9 mm 1911 reliabilty

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Empe

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I'm pretty new to the 1911 having purchased my first one about two years ago . A Colt 01911C 70 series in .45acp.
I am interested in purchasing another only in 9mm . I am leaning towards a Springfield Armory ...probably the Garrison model . I have read at different times that the 1911 having been built around and specifically for the .45 acp caliber can have reliability issues when chambered in 9mm.
I have a friend with a Kimber 1911 in 9mm and he has had it returned to the factory because of reliability issues and is still having problems.
What has been your experience with 9mm 1911's ?
 
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I have a Springfield 1911 "Stainless Loaded Target" (dumb name) in 9mm and it has never, ever, failed to feed. Not once in 4,327 rounds.

I've shot everything from 115 steel case to 147gr lead bullet reloads. Mine has a ramped barrel, which may help. Not sure if all the Springfield 9mm's do or not.

Edit: Looks like the Garrison does...

"5" Forged Stainless Steel, Match Grade, Fully Supported Ramp, 1:16"

The only thing I didn't like about it: Since there is no firing pin safety, they use a lightweight titanium firing pin and a rather heavy firing pin spring to help prevent the "drop fire" that the original 1911 was prone too...if you dropped it...and it hit the ground muzzle first.

This gave me "light strikes" sometimes with reloads. Factory ammo always fired but did not have a prominent firing pin indentation. I swapped the firing pin spring out for an "extra power" one and it works fine on everything. Not a huge deal.
 
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I’ve got a couple 9mm 1911’s (a Colt O1992 & a NHC Talon), no problems with either. I use Tripp Cobra Mags, they’re “shimmed” in the rear of the mag so the rounds (which are shorter than .45 ACP) are closer to the front (which I assume aids in reliability).
 
S-W4EVER said:
I’ve got a couple 9mm 1911’s (a Colt O1992 & a NHC Talon), no problems with either. I use Tripp Cobra Mags, they’re “shimmed” in the rear of the mag so the rounds (which are shorter than .45 ACP) are closer to the front (which I assume aids in reliability).
Click to expand...

I have Colt mags with the spacer, and Springfield mags without. Both work fine for me.
 
I have a Springfield Armory "Range Officer" in 9MM caliber that I am quite pleased with. Had it about two years now, shoot it often and has been 100% reliable, cast lead hand loads, factory FMJ and defensive ammo. Soft shooting and very accurate, probably the most accurate hand gun I own.



I have been using it lately to introduce new shooters to shooting center fire hand guns. They almost always get good results, then go out and buy some other 9MM pistol, like a Glock. No accounting for taste....
 
Empe said:
I'm pretty new to the 1911 having purchased my first one about two years ago . A Colt 01911C 70 series in .45acp.
I am interested in purchasing another only in 9mm . I am leaning towards a Springfield Armory ...probably the Garrison model . I have read at different times that the 1911 having been built around and specifically for the .45 acp caliber can have reliability issues when chambered in 9mm.
I have a friend with a Kimber 1911 in 9mm and he has had it returned to the factory because of reliability issues and is still having problems.
What has been your experience with 9mm 1911's ?
Click to expand...

I've got a Springfield EMP4 in 9mm, it is a very nice Commander-sized pistol. SA "downsized" the EMP, reducing the grip size a little, basically, resizing the proportions of the entire gun to fit 9mm. I believe the current iteration is the EMP Ronin. I'm not a huge fan of 9mm in any chassis, but it does have its place, I suppose. Holds 10 in the magazine, single stack.

Shown with the full-size:
 

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Funny this should come up since just today I shot for the second time a Springfield Range Officer I recently traded into. It shot without flaw again today and grouped nicely despite the black on black sights it is wearing.

My aging eyes struggle some with black on black and a white dot front might be in the future. So far, it has been totally reliable with the S&B 115 gr. FMJ I've fed it. I have a number of 1911's in .45acp and a Combat Commander in .38 super but this is my first one in 9mm.

So far, it's a winner as far as I'm concerned.
 
There is no reason why a 1911 in a chambering other then 45 ACP would not work properly. While most of my 1911s are 45 ACP pistols, I do have others chambered for 9MM Parabellum, 36 Super, 9x23 Winchester and 10MM Auto.

I have had my Colt Gold Cup Elite IX for probably 30 years now.

GC%20Elite%20IX%20big.jpg


I have not yet had any issues with it and this pistol had a traditional 1911 barrel, not a ramped up one. It shoots tight groups

My 9MM Colt Combat Commander is about 45 years old, but I have only owned it for around 25 years. It too has been a fantastic performer. Right now it is off getting bobtailed and having a few other custom touches performed on it. I will post about it when I get it back. I am contemplating having a 38 Super barrel fitted to it, thus turning it into a 2 cartridge pistol
 
My only 9mm 1911 is this ATI commander. It has been a lot of fun with few problems for many years of solid use. It cost less than $350.
 

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Hair Trigger said:
I've got a Springfield EMP4 in 9mm, it is a very nice Commander-sized pistol. SA "downsized" the EMP, reducing the grip size a little, basically, resizing the proportions of the entire gun to fit 9mm. I believe the current iteration is the EMP Ronin. I'm not a huge fan of 9mm in any chassis, but it does have its place...
Click to expand...

+1. I also have a standard SA EMP 9mm and it is an accurate, reliable, and well-made pistol.
 
The manufacturers have been at this for a long time now and have for the most part worked out the quirks associated with the .9mm in a 1911 platform. You just don't often hear of problems with them anymore. I think Wilson Combat was the first to really tackle the problem. Bill Wilson has said that his 1911's work every bit as well as a .45 in their pistols. The EMP was great because the entire pistol was built around the .9mm cartridge. I have shot several and know lots of folks who own them in a variety of brands and almost never hear of issues.
 
I've had several 9mm 1911s since the '70s, Colts, Springfields, Kimbers, Dan Wessons, and one STI. I admit that back in the day, getting my Colt 9mms to function reliably was sometimes a challenge. But now days, I believe gun and magazine manufacturers, along with ammo manufacturers have this 9mm 1911 reliability thing figured out. My current 9mm 1911s, a Kimber 38 Super to 9mm conversion, and Dan Wesson PM9 just work with any ammo I've used.

In short, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a 9mm 1911 from a trusted manufacturer now days.
 

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I’ve had two Springfields in 9mm. One was an EMP Champion and now I have an Operator Champion. I don’t recall a single malfunction in about 1500 rounds. The only thing, you will often loose a round out of a magazine when removing a partial magazine to do a tactical reload. Not a huge deal because why would you take apart a working gun in a gunfight anyway?
 
I bought a Colt Series 70 9mm Government Model about 25 years ago. It had a fair amount of customization done. From what I remember it has been a good shooter and very reliable.
 
Dan Wesson....the very best gov size 9mm 1911.

I have a few and shot 10s thousand round through my main competitor Wraith with a comp. I load major.

You need to tune mags, I clip 1 to 1.5 coils off the springs and after that not a malfunction in 1000s rounds.

I go for Metalform, NOT Wilson. I load to 10 rounds full mag and they run and run and run...
 
A few years ago I bought a used RIA FS 9mm because it was inexpensive and I wanted to try the 9mm in a 1911. I have been amazed at the accuracy and performance.

I had one problem with some reloads I did, but I figured out the problem and it has been flawless since. It was always flawless with factory.

I highly recommend the combination. I usually shoot both a 45 and a 9 when I go to the range and the recoil difference is noticeable. I now shoot the 45 first.
 
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