What should done next to my 1911?

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Frog48

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A little background about myself... I'm the type of person that can not "leave well enough alone". I just love accessorizing and tinkering with stuff, such as my truck, boat, home, etc. :D

Now to the question... I have a Springfield 1911 "GI" model. I've already added several Wilson Combat parts, to tailor it to my tastes. I've done an extended slide stop, beavertail, and hammer.

What would yall suggest I do next to the gun? If this was your gun, what would you add or change?

I was thinking about having dovetails cut and Novak sights installed, what say you?

I'm looking for ideas. I dont want to do anything too wild and crazy, but I welcome all suggestions!

Here it is, as it stands right now:

19112.gif
 
I heard some nifty stuff can be found at WWW.2RCO.COM.

I'd start with grips that U.S. marking they put on there just doesn't ever look good. We've also got some 3-Dot sight sets that will fit on your slide with no cut necessary.
 
I'd say a taller front sight with an undercut , and a longer trigger. Then shoot the hell out of it. And several reliable mags.
Thats it.

Clearly, judging by the ugly slide stop marks, you're new to 1911s. Not a big deal. But don't mess with your pistol until you have several hundred rounds through it. The more you shoot your gun, the better you'll know it; and the better you'll know what it needs and what will actually help you become better.
 
I'm sorta the same way.

I'd do the same as above and toss those grips.

Then I would get a...

smith and alexander mag well

different sights if possible

skeletonized trigger, or match trigger of the same

Hex grip screws

longer safety release (never liked the feel of those stock ones)

extended mag release (not too much just a little)

hows the slide release?

I tend to put in EGW flat bottom firing pin stops in all my 1911's (i like to run them hot)

Bullet proof firing pin

resprung to about 18.5#

consider flaring the ejection port if it ain't already.

extended ejector?

Match bushing?

That should keep you busy for a while...

oh and polish the feedramp and barrel mouth kinda standard on that.
 
I'm a minimalist.

I would ditch the extended slide stop and beavertail, and maybe even the aftermarket hammer. I'd put the money I made selling the parts into a good trigger job (if it needed it) and better combat sights. Then I'd buy a whole mess of ammo and mags and go make some noise.

Mike
 
install a mainspring housing/magwell
guide rod
sights are a must
trigger job
*as much as folks will argue about it I really love 1pound 1911 triggers but they are not for every one*
 
better sights, diffrent grips, and front slide serations.( yeah, yeah, i like them and find them use full for showing clear)
 
Clearly, judging by the ugly slide stop marks, you're new to 1911s. Not a big deal. But don't mess with your pistol until you have several hundred rounds through it. The more you shoot your gun, the better you'll know it; and the better you'll know what it needs and what will actually help you become better.
Click to expand...

Actually, the marks are from the original slide stop. The darn thing would NOT come out, I really had to show some "tough love" with it. Thats part of the reason I got the new slide stop, which works great.

As for the marks, yes they are from when the gun was brand new, about 3 years ago. I wouldnt intentionally mark up a gun, but over time I've grown fond of them. I think they show character. :D
 
You NEED better sights, but I would not pay the hundred bucks to have the slide machined for a proprietary fixed sight like the Novak Low Mount. Novak makes sights for the standard dovetail, as do MGW, Kings, and Millett. You will have to have a new taller front sight staked or dovetailed in to suit any of those.

I would have a trigger job done on the factory parts, they can be gotten down to four pounds or so.

Go back to a standard slide stop if you start getting mysterious slide locks before the magazine is empty.

The rest is just eye candy or "personalization."
 
Big Boomer said:
I'm sorta the same way.

I'd do the same as above and toss those grips.

Then I would get a...

smith and alexander mag well

different sights if possible

skeletonized trigger, or match trigger of the same

Hex grip screws

longer safety release (never liked the feel of those stock ones)

extended mag release (not too much just a little)

hows the slide release?

I tend to put in EGW flat bottom firing pin stops in all my 1911's (i like to run them hot)

Bullet proof firing pin

resprung to about 18.5#

consider flaring the ejection port if it ain't already.

extended ejector?

Match bushing?
Click to expand...

So in other words, you think he should have bought a different gun? ;) :D

Or were you being sarcastic/satirical and I cleverly missed it?

This is the amazing thing to me about 1911 owners - start with a decent gun then change out everything, until virtually nothing is left of the original gun.

I think the GI.45 is a thing of beauty and would have bought one already if the sights were not impossible for my lousy 53 year old eyes. But I'd have gone for the Parkerized - that's just me, I just don't believe in shiny guns.
 
So in other words, you think he should have bought a different gun?
Click to expand...

Pretty much ;)

I've got a customized colt, then after all the $ and pain in the butt changing everything, although it was fun my next 1911 is a "stock" TRP if you can call that stock.

Only thing that I have for the TRP is the EGW slidestop and some extra spring so I can convert it to 45 Super.

I'm not a fan of basic 1911's don't get me wrong, no permanent conversions. I like to be able to bring it back to stock if needed. I use mine mostly for carry. If I had wanted a range gun I would have bought something with target sights.
 
So in other words, you think he should have bought a different gun?

Or were you being sarcastic/satirical and I cleverly missed it?

This is the amazing thing to me about 1911 owners - start with a decent gun then change out everything, until virtually nothing is left of the original gun.

I think the GI.45 is a thing of beauty and would have bought one already if the sights were not impossible for my lousy 53 year old eyes. But I'd have gone for the Parkerized - that's just me, I just don't believe in shiny guns.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you think he should have bought a different one as well.

1911's are a very personal thing. We like to customize them to our own personal taste.
Short of going to a custom gunsmith, or starting with a GI / Mil Spec it is hard to get exactly what you want without going this route.
I have a several 1911's. Most of them have had something done to them. After years of trial and error I keep my changes very simple, because it works for me.

With no disrespect to the OP, why do we ask other people how to spend our money? Buy what you want, shoot it, then make changes as you see fit. If you like the extended slide release then leave it on. If you like the orginal grips then leave them on.

If someone wants to know the impact of a modifications, then by all means this is a great place to find out. But as you can see, asking what you should do will get a whole bunch of "don't do what you did, do this". In the end, it may or may not be what YOU want.
 
This is the great thing about 1911 aficionados is that you can see 100 1911's from 100 different people and each one will be different. There are not many other firearms out there that can look so different yet be "the same".

This is partly the reason for getting into 1911's is the customization capabilities.

The high end guns can get pricey with all the nifty extras but you can build as you go. That's how I started out, found the things I liked and the things I didn't.

My last purchase was my TRP pretty much had everything I always wanted in a 1911.

My next will be one of the new Delta Elites, but I imagine will need some customizing as well. Doesn't seem to have everything that I want.
 
What would yall suggest I do next to the gun? If this was your gun, what would you add or change?
Click to expand...

If that were my gun, I would have left everything else alone and changed out the sights. (Probably would have gone with the Mil Spec.)
 
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