[m1009]

Hi all. Wondered if anybody has input on who might make the most reliable 9mm 1911 these days? Reason I’m asking is cause hubby got a Springfield Range Officer about a year ago, in 9, and it’s been horrible. Don’t want to repeat that experience If I get one for myself. (His worked most of the time at first, with the occasional hiccup, and it’s just gotten worse instead of breaking in like normal, it’s now a failure to go into battery nearly every time). At any rate, we’ll get his fixed, but I wondered if any other brands are having similar issues, or if there is one out there that could be the better choice? We are not new to the 1911 platform, far from it, but not for 9mm, and I’ve heard there are differences in getting them to be reliable vs a 45 caliber 1911. Would like to hear stories, experiences from you please. ( his is full sized, I’d be more interested in a commander length).
thanks!
adding this: been contemplating an older Colt in 9mm, just don‘t know if they had issues either.

 

[dsk]

Most 9mm 1911s on the market these days are very reliable. The old bugs were worked out a long time ago, mostly involving the magazines. That and ramped barrels.

 

[Reloader]

Were your problems with factory ammo?

My Springfield Loaded 9mm has been reliable since I got it - no problems.

 

[m1009]

Most 9mm 1911s on the market these days are very reliable. The old bugs were worked out a long time ago, mostly involving the magazines. That and ramped barrels.

Well, we got a lemon on the Springfield ha. It’s one of the worst we’ve seen, our first 1911 in 9mm, so didn’t want to try them again and have the same problem. We will get it figured out, just didn’t have opportunity last year to deal with it, but it will be a priority this year to get it working. I’ve been hankering for one in 9mm myself, but getting that Range Officer brand new and having it not work right has kind of soured me on Springfield at the moment.

 

[m1009]

Were your problems with factory ammo?

My Springfield Loaded 9mm has been reliable since I got it - no problems.

Yes, factory ammo. We don’t reload for 9mm. Our other pistols had absolutely no problems with the ammo either. Used the same ammo when the Springfield was jamming, etc, and they ran fine.
edited to add: after starting to have this issue, was looking to see if others had this problem with the Springfield and found many with the exact same problem so I was thinking it was with Springfield quality control.

 

[J-23]

I agree with @dsk . Most 9mm 1911 are reliable, even the cheap Turkish production. However with mass production you cannot expect 100% of pistols manufactured are good. Lemons will pop up all the time.
But there is an exception .. if you go with custom 1911, you may expect 100% reliability from each product sold.
So far I didn't find any of Nighthawk or Wilson Combat or Dan Wesson products to be malfunctioning.

 

[jimh406]

Well, we got a lemon on the Springfield ha.

1911s are pretty easy to diagnose with the type of issues you are having.

Questions:
1. Is/was it clean and lubed?
2. Are they known good magazines? Does it happen with all magazines?
3. What factory ammo? All factory ammo isn't created equal.
4. Did it ever work well?

 

[4110mm]

Dan Wesson makes the best 9mm for me, have many and buying more

 

[azguy1911]

9mm has been fully vetted, I have never had an issue with 9mm.

 

[bmcgilvray]

This plain ol' Colt Government Model Series 70 9mm has been unfussy for me though it's only ever been fed whatever least expensive ammunition could be bought. This pistol was acquired as a fun range and plinking gun rather than a choice to tote for serious social purposes.

 

[frankiestoys]

Most of the manufacturers today produce reliable and accurate pistols built on very tight tolerances. The 1911 platform has its own unique set of inherent challenges …most just need a little tweaking ,some need a little more.
My experience with Springfields have been mostly positive even with their customer service so I wouldn’t hesitate to send a new gun back . Personally I’ve had 4 RO’s and didn’t experience any issues but they tend to be a little pickier with mags . These are my commanders, all are 9’s all run great!
I would recommend any one of these .

 

[PaulWVa]

This little Ruger sr1911, Officer's Model 9mm, has worked out nicely for me. Here's my first range trip. I ran a hundred Federal Range / Target FMJ through it as a break-in then hung a fresh target and really tried to bare down. This is 24 rounds (3x8 mags). This is on our smallbore rifle range, and my target is sitting right on the 10-meter marker. This last group was shot with SIG 365 115gr FMJ ammo. The two flyers are all on me not the gun or ammo.

In the photo of the gun, I had changed the grips to VZ 320 G-10s ... a little thicker than the stock grips and they fit me better. I have since changed the sights to Tru-glo fiber optics as one of the original rear white dots flew away.

So far, I've run about 300 rounds without a single issue or failure, and you can see it shoots pretty well at defensive distances. I like it!

 

[ratwhacker]

Was your husband running the factory recoil springs in his pistol? And when did he change them out (or did he?). My RO came with a 9lb. spring that wouldn't chamber factory ammo 100%, but I switched to a 12lb. spring and it hasn't had a burp since then. Springs should be replaced every 2-3000 rounds, too. If Hubby didn't do those basic things, I could see the gun starting to run rough after a year's time.
Springs are cheap, swap them out with 12-14lb. recoil springs and see it that helps. Try the cheapest fixes first. I'm cheap, but swapping out springs is cheap and good for function.

