1911 questions

[Walkalong]

Love both of these.

 

[cfullgraf]

One of my favorites.

Besides the arched main spring housing, see my preference in slide release and safety.

 

[EMC45]

I prefer flat mainspring housing. I have tiny hands.

 

[Winkman822]

For my barely medium sized hands, I prefer a flat mainspring housing. I can't speak for the brass issue, but with regard to the extended controls, the 1911s that I carry have SLIGHTLY extended checkered or serrated magazine releases. Extended slide stops are a big giant no for me.

 

[DR505]

I have both arched and flat mainspring housings on my various 1911s. I prefer arched (I can palm a basketball) but often that requires an aftermarket purchase. I shoot either variety about the same though.

I like standard sized controls, but the Wilson CQB I picked up (pre-owned) has the extended and ambidextrous variety of controls and they carry/operate fine as well.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Couple things:
-first, a free tip, when changing MSHs, put a gumband around the grip safety; then you can remove the MSH without the three-fingered spring escaping. Otherwise, you'll take half the gun apart to get that spring back in.
-as regards flat or arched, small hands and really prefer flat; only a real GI and a GI replica retain their arched mainsprings.
Kudos to whomever thot' of replacing the mainspring housing to change the grip shape...pretty clever, back in the day.
Moon

 

[doubleh]

I see the type of mainspring housing you like and the extended mag release as purely a personal choice. Having medium sized hands I prefer the flat housing to the point that I don't own anything with an arched housing. I can get along OK with either type of release and own guns that do and don't have them. The notched left grip does make reaching the release much easier for for people with medium and small sized hands. I have been thinking of trying one of the Wilson Combat extended releases with the rectangular button. It looks as thought it would work very well for us hand size challenged people. I have only shot one 1911 with the extended slide release. I like it but haven't converted anything I own yet.

 

[md7]

Hello my good fellows

A couple of 1911 questions for you 1911 guys

Arched vs flat main spring housings: is there a different other than the obvious? Can you interchange them without changing any other parts?

On my 1911, when it ejects brass it puts a tiny kink into the case. Are these cases safe to reload?

Extended magazine releases and slide releases, are they worth it?

Thanks guys!

I like arched MSH a little more than flat, but either is doable for me. You can change housings.

Standard mag and slide releases are fine with me. Honestly, one of my personal favorite 1911’s is a basic Government Model. Something along the lines of an SA Mil Spec or Colt 1991

 

[Bcwitt]

I have large hands, but both types feel good to me. Small dents are no issue in reloading. A 45acp operates @ about 20k psi, & most 1911 type pistols are good for twice that.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

I have one 1911 with flat MSH, and one with arched. My hands prefer flat, but I don’t think I really want to change the arched MSH to flat. On that pistol, I don’t really care enough. Yet.

There is enough aftermarket support out there for 1911’s that you can tailor the gun pretty much however you like. It’s like they’re the jeep of the handgun world.