My first 1911

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Badkharma

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I just bought (but have yet to take delivery of, thanks to CA's ridiculous 10 day wait... :cuss: ) a SA stainless loaded 1911.

I'm super excited - having shot a few different 1911s before, I knew I had to have one.

That said - and this might seem trivial - the wood grips that come with the loaded stainless are okay, but are more reddish in color than I would prefer. I like the darker brown wood grips that are standard on the parkerized model. I can't seem to find replacement grips on the SA site - does anyone know where I can get some?

Also, the loaded comes stock with novak 3-dots, but non-nights...I'll be looking to swap these out for nights. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Any other things I should do (break-in process, etc?) and know about?

This is my fifth pistol, it's about time I had a 1911. :D Can't wait to try it.
 
I'm looking into getting one of those too for my first 1911. How much did you get it for?
 
1911

I find it amazing the upswing in popularity of the 1911. There was the dark days, when anything but a Glock wasn't considered worthy of being called a gun. I been around 1911 since Colt first came out with the Series 80, wicth because of the grip safety they where bad mouth.

I enjoyed mine for years, the only down side was when my first was stolen. It is interesting though, to see all the guns outside of the 1911 design that are set up so close to the original.
 
Hi Bad k,

You could call Springfield and ask about darker grips. Also check out the grips on the Kimber website. Another popular source is Esmeralda -google Esmeralda's Grips.

FWIW, I have a parked SA Mil-Spec with plain vanilla grips. They were reddish so I used Citrus strip on them then stained them with walnut stain. Now they're a bit too dark but better than before. :(
 
You are going to love the way it shoots. I have the G.I. loaded in black steel and it is very accurate.

DSC_0931.jpg
 
1911's are just special. I started out with a pro carry 2. I ended up not liking the paper clip takedown and opted to go with a smith and wesson. After one range trip I decided the Kimber triggers were much better. I got this one used and couldn't be happier. Great trigger tune job, rogard coating and np3 internals from robar. Custom made grips.

46b20d29-b75f-e88b.jpg
 
There are more grip options out there then you can shake a stick at. Just Google "1911 grips" and you'll see what I mean. As far as recommendations, I've got Hogue grips on mine, walnut if I recall, and they are dark like you prefer. Also, I ordered from the "factory seconds" section. This is like their "scratch and dent" section. I can't remember what I paid, but it was less than half the regular price, and I couldn't find the reason why they were factory seconds.

I like the looks of VZ grips and alumagrips though too, but I haven't tried either of them yet.
 
Thanks everyone

Jed, those look nice!

I picked up the gun today and will have pics soon as promised...

A few questions.

1) I read the SA manual and got the disassembly down (I am used to the 5 second take down of a Sig so it took some time, but I got it! LOL). However there was no section on break-in. How do I best break this in? 230 gr FMJ and cleaning every few mags?

2) I wish to add a magwell. Wilson makes a great SS magwell that has high reviews on midway. Would something like this work?

3) I also wish to upgrade my sights to night sights. Any suggestions?

Thanks again everyone
 
IMO, there is no need or at least should be no need for any special break in on a gun like that....Just shoot it....I bought a new Loaded a couple of years ago. It ran perfectly fine right out of the box as any 800 buck handgun should.
 
You did very good, can't ever go wrong with a 1911. The only thing I could ever say bad about the 1911 is I don't have enough of them. Guess it goes back to the 60's and my first introduction to the 1911 it was love at first sight. Back around 1991 I bought a Thompson Auto Ord. 45 from a friend that had bought it new. Between him and my self I would estimate that we put at least 8 - 9000 rounds out of the gun. When I got rid of it the thing was still a sweet as the first time I fired it. Just bought a new GI Expert a couple days ago, waiting until the snow stops and temp gets back to what it is suppose to be here in Alabama. (we don't like snow/ice)
 
Apologies for the poor image quality, but here is proof of purchase: :D
 

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I followed K9's idea above and citrus stripped my grips, restained them, and recoated in appropriate polyurethane. They turned out fantastic!!! Saved me from buying new grips. I've also added an Ed Wilson stainless magwell. :cool:

Compare the result below with the pic earlier in the thread.....much better in my opinion. I didn't like the orange-red stain nearly as much.
 

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If I followed your link correctly you bought a 9mm 1911.

Nice. I have one as well, different brand.

The Wilson 10 round mags work well with my gun.

I bought a SS loaded in .45 a few years ago. Nice gun. I did fiddle around with the ignition parts after a while. Lightened the trigger a bit.

Give us a range report.
 
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