attempt a clearer front sight view...>
<I don't know if this is any assistance to you, but I had the opportunity to examine and help clean a similarly brand new GSR Revolution while I was doing my Kimber, the price point of which is about $200 more, and I think my choice was vindicated...the GSR looked prettier, but rougher machine work, and took dirt in places the Kimber didn't seem to collect...but that could easily have been the ammo choice, his being WWB, same strength as mine...I will be interested in your choice, and early results as well...I don't know how to post my first 'real' target shots, that 25 footer, but if I learn I will do so...I look forward to improving with time, concentration, and experience...>
