horge
Member
I'm not actually an 'absolute beginner', hehe. I was when I earlier posted my experiences with the Bersa Thunder 380
many months back, and hey, I still shoot like an absolute beginner ...so there. hehe
Range Report and Evaluation
Long bitten by the 1911 bug... I decided on an Armscor Practical Series fullsize 1911 in .45 ACP, in duo-tone, and sourced my unit from 'Starfire', a local gunstore chain. It was approximately US$357 for the Duo-Tone unit, and all handgun purchases here carry a heavy license processing fee of about US$90.
The Armscor Practical comes in a hard black plastic case with eggcrate-foam padding.
Bundled with the pistol were two 8-round magazines, an instruction manual with line drawings, and an AFAD gun-safety pamphlet. 1 year warranty form. No bushing wrench provided (or needed: field stripping was easy). 'Starfire' threw in a 10-pack of XTP's on discount, with the admonition to break the pistol in with FMJ only.
The pistol sports a skeletonized 'combat' hammer, skeleton trigger, upswept beavertail, ambidextrous extended thumb safety, and Novak-style no-snag rear sights. Both rear and front sights are dovetailed into the slide. The Duotone configuration involves a nicely-blued slide with broadly-cut, canted rear and forward traction grooves (aka serrations), plus blued safeties all on a 'stainless steel' frame. It was handsome at first and second glances.
On close inspection, I was disappointed with the unit. The green 'inspection card' indicated fitting and testing just the month prior at the Armscor plant in Marikina, suggesting a very new pistol. Unfortunately, it seems the parts used in assembling this pistol were a mix of old surplus and culls. Many of the non-stainless internals were coated with a veneer of fine rust, particularly the trigger 'stirrup'. The recoil spring guide rod was stripped of blueing. Virtually all of the fine rust came off with oiled rag wipes. It was not some orange-brown grease or preservative. It was rust.
The 'stainless' frame --apparently the only part bearing a serial number by the way-- is a dull grey-white, frosted finish. Even this 'stainless' steel frame had a spot of rust, right below the thumb-safety detent ball, concealed by the left grip panel. The frame's ramp was not polished --being the same dull finish as the rest of the frame. I am actually unsure if the frame is indeed of stainless steel, or merely plated with a dull chromium alloy.
The slide stop had corrosion breaking out through the blueing. The logo on the slide was actually crooked, and wearing off. This affair seemed to be a baked-on logo and too easy to remove. Note the legs of the 'ARM' in Armscor. Check the slidestop for corrosion:
The chromed barrel had very tiny pits and scuffs on both lands and grooves, even after cleaning...
I felt the plastic grip panels had too many sharp edges, and frankly, the 'black' of it all appealed little to me and my wife. We went off and bought ourselves some local grips, made of ebonywood ('kamagong'), priced anywhere from 150 to 250 pesos (3 to 5 US dollars) each:
It was hard to find 1911 grips that don't have those funky 'gold' medallions set into them. All the grips we got were for the GI configuration, and had to be relieved a bit for the ambi safety. Anyway... here's how the piece looked with wooden grips (screws not tightened yet), and I think it's an improvement.
Stripped and cleaned, lubed and checked, with better-looking and better-feeling grips on... it was off to the range, with a box of Armscor FMJ. The first five magazines were a bonanza of break-in failures, mostly FTF: maybe that ramp was just too nasty at the start, and maybe the mags were themselves stiff... but hey, that's what breaking-in supposedly involves. The trigger was quite nice, but could've used some lightening --but then maybe that was just more fine rust on the trigger 'stirrup', beginning to come loose... hehe. I disliked the ambi safety: those long levers seem to actually get in the way of things. However, they were a standard feature of the model, and thus I had signed up for them.
The pistol shot low, and I learned to cover the target with the front sight. By the ninth magazine, things started settling down, and I ran some quick freehand 'Mozambiques' on a fresh target board at 10-plus meters.
Pitted barrel or no, it can shoot.
Ball supposedly does the job of stoppage, and this pistol enjoys a constant diet of ball. There was slight hesitation when it tried feeding the XTP's --but no outright failures. Still I was too fagged out to shoot anymore. The thing weighs a ton after awhile. For all its weight though, the thing pointed rather naturally for me. Amazingly natural point, really.
I think with more breaking in and tweaking, it can be a very servicable weapon.
It is for me, however, perhaps too heavy for quick, real-world defensive transitioning, at least for my small frame. The natural ROF, as dictated by recoil and my muscles, is also sluggish. My wife won't use it: too big and heavy. Thus, our diminutive Bersa Thunder 380 still has pride of place in our defenses. Maybe we just need to get stronger...hehe.
I'm going to have that ramp polished, and the trigger tweaked.
It couldn't hurt to get a new extractor, and that rusted slidestop needs to go.
Waitaminnit --can you hear me talking?
For all my complaints, I want to work on the thing.
If you think about it, my complaints are NOT about function, but form.
There IS something to this pistol....
It's quite possible Armscor sends the good stuff overseas, leaving us Filipino consumers with crap.
It's shootable crap, and for all my whining, I did enjoy blasting away with it towards the end of my session. Weary as I was, I was enjoying how good I was getting. 'Potential' is the very, very broad silver lining to this cloud, and really: tweaking/customizing a 1911 can be half the fun of owning one, right?
After a short break-in, it shot, and shot well.
I expect it to shoot better and better, as it smooths out.
