FREERANGETIME!
Member
Any one else familiar with this pistol? I looked at the full size one 2 years ago, when compared with the rest of the glut of Phillipines made 1911s now on the market, it seemed well made, I was looking for a new carry gun and ended up trading towards one at a gunshow this weekend.
It looks O.K. the sights are dovetailed 3 dot, the rear is drift adjustable and has a set screw, it has a skeletonized commander style hammer, extended beavertail with bumppad, adjustable trigger, low quality laquered wood grips with standard screws, flat mainspring housing, extended thumb safety and extended slide release.
The frame is undercut beneath the trigger guard allowing for a higher grip, the finish is flat/nonreflective on the top of the slide and on the frame, and high gloss blued on the sides of the slide.
The gun has features I like in a 1911, but I prefer a full size over a Commander size, the reason I ended up with this one is the dealer is a guy I trust that always treats me well and was more than fair to me in regards to what I traded towards the American Classic.
When I got home I realized the rear sight needed to be adjusted before I did any live fire with it, I then noticed a small burr on the sight that I had to file off, there was another one on the front sight that I left alone, for the time being. Also the slide had a tendency to hang on the take down notch when racked with no mag inserted, with a loaded mag inserted the gun failed to feed when racked about half the time.
When I broke down the gun there were other small burrs in pin holes that I had to file out. I also noticed there was some wiggle room with the ACT mag that came with the gun, there was a little less wiggle the 2 Mecgar mags that I tried, and very little wiggle with the Wilson Combat Elite mag I tried.
I cleaned up the gun, installed a recoil buffer, attempted to rub some liquid gold into the grips, which is when I realized they were sealed by the laquer, and installed some hex head grip screws, upon reassembly, I noticed several nicks/marred areas in the finish, its a low quality bluing job, that I know wont stand up to daily carry very long.
We took the gun out to shoot at "targets of opportunity" in this case, oranges rotting on the ground at ranges between 7 and 10 yards, in 50 rounds we experienced zero malfunction and a 25% hit ratio with misses closes enough to launch the oranges into the air. Yesterday we took it to the range and put it on paper, in 50 rounds we experienced zero malfunctions, we used the factory mag, the Wilson Combat and both Mecgars during both the function and accuracy tests. The pistol put 8 rounds in one ragged hole using A-Merc 230 grn ammo, and 8 rounds in a 4 inch spread using CCI Blazer aluminum cased 230 grain ammo, range was 8 yards on both targets.
I have decided the gun is adequate, accurate and reliable enough for its intended purpose, I dont give a damn if the bluing gets worn off, the sooner the better, then I can go ahead and have it Parkerized.
I looked at a LOT of Philipino 1911s, the American Classic was BY FAR the best of them, and had far more of the features I require in a carry gun. All I need to do now is decide between Pearce, Hogue or Pachmyer grips, still carrying in my well broken in Desantis Gunhide iwb holster or Desantis Gunhide belt holster.
Any feedback from anyone else familiar with these pistols is greatly appreciated.
It looks O.K. the sights are dovetailed 3 dot, the rear is drift adjustable and has a set screw, it has a skeletonized commander style hammer, extended beavertail with bumppad, adjustable trigger, low quality laquered wood grips with standard screws, flat mainspring housing, extended thumb safety and extended slide release.
The frame is undercut beneath the trigger guard allowing for a higher grip, the finish is flat/nonreflective on the top of the slide and on the frame, and high gloss blued on the sides of the slide.
The gun has features I like in a 1911, but I prefer a full size over a Commander size, the reason I ended up with this one is the dealer is a guy I trust that always treats me well and was more than fair to me in regards to what I traded towards the American Classic.
When I got home I realized the rear sight needed to be adjusted before I did any live fire with it, I then noticed a small burr on the sight that I had to file off, there was another one on the front sight that I left alone, for the time being. Also the slide had a tendency to hang on the take down notch when racked with no mag inserted, with a loaded mag inserted the gun failed to feed when racked about half the time.
When I broke down the gun there were other small burrs in pin holes that I had to file out. I also noticed there was some wiggle room with the ACT mag that came with the gun, there was a little less wiggle the 2 Mecgar mags that I tried, and very little wiggle with the Wilson Combat Elite mag I tried.
I cleaned up the gun, installed a recoil buffer, attempted to rub some liquid gold into the grips, which is when I realized they were sealed by the laquer, and installed some hex head grip screws, upon reassembly, I noticed several nicks/marred areas in the finish, its a low quality bluing job, that I know wont stand up to daily carry very long.
We took the gun out to shoot at "targets of opportunity" in this case, oranges rotting on the ground at ranges between 7 and 10 yards, in 50 rounds we experienced zero malfunction and a 25% hit ratio with misses closes enough to launch the oranges into the air. Yesterday we took it to the range and put it on paper, in 50 rounds we experienced zero malfunctions, we used the factory mag, the Wilson Combat and both Mecgars during both the function and accuracy tests. The pistol put 8 rounds in one ragged hole using A-Merc 230 grn ammo, and 8 rounds in a 4 inch spread using CCI Blazer aluminum cased 230 grain ammo, range was 8 yards on both targets.
I have decided the gun is adequate, accurate and reliable enough for its intended purpose, I dont give a damn if the bluing gets worn off, the sooner the better, then I can go ahead and have it Parkerized.
I looked at a LOT of Philipino 1911s, the American Classic was BY FAR the best of them, and had far more of the features I require in a carry gun. All I need to do now is decide between Pearce, Hogue or Pachmyer grips, still carrying in my well broken in Desantis Gunhide iwb holster or Desantis Gunhide belt holster.
Any feedback from anyone else familiar with these pistols is greatly appreciated.