 

[m1009]

1911s are pretty easy to diagnose with the type of issues you are having.

Questions:
1. Is/was it clean and lubed?
2. Are they known good magazines? Does it happen with all magazines?
3. What factory ammo? All factory ammo isn't created equal.
4. Did it ever work well?

Answers:
1, always clean and lube before taking out to range. Inspected to make sure hand cycling felt good, and nothing dirty. And we clean after every range time, never leave them dirty.
2. used factory supplied magazine with the pistol
3. Winchester box ammo/nato spec
4. no, it never fully worked from day one. Had the same problems, not going fully into battery, more for me than him, but instead of ‘wearing in’, even after taking it back home, and re cleaning it again, making sure nothing left dirty, etc, then taking it out next time, we managed to get at least 500 rds thru it, but it has gotten worse, now it does it each time, instead of once or twice per mag. Took it out today, and it did that on the first round.

I’ve been hearing the extractor could be the issue, not fitted properly, for example, when doing some online research.
Like I said, we will figure it out, even if we have to send it back to Springfield. Just wanted to know if others had input on other makes for the 9mm and if better, same, worse. Have had many thru the years, and this is a first that performed so badly as a new pistol. Usually they might require a little break in period, getting enough rounds through them to smooth functionality.

 

[jtq]

Reason I’m asking is cause hubby got a Springfield Range Officer about a year ago, in 9, and it’s been horrible. Don’t want to repeat that experience If I get one for myself. (His worked most of the time at first, with the occasional hiccup, and it’s just gotten worse instead of breaking in like normal, it’s now a failure to go into battery nearly every time).

I don't know if it is your issue, but inexpensive 115gr ball ammo and/or lubricating with grease, can cause that problem.

Weak ammo won't drive a slide designed for .45 Auto, and lubricating with grease, can also slow the slide cycling.

 

[m1009]

Was your husband running the factory recoil springs in his pistol? And when did he change them out (or did he?). My RO came with a 9lb. spring that wouldn't chamber factory ammo 100%, but I switched to a 12lb. spring and it hasn't had a burp since then. Springs should be replaced every 2-3000 rounds, too. If Hubby didn't do those basic things, I could see the gun starting to run rough after a year's time.
Springs are cheap, swap them out with 12-14lb. recoil springs and see it that helps. Try the cheapest fixes first. I'm cheap, but swapping out springs is cheap and good for function.

Well, since it was a new gun, we did not change springs. Been running the factory. Like I said, it was not running perfectly from day one, and we didn’t want to change anything ntil we managed to get at least 500 rds thru it. It literally has not been shot much other than that amount, so, basically still pretty new. Also, last year was really busy, so didn’t hit the range as often as we would like, and also didn’t take it every time when we did go. Haven’t decided yet on changing springs, this is the year we will be focusing on getting it to work finally.
Not gonna do drastic changes yet, but will be doing more research before jumping.

 

[apipeguy]

My Wilson CQB Commander is past 17,000 rounds without a failure attributable to the gun. Possibly two in one range session since I did not keep up with the extractor tension, certainly not the gun’s fault. My second round through it had a FTRB by a 1/16”.

I’m calling it fairly reliable. So other than my fault. 1 in 17,000 and that was during break in. Pretty darn reliable. I’ll still call it 100%.

 

[m1009]

Most of the manufacturers today produce reliable and accurate pistols built on very tight tolerances. The 1911 platform has its own unique set of inherent challenges …most just need a little tweaking ,some need a little more.
My experience with Springfields have been mostly positive even with their customer service so I wouldn’t hesitate to send a new gun back . Personally I’ve had 4 RO’s and didn’t experience any issues but they tend to be a little pickier with mags . These are my commanders, all are 9’s all run great!
I would recommend any one of these . View attachment 672924
View attachment 672925

Glad yours all run well, his is a government length, not commander, but I like the commander size. I just think we got one that got missed by quality, and will need more work.

 

[m1009]

I don't know if it is your issue, but inexpensive 115gr ball ammo and/or lubricating with grease, can cause that problem.

Weak ammo won't drive a slide designed for .45 Auto, and lubricating with grease, can also slow the slide cycling.

We were wondering about the 115 gr. All our other 9mm‘s run whatever they are fed with no issues whatever, but our supply is mostly that bullet wgt. When that RO first was taken out, and started having issues right off the bat, I ran that same ammo thru my G19, and it was fine. Just ran the 226 with it, and it ate them like candy, but the RO stopped completely. Will grab some heavier loads next time and see if that makes any difference. Starting at square one first before doing anything else.

 

[jtq]

The weak 115gr ball ammo seems to be a common problem across several different guns.

Aside from 1911's that have the same slide weight, whether they are chambered in 9mm, .38 Super, .40 S&W, 10mm, or .45 Auto (note the 9mm is lowest recoiler of the bunch), this is also a common complaint from Glock, HK, and a few other guns, when new, as these guns are designed to run high performance defensive ammo. Usually moving up to 124gr ammo, or shooting defensive ammo in any weight for a couple hundred rounds allows these guns to eventually work with the cheapest/weakest ammo you can find, but a fresh recoil spring is often too strong for this cheap ammo.