Break In - SW1911 & S&W 686P

[BlindJustice]

I went to an indoor range last night with:

S & W 1911 5" Bbl. Len.
using Wilson Combat ETM magazines.
75 - Remington 185 gr. JHP @ 950 FPS
1 Failure to Eject
50 - R.A.R.* Leadhead 200 gr. SWC @ 1,025 FPS
1 Failure to Feed I think I messed up the loading of
the last round in the magazine, unsure.

S & W 686P 4" Bbl. Len.
35 W-W 125 gr. JHP @ 1,475 FPS
Lots of muzzle flash, when my shooting partner tried
a cylinder full = 2 Failure to Fire. (Grip?)
14 R.A.R. Hornady 140 gr. JHP XTP @ 1,400 FPS
Less Muzzle flash and a bit more recoil.
The grips loosened and no screwdriver The grips
are smooth Hogue Coco Bolo Wood, destined for
a 617 where recoil is not an issue.
I also did a cylinder of 38 Special 140 gr. wadcutters
in the 686P as well as my buddy's GP100 w/6" Bbl. Len.
Nice shooter that Ruger.

I shot the 1911 better than the revolver which had
some horizontal spread. I'll waitt for the checkered
double finger groove grips from Hogue.

The Hogue grips interferredd with the HKS
speedloaders as well as ejected cases. Ejected
brass from the 1911 mostly went up and back
some bounced off the low cage ceiling of the
stall, and a few came back hitting just above my
Wahoo Indian Ball cap.

FUnny both types had two failures each

 

[StrikeEagle]

S & W 1911 5" Bbl. Len.
using Wilson Combat ETM magazines.
75 - Remington 185 gr. JHP @ 950 FPS
1 Failure to Eject
50 - R.A.R.* Leadhead 200 gr. SWC @ 1,025 FPS
1 Failure to Feed I think I messed up the loading of
the last round in the magazine, unsure.

My experience with 1911's is...

1) They seem happiest with 230grn ammo. Other weights often work, but 230 is your best bet, IMO.

2) The best magazines are 7-round, with flat, dimpled follower. As designed by the greatest firearms designer the world has ever known, quality mags of tis spec offer the best chance of reliability.

Two failures in one night (with quality ammo) would drive me up a wall. I'd be posting here, calling the manufacturer, seeing how much the shop would give me for it, and generally freaking out.

For me, a malfunction is a rare, notable and disturbing event.

Try 230's and some JMB type mags... see how that works out for you?

 

[eldon519]

For a non-custom 1911, S&W has one of the best slide-to-frame fits out there. Don't worry if it takes a little breaking in. Don't overreact, it'll run smoothly. All-steel guns benefit from a break-in period during which the bearing surfaces mate to one another. My findings are also that alot of the time it takes the magazines a while to break in rather than the gun. I got a brand new SA 1911 Mil-spec that fed like crap with the factory mags. I tried my Wilson Combats and it worked fine. Left the factory mags loaded for a couple weeks, and they worked great after that.

I'd have to say Wilson Combat makes the best mags out there.

 

[Geronimo45]

2 Failure to Fire. (Grip?)

I don't think grip means a thing when firing a revolver. Affects felt recoil, but not firing... possible short-stroking of the trigger.

 

[polekitty]

Have Para P-14 SA. Bought a couple Mec-Gar mags. After maybe 6K through it had a cuple of fail-to-feed. Replaced springs. Going good again. I guess a couple hundred rds would make a decent break-in.

Had couple large frame S&W. Got rid of the rubber grips. Hard grips worked much better, actually hurt my hands less! Shot better with them.