I also expect it to look better and better, as I go on replacing a few things.
hth
many months back, and hey, I still shoot like an absolute beginner ...so there. hehe
Range Report and Evaluation
Long bitten by the 1911 bug... I decided on an Armscor Practical Series fullsize 1911 in .45 ACP, in duo-tone, and sourced my unit from 'Starfire', a local gunstore chain. It was approximately US$357 for the Duo-Tone unit, and all handgun purchases here carry a heavy license processing fee of about US$90.
The Armscor Practical comes in a hard black plastic case with eggcrate-foam padding.
Bundled with the pistol were two 8-round magazines, an instruction manual with line drawings, and an AFAD gun-safety pamphlet. 1 year warranty form. No bushing wrench provided (or needed: field stripping was easy). 'Starfire' threw in a 10-pack of XTP's on discount, with the admonition to break the pistol in with FMJ only.
The pistol sports a skeletonized 'combat' hammer, skeleton trigger, upswept beavertail, ambidextrous extended thumb safety, and Novak-style no-snag rear sights. Both rear and front sights are dovetailed into the slide. The Duotone configuration involves a nicely-blued slide with broadly-cut, canted rear and forward traction grooves (aka serrations), plus blued safeties all on a 'stainless steel' frame. It was handsome at first and second glances.
On close inspection, I was disappointed with the unit. The green 'inspection card' indicated fitting and testing just the month prior at the Armscor plant in Marikina, suggesting a very new pistol. Unfortunately, it seems the parts used in assembling this pistol were a mix of old surplus and culls. Many of the non-stainless internals were coated with a veneer of fine rust, particularly the trigger 'stirrup'. The recoil spring guide rod was stripped of blueing. Virtually all of the fine rust came off with oiled rag wipes. It was not some orange-brown grease or preservative. It was rust.
The 'stainless' frame --apparently the only part bearing a serial number by the way-- is a dull grey-white, frosted finish. Even this 'stainless' steel frame had a spot of rust, right below the thumb-safety detent ball, concealed by the left grip panel. The frame's ramp was not polished --being the same dull finish as the rest of the frame. I am actually unsure if the frame is indeed of stainless steel, or merely plated with a dull chromium alloy.
The slide stop had corrosion breaking out through the blueing. The logo on the slide was actually crooked, and wearing off. This affair seemed to be a baked-on logo and too easy to remove. Note the legs of the 'ARM' in Armscor. Check the slidestop for corrosion:
The chromed barrel had very tiny pits and scuffs on both lands and grooves, even after cleaning...
I felt the plastic grip panels had too many sharp edges, and frankly, the 'black' of it all appealed little to me and my wife. We went off and bought ourselves some local grips, made of ebonywood ('kamagong'), priced anywhere from 150 to 250 pesos (3 to 5 US dollars) each:
It was hard to find 1911 grips that don't have those funky 'gold' medallions set into them. All the grips we got were for the GI configuration, and had to be relieved a bit for the ambi safety. Anyway... here's how the piece looked with wooden grips (screws not tightened yet), and I think it's an improvement.
Stripped and cleaned, lubed and checked, with better-looking and better-feeling grips on... it was off to the range, with a box of Armscor FMJ. The first five magazines were a bonanza of break-in failures, mostly FTF: maybe that ramp was just too nasty at the start, and maybe the mags were themselves stiff... but hey, that's what breaking-in supposedly involves. The trigger was quite nice, but could've used some lightening --but then maybe that was just more fine rust on the trigger 'stirrup', beginning to come loose... hehe. I disliked the ambi safety: those long levers seem to actually get in the way of things. However, they were a standard feature of the model, and thus I had signed up for them.
The pistol shot low, and I learned to cover the target with the front sight. By the ninth magazine, things started settling down, and I ran some quick freehand 'Mozambiques' on a fresh target board at 10-plus meters.
Pitted barrel or no, it can shoot.
Ball supposedly does the job of stoppage, and this pistol enjoys a constant diet of ball. There was slight hesitation when it tried feeding the XTP's --but no outright failures. Still I was too fagged out to shoot anymore. The thing weighs a ton after awhile. For all its weight though, the thing pointed rather naturally for me. Amazingly natural point, really.
I think with more breaking in and tweaking, it can be a very servicable weapon.
It is for me, however, perhaps too heavy for quick, real-world defensive transitioning, at least for my small frame. The natural ROF, as dictated by recoil and my muscles, is also sluggish. My wife won't use it: too big and heavy. Thus, our diminutive Bersa Thunder 380 still has pride of place in our defenses. Maybe we just need to get stronger...hehe.
I'm going to have that ramp polished, and the trigger tweaked.
It couldn't hurt to get a new extractor, and that rusted slidestop needs to go.
Waitaminnit --can you hear me talking?
For all my complaints, I want to work on the thing.
If you think about it, my complaints are NOT about function, but form.
There IS something to this pistol....
It's quite possible Armscor sends the good stuff overseas, leaving us Filipino consumers with crap.
It's shootable crap, and for all my whining, I did enjoy blasting away with it towards the end of my session. Weary as I was, I was enjoying how good I was getting. 'Potential' is the very, very broad silver lining to this cloud, and really: tweaking/customizing a 1911 can be half the fun of owning one, right?
After a short break-in, it shot, and shot well.
I expect it to shoot better and better, as it smooths out.
I also expect it to look better and better, as I go on replacing a few things.
hth
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