[*NOVA*]

Bought it last night.
Cleaned it for the first time this morning.
Waiting for my son to wake up and then after breakfast we will head out to the range at NRA headquarters, Fairfax VA.
Here she is, my latest acquisition:

[Vermont]

Waiting for your son to get up? You need to go wake him up now. Or at least start making a lot of noise around the house until he gets up.

[tuj]

Nice one. Let us know how it shoots!

[maddy345]

green with envy

[MICHAEL T]

He would have never went to sleep . We would be sitting waiting for range to open.
. Iam lucky I have my own little range. I buy pistol back to house it is fired no waiting

Go try it out and let us know how its shoots .

[squarles67]

Range time is one of the few things my teenage son will get up early for:)

[*NOVA*]

Back from the range!
Notes:
(1) Bought my first firearm as an adult January this year. The 1911 is my ninth firearm added to the collection this last Friday.
(2) This being the tenth anniversary of 9-11, I must acknowledge that historic and horrific event - it is one of the reasons my wife and I decided we had better learn to defend ourselves...
(3) Targets were printed are available for free from TargetPrinter.com. They were printed on standard 8 1/2 x 11" paper. The images below are slightly cropped.

Date: September 11, 2011
Range: NRA Headquaters, Faifax, VA. Booth #6
Weapon: Smith & Wesson SW1911 TRS
Range Buddy: My son John, turns 17 later this month
Ammo: 150 rds of Speer PMC 230GR FMJ, 45 ACP
16 rounds of Hornady 200GR LE CQ 45 ACP+P

We did not have to wait when we arrived at 10:55. People recovering from flooded homes, getting ready for the Skins game, observing 9/11, who knows? Normally there's a 45 minute wait on weekends.

For every full mag I shot, my son did as well. His shots had only slightly larger groups, but 99.4% (167 out of 168 rounds) of all shots fired - even at 30 feet were on paper. Now don't laugh folks - I do plan on attaining 2" groups at 30 YARDS one day, but remember I'm still relatively new at this!:o

10 foot and 20 foot distances - I used bifocal range glasses so I had a clear vision of front sight. At the 21 foot target we let the bullets fly with less than one second pauses between shots, and this time I sighted through the normal vision portion of the glasses. This means my view of the sites were blurred, but that did not matter! Got all my rounds on target. We also shot at 30 feet, bench rested, but John did not care for that so we switched back to standing position.

Problems - only problem was rounds failing to chamber - I am told jams like this are absolutely normal and that I should put at least 500 rounds before I even think of changing anything on this type of gun. So I have about 350 more rounds to go and hope the jams occur less frequently over time.

The SW1911 is freakin' awesome! One of my favorite gun forum posters told me to be prepared for the sweetest trigger ever invented and he wasn't kidding! The TRS version is slightly heavier with the low profile accessory rail but with a high grip this gun was brought back on target very quickly. To sum it up, I am very pleased with this gun.

[harrygunner]

Nice pistol. Glad you and your son had fun.

[StrikeFire83]

First off. Good shooting.

Problems - only problem was rounds failing to chamber - I am told jams like this are absolutely normal and that I should put at least 500 rounds before I even think of changing anything on this type of gun. So I have about 350 more rounds to go and hope the jams occur less frequently over time.

Um, I don't know who told you this. I'm not a 1911 guy, far from it, but as I understand it S&W 1911s are touted as supposedly being 100% reliable right out of the box.

I'd say if you have ANY malfunctions next range trip, it's time to call Smith & Wesson and tell them to make it right.

[MICHAEL T]

I'd say if you have ANY malfunctions next range trip, it's time to call Smith & Wesson and tell them to make it right.
______


I agree the days of not working from box should be over for all makes, of 1911's including Kimber Been around a 100 years all bugs should be gone by now.
If my less than $ 500 American Classic can come out of box just lubed and after 7 rounds of ball and start eating different brands of HP with out trouble. Your S&W should do same.

[tiro6]

sweet gun! glad you didnt have to wait at the NRA range, last time i was there, it was about 1.5 hrs.... but looks like you guys got some very nice groupings!

but as others have mentioned, if the gun keeps having issues, I'd call S&W CS, they'll set it straight. what kind of issue was it with the rounds failing to chamber? like hitting the roof/hood or not returning to full battery?

[*NOVA*]

Not feeding all the way into the chamber, slide not going all the way forward. Do we call that Fail to Feed (FTF)? Basically it jams and I have to rack the slide and eject it. I'm not going to suspect the external extractor just yet, but who knows? I mean, it does contact the back edge of the casing during the feed into the chamber, right?

