[Boats]

I have owned 1911s for a number of years, I have also had many Berettas, an HK, a Walther, and a Sig pass through my possession. All of these pistols have worked, with only some examples of the 1911 requiring some sorting out.

I was over a Glock Talk earlier today, and there are parties who shall remain nameless, trashing factory 1911s yet again, with the explicit suggestion that the parts were lowest common denominator (well duh! it's mass production), and the implicit suggestion to feel free to "fix" a working 1911 by dropping some C-notes on their services.

According to the attacks, I obviously "don't get it." That is I get the point of Vickers building me a gun, or Tussey, or Ed Brown, or Novak. I get a hardcore gamer whose gonna throw thousands downrange a year getting top dollar massaged hardware. What I refuse to get is a guy who wants to charge me $200-300 parts and labor to fix something that ain't broken. Evidently there is tuning a gun, which many people do for reasonable prices without monsterous ego problems, (Ernest Langdon for Berettas and SIGs leaps to mind), and then there are those who seem to want to impress the Benjamins out of my wallet with some India stones, some aftermarket parts and a Wolff recoil spring.:scrutiny: Well, I'll be danged if I didn't install my own Wilson BP slide stop, extractor, and FP stop. Yeah, hand lapping the slide to frame fit, or cutting on my 1911s is out of my depth, but lots of people can competently do parts installs on 1911s and not feel the need to claim godhood in the process.:p

Funny, when I owned other pistols, there wasn't a diseased crop of "experts" offering to fix what don't ail, my Walther, for example. I can understand the gunsmithing market for revolvers, but not "tuners" for 1911s. When I want a Ferrari class 1911, I will buy one, but I am not going to turn my pick-up level 1911 into a 200 mph+ grand tourer that can pull over one gee on the track.:uhoh:

"I can lessen the lock-up time, or tune your extractor, or custom stone your hammer and your sear or lighten you trigger pull!":rolleyes:

I guess they're right, I don't get it. Why would I want to do anything "to improve" a perfectly functioning self defense pistol if I am not a high stakes gamer or want something built from scratch?

[PATH]

Fair enough.

[Marko Kloos]

Why would I want to do anything "to improve" a perfectly functioning self defense pistol if I am not a high stakes gamer or want something built from scratch?

The 1911 has so many parts available for it, and so many gunsmiths who know how to fix and tune it, because it's the small block Chevy of the gun world. Every single bit on the 1911 is customizable, and some people just love to tinker with their guns. It's the same thing with people who buy muscle cars and then spend their weekends in the garage tuning and replacing parts. You don't have to mess with a 1911, but it's the perfect guns for those who enjoy messing with it. A Glock, by comparison, is the Toyota Camry of the gun world...it's reliable, a little boring, functional, and there aren't a whole lot of things you can (or want to) do to it.

(Sure, there are wildly modified Glocks out there, but when I see one that has been dolled up like a race gun, I chuckle much in the same way as when I see a Camry with a low-rider package and a gigantic spoiler on the rear deck.)

[PCRCCW]

As a "tinkerer" :D, Im falling in love with the 1911. The gun comes apart and goes togethor easier than I could have hoped for. Its mechanically simple but some things I wont touch .......yet!

I dont know why some guys shout from their podiums. Once in a while Im just proud of the work Ive done....like when a baby learns to walk...that "hey, look I did it" grin. But thats just me.

Certainly, forums attract all kinds and some makes of guns attract the died in the wool" types who are very very opionated. I would never fit that category :rolleyes:

Shoot well

[Sean Smith]

Not to slam another forum, but the 1911 section of the GlockTalk forum is a little schizoid. Note emphasis: I'm not talking smack about a forum I like to visit, but that section does get pretty cracked.

Go someplace like 1911forum.com or pistolsmith.com if you want good 1911 info.

[Skunkabilly]

(Sure, there are wildly modified Glocks out there, but when I see one that has been dolled up like a race gun, I chuckle much in the same way as when I see a Camry with a low-rider package and a gigantic spoiler on the rear deck.)

Lendringser, you'd roll off the road laughing uncontrollably if you from my area :D (even if the carbon fiber hoods, emblems, exhaust thingies, shift knobs, etc. are kinda neat)

[MMcCall]

I have to agree with you, Boats.. the 1911 section of GT has about 3 recurring themes, and a LOT of self-important triggerjob monkeys pounding their chests and spewing a ton of bravo sierra about how they were personally trained in 1911 smithing by the ghost of JMB, or some crap.

Not to mention the mod's a bit.. off.

[RON in PA]

If your new toy(any brand) works out of the box, the best and cheapest gunsmith is you. Shoot 500-1000 rounds through the gun, it's amazing how just a break-in period smooths things up in quality guns.

[Boats]

Here is a list of things I have done to my test bed 1911, a "metric" Springfield Champion by myself.

1) Dumped FLGR for Ed Brown recoil plug and spring guide.
2) Dumped factory extractor that wouldn't rip Blazer cases out of the chamber and installed and tuned Wilson Combat bullet proof extractor. Blazers are chucked just fine now.
3) Dumped all of the factory springs with offerings from Wolff.
4) Reshaped the right side of an Ed Brown ambi thumb safety I had fitted and installed by Robar.
5) Fitted Wilson BP Firing pin stop for giggles.
6) Fitted Wilson BP Slide Release to see if I could get it right.

The pistol has been working its way towards 4000 rounds now with only the two FTEs from the Blazers that launched this project and got me hooked on doing more than just the detail strip like I had been doing for years.

Next project is to get a sear and disconnector, hammer and sear spring from Cylinder and Slide and see if I can do that too.

Maybe I should explore declaring myself a 1911 god?:D