1911 Review with pics: American Classic Commander

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FlyinBryan

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Some of you may have seen my thread inquiring on entry level 1911 pistols in pursuit of a reasonably priced 1911 for my sons first centerfire pistol. We eventually and mutually decided on the American Classic Commander.

After some browsing we finally found one in stock at an online dealer. We were just about to place the order, and then discovered that there was a fairly large gun show being held at a large convention center just 15 minutes from our home. We decided to give it a try before placing our online order, but i fully expected that it was just a formality in route to our original plan to order online and wait for it to arrive.

We got to the show, paid our admission, and I followed my son to the first table we saw and to our amazement, right directly in front of us was the exact model he wanted, priced almost $50.00 less than the one we were going to order online..... I couldnt believe it. It was also the only one they had. I figured just for patience sake i would have my son watch the pistol, stating his interest to the vendor, as I walked and scanned the other tables for another one to compare prices........There was not another single one like it in the entire building, so we snatched it up.

So far, having still not tested the pistol, and just comparing it to my Kimber Pro CarryII, I have been quite impressed in regards to fit and finish. If I had one gripe, it would be that the case lacks any form of padding. Its just the injection molded black plastic case. Given the fact that colt supplies many of their 1911's with such cases,,, i'm probably splitting hairs.

We have not fired it yet, so heres a few pics. A few of the pics have my Pro Carry II included just for general comparison. I will do a range review tommorow.

I should add that we replaced the grip panels with a set of rubber wrap-around grips right off the bat.
americanclassiccommander01.jpg
americanclassiccommander02.jpg
americanclassiccommander03.jpg
americanclassiccommander3.jpg
americanclassiccommander4.jpg
 
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I bought one of these for myself as a present for graduating the Police Academy. I have had 2 FTF in over 200 rounds. I absolutely love this pistol. Paid less than $500.
 
I held a full-size, and was dumbfounded at the high level of fit and finish for the money. It calls into question RIA's value...

I think your Pachmayrs look great--how do they feel?

However, could someone convince them to discontinue what IMHO is the most gawd-awful ugly billboard ever??? (no offense)
 
well, forgive the lateness of my reply guys,,,,, had a little accident with a horse and postponed our range test, but finally got around to it.

wow is all i can happily say. JUST WOW.

we took the pistol out and ran it through 200 rounds of 230 ball. i kept telling my son not to get too excited, that new 1911's had to be broken in.

not one single misfeed or stoppage of anykind. period.... the little pistol shoots great. very accurate too. i didnt have any problems keeping all rounds inside a couple of inches @ about 30ft.... but the main thing i was impressed by was its reliabilty. the thing was even grouping its brass in a perfect little 2ft area on the ground. just perfect feeding, firing, extracting, and ejecting.

it out performed my kimber in the pics above actually (i had one failure to eject with the kimber, my first failure of anykind with it in a thousand rounds or so, which my son got a kick out of)

it sounds absurd, but the thought of selling the kimber and just getting another one of these has actually entered my mind, lol.

so,,,, unless we just got lucky and got an absolute gem of a specimen, i can fully suggest these pistols to anyone looking for a great value in a 1911 pistol.

in fact, our safe may soon be host to a second, and maybe even a third.
 
The first one of these I bought was my first 1911. I didn't know any better and I took it home not realizing the feed ramp had never been polished at the factory. The second one they sent to replace the first had a crooked front sight. So that one went back too. The third one that came into my local dealer (to replace the second one) turned out to be the first one I'd bought, but with a new barrel, mag catch, and polished ramp. That all took 6 months. Once it went through all that, it worked flawlessly. The pistol had been sliding around in the case and most of the bluing was worn off the right side. The American Classic 1911's from Metro Arms are reliable pistols but there are some quality control issues at the factory.

I sold mine to fund a Sig C3 1911.
 
I have an older model of the same gun. American Classic Commander sized: it worked so well for me I convinced someone else I went to school with to get one as well. he still loves his, far as I know. they really do shoot well: now I have come across flaws but then again - I learned how to make custom 1911's. It's a production gun and there's a lot of chattering that i'd of gotten rid of had i been the one making it.

Still, for the price - they're fantastic. I've fired probably 3 thousand rounds out of mine with maybe a handful of hickups. And most of those were caused by the magazine, I won't say what company on a public form but lets say i spent $40 a piece for what's supposed to be really high end magazines and they're junk.

The ACT mag it came with works great.
 
I won't say what company on a public form but lets say i spent $40 a piece for what's supposed to be really high end magazines and they're junk.
Click to expand...

as far as im concerned that is what a public forum is all about,,,,,,, so a feller can avoid a product that might be cutting some corners and getting away with it because of their holier than thou name!!

spit it out holmes!!!! what are they?
 
The first one of these I bought was my first 1911. I didn't know any better and I took it home not realizing the feed ramp had never been polished at the factory. The second one they sent to replace the first had a crooked front sight. So that one went back too. The third one that came into my local dealer (to replace the second one) turned out to be the first one I'd bought, but with a new barrel, mag catch, and polished ramp. That all took 6 months. Once it went through all that, it worked flawlessly. The pistol had been sliding around in the case and most of the bluing was worn off the right side. The American Classic 1911's from Metro Arms are reliable pistols but there are some quality control issues at the factory.
Click to expand...
sorry to hear about the problems you had with yours doc. maybe you got a lemon, or maybe we just got a peach of a specimen.
 
You should keep a round count and post it here with updates. It would be interesting to see a living history of upgrades or any issues.
Click to expand...

i think that is a very good idea shooter. will do!!
 
sorry to hear about the problems you had with yours doc. maybe you got a lemon, or maybe we just got a peach of a specimen.
Click to expand...

Most folks who've posted online about their American Classics seem to love them and have had no problems with them. The two I had seemed to have slipped through the cracks at quality control. I also forgot to mention that the ACT magazine it came with completely fell apart within two months. The plastic base plate gave up on holding in the rounds. I switch to a couple of Chip McCormick 8-rounders and they worked fine. I liked the way they looked in the gun too, since I prefer the flush fit.
 
Bought and American Classic Commander Friday. Took it to the range today and ran 100 trouble-free rounds through it today using the ACT magazine it came with. But when I tried an old Chip McCormick mag I immediately had two failures to feed. I guess this particular ACC doesn't like my Chip McCormick mag.

However, when I took it home and began to disassemble it I couldn't because I couldn't get the slide stop out (I've owned several 1911 pistols so I have some experience with them). I've had occasional problems with slide stop reinsertion, but who hasn't? But never with removal.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
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