As an example...
of the "original blueprint theory" at work-
Last year I swapped for a ragged, beaten-down Auto Ordnance "Pit Bull", on a lark. Rode hard, put up wet. But the pinholes looked good & in spec, and the mag release port was good & snug. The recoil spring was shot, the bushing broke on about the third mag, and the extractor was soft, as was the firing pin and stop. The firing pin stop was downright sloppy, and the slide stop was worn badly. I replaced the bushing & springs with Ed Brown goodies for the Officers ACP; the rest of the stuff was replaced with John Masen GI parts from Brownells. Some Metalform 7-round mags with the rounded followers finished out the project.
After re-fitting the barrel hood (too long), replacing the small stuff, and a careful modification of the slide for the FLGR, the little gun was reassembled- and ran 100% with everything I threw at it (SWC's, ball & Sierra 230/JHC's) , and grouped under 2 1/2" at 25 yards. The SWC reloads I build with H&G 68's and W231, and really crappy brass that gets scarfed off an outdoor range. This is my "blammer" load and ALL brass that will go in the sizing die gets used here. There are an occasional few that get finished with a big dent in the case, but I load them anyhow. Maybe one in every 200 is crooked enough that it will jam anything. 250 rounds of these went through the rebuilt A/O, without incident.
So there you have it. A very tired and "non-GI" little 1911, made whole by replacing the frame goodies with GI parts. 1911's shorter than Commander length are notorious for function problems- but as has been stated repeatedly here, an awful lot of 1911 problems can be cured by just by building in good quality, GI-spec internals, and good magazines. This has worked for me on numerous occasions. I spent 10 years as a FTO for an agency where you could carry any sane handgun, and a lot of my guys brought 1911's to qualifications. I got pretty fair at finding cheap fixes for a bunch of dedicated but underpaid cops. If you start with a good frame and slide, and pay attention to what you're doing, the "GI rebuild" works.
If I can make an old A/O Pit Bull reliable by (re)building it with good-quality GI parts, the #$^&*( manufacturers can surely build GM's and Commanders that work. Forget the Schwartz safety and two-piece barrels; forget the beaver-butts, accessory rails, and front serrations. They are part of an ad campaign to make you forget that a 1911 is supposed to WORK, first, last, and always, with good magazines and any decent ammunition. Think of them as Christmas ornaments on a horse-weed. Look at the quality, or the lack thereof, underneath the glitter.
PS- Tuner, you and I seem able to remember a time when good 1911's were valued for their function, instead of how many fad-glitzos they had glued or screwed onto them. Keep talking. Eventually somebody will listen.