I've spent some time on the web since I got back and am finding two opposite sides of this issue. Some folks saying send it back right away and others saying don't do anything until I've got at least 500 rounds through her.

My own sense is siding with the "proper break-in" crowd, I understand the "should work fine out of the box" rationale and I'm sure I could send it back. But I'm sorta old school and tend to listen to some of my favorites on these forums - you know, the old farts who have like 5,000 posts and some of them are even Moderators - got a lot of respect for their experience, especially when they advise me ahead of time what I am likely to encounter. Its like they have been there, done that, you know?

Without doing any mods to the gun, I am considering trying different magazines. Also, I followed the owners manual on initial cleaning and lubrication... just two drops of oil on both sides of the slide rails. Maybe there are other parts of the gun that need a slight film of oil? Anyone have an opinion on that?

[StrikeFire83]

Not feeding all the way into the chamber, slide not going all the way forward. Do we call that Fail to Feed (FTF)? Basically it jams and I have to rack the slide and eject it. I'm not going to suspect the external extractor just yet, but who knows? I mean, it does contact the back edge of the casing during the feed into the chamber, right?

I've spent some time on the web since I got back and am finding two opposite sides of this issue. Some folks saying send it back right away and others saying don't do anything until I've got at least 500 rounds through her.

My own sense is siding with the "proper break-in" crowd, I understand the "should work fine out of the box" rationale and I'm sure I could send it back. But I'm sorta old school and tend to listen to some of my favorites on these forums - you know, the old farts who have like 5,000 posts and some of them are even Moderators - got a lot of respect for their experience, especially when they advise me ahead of time what I am likely to encounter. Its like they have been there, done that, you know?

A couple things from a longtime pistol shooter and NON-1911 guy.

Question: Did the FTFs happen with both kinds of ammo, or just with the FMJ?

Suggestions
1) If you kept the ammo boxes, I'd call Speer and see if there are any recalls on the FMJ ammo that you shot.
2) A brand new gun shouldn't need a 500 round break-in period. And if S&W doesn't recommend one in the manual, you shouldn't have to waste the $$ on 500 rounds just to figure out that the gun has an issue.

[robctwo]

Sweet gun.

Get a Hornady LnL. Teach the kid how to reload. Shoot for about 1/3 cost of factory ammo.

[*NOVA*]

Sweet gun.

Get a Hornady LnL. Teach the kid how to reload. Shoot for about 1/3 cost of factory ammo.

Checked it out - so the LnL costs around $500.00. The Speer ammo my LGS sold me I believe was ony about $17.00 per box of 50, but looks like retail is over 20.00. So investing in the reloader, looks like we break even before 1,000 rounds. Not a bad ROI, assuming I'll go through 1,000 rounds in less than a year. I will seriously consider this purchase, but I'll have to clean out the basement to make room for it! :evil:

[StrikeFire83]

Nova, either way, please tell us how it turns out!

I've been considering a S&W 1911 myself, so I'm an interested party.

[Rinspeed]

Before thinking about sending it back I would try some different mags.

[Fishslayer]

Checked it out - so the LnL costs around $500.00. The Speer ammo my LGS sold me I believe was ony about $17.00 per box of 50, but looks like retail is over 20.00. So investing in the reloader, looks like we break even before 1,000 rounds. Not a bad ROI, assuming I'll go through 1,000 rounds in less than a year. I will seriously consider this purchase, but I'll have to clean out the basement to make room for it!


First, great 1911. I'm a S&W fanboi. ;)

As for reloading, that is a fun hobby all on it's own and you can take it as far as you want, from finding a load your gun likes & sticking with that, to constant futzing & fiddling with powders, bullets, whatever.

But you will save no money. You will just shoot a LOT more. :D

The loading bench doesn't really need to take up a lot of room.
Now.... storage for supplies & finished ammo... THAT can turn into a different story. ;)

[*NOVA*]

Nova, either way, please tell us how it turns out!

I've been considering a S&W 1911 myself, so I'm an interested party.

Cleaned and lubricated it with SlipStream luricate everywhere folks have been recommending and then put another 200 rounds through it today. Man, what a difference! No FTF's until about 150 rounds, so I'm fairly convinced its best to shoot it clean and wet. One of the magazines had the FTFs and the other did not, so it might help to upgrade to Wilson mags or something comparable in quality. I was shooting 3" groups at about 18 yards strong hand! Man I love this gun but am still looking at getting the SR1911 one day. :evil: