mcdonl
Member
Ok, so I wanted a 1911 for sometime. Actually, I needed a reason to reload of .45acp and chose the 1911 platform to satisfy that need.
First thing I did was looked for the most affordable gun I could find. Looks were not important as I do not care, and they all look the same for the most part.
I did my research on accuracy and reliable (Using THR) and came to the conclusion that they all suck, and are unreliable (Or that they are all awesome, tack driving go bang every time guns....) so it brought me back to price... my #1 consideration anyway.
I chose the ATI (SAM) FX45 Military Model. This gun was $369 Brand New, with a 2 year warranty.
The gun feels great. I guess that is the 1911 feeling that some people get when they hold one. I love the way it feels. The sights are what I knew they would be... low profile, GI style sights. I am not expert on fit and finish but it had no scratches and when I shoot it nothing rattled. Is that fit and finish?
I brought the gun to the range with a couple boxes of WWB (I needed brass) and the gun ate it up with no issues at all. I was very happy with the lack of felt recoil. It was better shooting than my .40 actually.
When I got home, it was time to take it apart and see what it was made of. OH MY GOODNESS! I had no idea how difficult it would be getting the slide lock pin back in. I struggled, I forced, I used rubber mallets I bent the pin.
(Flame away... what can I say... I am hard on stuff and not exactly a gunsmith ....)
So, I got it back together and it just did not feel right.... I oiled the crap out of it, racked the slide a million times until it worked right and got it to the point where the only thing that was not right is that I cannot thumb the slide lock release lever, I need to actually move the slide rearward a tad to release it.
At this point, I feel like a complete loser and I called ATI down in Rochester and told them my story... they laughed, put me on hold (Magnum PI Theme song) and then got me on the phone with a smith... I told him my story and he agreed I may have bent the slide lock, although he doubted it. None-the-less he sent me a new one, no questions asked. These guys were awesome.
So, I felt better about it and had loaded up 200 rounds of 230RN and wanted to go see how bad it performed. Well, went through all 200 rounds... no failures at all.
I went home... looked at the thing across the room with that "are you for real" look at loaded another 200 rounds, this time I bumped up the W231 a little.... couple of days later... back to the range... 200 more rounds with no issues at all.
My new pin has not arrived yet, but I typically do not clean my guns until they malfunction or I know over 1000 rounds have been through it so no worries there, and when I get the pin I will take it down again and hope for the same results.
So, I guess the moral of my story is that this platform not only seems to be reliable and flat shooting but it also is truly idiot proof.
Leroy
First thing I did was looked for the most affordable gun I could find. Looks were not important as I do not care, and they all look the same for the most part.
I did my research on accuracy and reliable (Using THR) and came to the conclusion that they all suck, and are unreliable (Or that they are all awesome, tack driving go bang every time guns....) so it brought me back to price... my #1 consideration anyway.
I chose the ATI (SAM) FX45 Military Model. This gun was $369 Brand New, with a 2 year warranty.
The gun feels great. I guess that is the 1911 feeling that some people get when they hold one. I love the way it feels. The sights are what I knew they would be... low profile, GI style sights. I am not expert on fit and finish but it had no scratches and when I shoot it nothing rattled. Is that fit and finish?
I brought the gun to the range with a couple boxes of WWB (I needed brass) and the gun ate it up with no issues at all. I was very happy with the lack of felt recoil. It was better shooting than my .40 actually.
When I got home, it was time to take it apart and see what it was made of. OH MY GOODNESS! I had no idea how difficult it would be getting the slide lock pin back in. I struggled, I forced, I used rubber mallets I bent the pin.
(Flame away... what can I say... I am hard on stuff and not exactly a gunsmith ....)
So, I got it back together and it just did not feel right.... I oiled the crap out of it, racked the slide a million times until it worked right and got it to the point where the only thing that was not right is that I cannot thumb the slide lock release lever, I need to actually move the slide rearward a tad to release it.
At this point, I feel like a complete loser and I called ATI down in Rochester and told them my story... they laughed, put me on hold (Magnum PI Theme song) and then got me on the phone with a smith... I told him my story and he agreed I may have bent the slide lock, although he doubted it. None-the-less he sent me a new one, no questions asked. These guys were awesome.
So, I felt better about it and had loaded up 200 rounds of 230RN and wanted to go see how bad it performed. Well, went through all 200 rounds... no failures at all.
I went home... looked at the thing across the room with that "are you for real" look at loaded another 200 rounds, this time I bumped up the W231 a little.... couple of days later... back to the range... 200 more rounds with no issues at all.
My new pin has not arrived yet, but I typically do not clean my guns until they malfunction or I know over 1000 rounds have been through it so no worries there, and when I get the pin I will take it down again and hope for the same results.
So, I guess the moral of my story is that this platform not only seems to be reliable and flat shooting but it also is truly idiot proof.
Leroy