[mec]

Adventures with a recent production MilSpec- Making it work -making it accurate
http://www.milesfortis.com/mcump/mc19.htm


with pictures

http://www.milesfortis.com/mcump/images/mcump/19/pouchessml2.jpg

[dsk]

Nice article. I agree that the new Mil-Specs are some of the best values in a basic 1911. I too had to swap out the ignition system parts in mine, BTW. Fortunately I don't live in California.

[RON in PA]

OR spend the extra bucks and buy a new roll marked Colt 1991 and have none of the problems this guy did and get the performance from the get go.

[45auto]

Nice write up.
If I may ask, how much do you have in it now?
Knowing that would you still have bought that model or looked elsewhere?
Regardless, it sounds like you have a gun with a better trigger pull and better accuracy that would rival much higher priced guns, maybe better!!

[mec]

I've had great luck with several Series 80 and 1991 based pistols going back about ten years. They sometimes need a bit of accuracy work but the ones Ive shot have functioned very well.

[mec]

"....If I may ask, how much do you have in it now?
Knowing that would you still have bought that model or looked elsewhere?,,,,,"

This gun was about $460 locally. I made a project of it to keep me off the streets for a while. I actually had several clues that all may not be perfect - including another SA from a decade or more ago that had some metallurgical defecits. The firing pin was soft and would peen itself into the slide stop.
When I got into this gun, it was with the understanding that the new "Loaded" Milspec would likely require at least some work to get it up to my expectations." Expenses included the Heavy Duty Firing Pin, and the Wilson extractor. The gunsmithing work would ordinarily cost $215 - which is very reasonable given the the outcome and the skill level needed to produce it. Due to a couple of circumstances, I saved a bit of money on the project and -you are right- I could have bought another pistol for more money and would still have had to have some accurizing done to it to make it perform up to the level of this one.

I also take a perverse joy in having something that doesn't look like a match pistol but shoots just as well as one that obviously has pretentions toward super custom racegunism.

[CZ-75]

What is Springfield thinking trying to sell a 1911 with ANGLED cocking serrations as "milspec"? :rolleyes:

[45auto]

Thanks for the response.

I would say excellent deal/value. Getting a quality "gunsmith" trigger pull and 1" accuracy at 25 yards is a bargin at $215.

You would have to go much higher up the "food chain"(money) to rival that in a over the counter gun.
Notice I mentioned "money", not necessarily quality.

Good luck

[mec]

at the time I got this one, the other alternatives were the colt 1911- the one that looks WWII era or an original A1 from the war period. the colt comes from the custom shop at about $800 and the old surplus guns generally have an unknown number of rounds through them.

Since I got the gun, the 1991s with the new roll mark and some other optional flourishes such as rolled engraving are out and I probably would have tried one of them

.... and i'm a little bit to dumb to care whether the serrations are up and down or slanted a bit.

[Handy]

I guess this kind of thing makes me wonder "why buy a complete pistol at all?"

A basic frame will cost about $90. $130 for a cast Caspian. A box of basic 1911 parts (slide, barrel, springs, etc.) for another $100 to $200. Throw out the extractor and gauge all the other parts before use. Buy quality springs and extractor and send to gunsmith.


By my figuring, that's a milspec match accurate gun for less than $600. It's hard to call the parts a crap shoot when the Springfield parts aren't any more likely to work.