1911 - Break-In Ammo?

[BlindJustice]

Yep, my waffle was finally done cooking and my S & W 1911 5" Bbl. Len.
in stainless w/fixed sights is somewhere in a UPS truck
on it's way.

Question on what kinda ammo to run through it for
Break-Iin" I don't have any GI Ball around. I do have..

Rem. 185 gr. JHP
@ 950 FPS
CCI-Speer 200 gr. JHP* handload in new Rem brass
@ 900 FPS
Leadhead SWC 200 gr. / Starline brass
@ 1,025 FPS
W-W 230 gr. JHP
@ 850 FPS
W-W 230 gr. JHP SXT
@ 900+ FPS

The gun comes with two mags - I did an order with WIlson Combat
and got 3 of the Elite Tactical Magazines, as well as the Versa Tool
the WC badged silicone impregnated wipe down cloth. The Versa Tool
is a 10 tools in 1 and it is supposed to have every tool needed to completely take a 1911 apart. It would be nice if they had included an exploded
diagram with a lable and line pointing at each of the 'tools' to say
which one is for what. The paper in the plastic bag just says Versa
Tool. Well, I'm not stripping it down at this point, just take the slide and
barrel/recoil spring off and run the brass brush in the barrel, lube it and
reassemble prior to firing. Oh, I got the lplastic mag loader but it's
more a PITA than just using my fineger to hold down the top cartridge
to make room for the next one to be loaded.

* IT's the old unobtanium out of production widemouth
bullet that was used in Lawman ammo about 25 years ago.
I found a box of bullets in the bottom of my box of ammo
odds and ends

 

[sigman4rt]

It's all good, just put some rounds downrange. IMO breakin is about getting the parts to seat properly by cycling the action. Shoot it a bunch (3-400 rds) cleaning and lubing every hundred or so, and you'll be good.

 

[Steve C]

Any of the JHPs should work fine and should feed well. SWC's can be problematic in any .45 auto and may or may not feed well without some feed ramp polishing or other tweeks.

 

[fastbolt]

When I broke in my newest 1911's (Colt stainless Government XSE and a SW1911SC 5") I simply gathered up a bunch of factory hardball and some different factory JHP's. I remember using some Winchester USA45JHP and some standard and +P T-Series. Maybe a little Gold Dot 230gr. Can't remember now.

Congrats on the new SW1911. I've been very satisfied with mine.

If you got the standard ACT-MAG's with your SW1911, when you're ready to replace the magazine springs Wolff's offers some extra power springs for them, now.

I'd be interested in hearing how the new Wilson magazines do for you. I've been considering picking up some of them for T&E, to see if they offer any improvement over the standard 47D's.

FWIW, I won't use any 200gr LSWC through a 1911-style pistol until I've already satisfied myself that it functions normally with hardball and JHP's. Of course, I haven't handloaded for many years, either, nor have we purchased commercially reloaded ammunition for qualification since about 1990.

Also, I used to shoot quite a bit of the old Speer 200gr Flying Ashtray's out of a steel Commander ... once it had been tweaked enough to reliably function with them, and I found some magazines which worked well with them.

I only have a few rounds of it left over, and decided to keep it for my 'service/off-duty ammunition I've carried throughout my career' collection.

 

[BlindJustice]

I will save the 200 gr. SWC Leadhead until the JHPs check out.
It's a commercial custom load to my spec. but I can't take credit for
Jeff cooper's load he touted - from what I recall reading in G & A
back in the late 1970s is what he liked -I don't
think he ever trusted JHPs.

I've got some Hornady 200 gr. JHP/XTP bullets coming
but they were backordered at Cabela's so that will be in a
later report.

I also have some conventional JHP +P CorBon 165 gr. & 185 gr. that
by felt recoil make my S&W 625 at 45 oz. POP TALL
ATTENTION ON DECK....

Yeah, the old Flying Ashtray was touted to be 1,000 FPS
and several in the gun mags back in the day clocked em at
990 give or take a few FPS. The last 50 I had handloaded
locally and the guy wussed out and loaded em soft. imho so,
I might as well shoot em.

I will definitely report on the Wilson COmbat ETMs - they are
finished to a nicely polished finish and
have numbers by the viewing slots and a hard nylon base pad.

Thanks for the tip on the WOlf replacement springs
I'll order them along with an 18 lb recoil spring to have
them in stock.

 

[1911 guy]

Break in.

Breaking in a pistol is all about seating parts, not reliability. If it's unreliable, send it back to get fixed. Ammo used can be anything that will cycle reliably in your pistol. Some 1911's are picky about certain H.P. designs.

 

[sigman4rt]

I have a High Standard G.I. 1911, using Wilson 47D mags it will eat any kind of ammo I feed it. I just can't say enough good about them. All the guns I carry have Wilson's, period. That's just me. When I find something that works I stick with it religeously.