9mm 1911s

[hardluk1]

I have been shooting 1911's in 45 since '76 buying my first one when I turned 21 and carried 2 models of a 1911 lw commander in 45 for CC since '86 .

I have tried a couple 9mm 4.25" 1911's but sold them not long after . Never felt that a single stack 9mm offer anything good enough for me to carry . I have had a 40sw cartidge since '90 and have a couple m&p's as a carry option going back 11 years for the oldest one .

When I feel that I can no longer train with ether cartridge as I want to I will at that time move to a 9mm and we have a several in oiur house . Once close to stock , a m&p 9c . A m&p core my wife bought with apex upgrades added and a compact 4" . Two are optic ready with thumb safety so the short reset light triggers feel more like a 1911 we both know well . One of my wife's CC's is a kimber ultra 9mm .

Now with FPC in the house there's a couple 23 round mags for back carry too . The CORE we have after the easy to fit apex gun smith barrel upgrades is a solid 1.25" 5 shot 25 yard pistol fired from a rest in my hands so there's not much for a even a high end 9mm 1911 to match much less to do better .

 

[AJ]

Grab A Gun has the Ruger on sale for $599.99.

Ruger SR1911 For Sale 9mm 6794 736676067947 5 9 Round

I like the Ruger, but I bought it's big brother the SR1911 10MM. I reload, so I can load it down or load it hot. Mine has been ported.

 

[SuperMan]

Bh...just wonder what you planning on using the gun for...

CC
Home Defense
Target Shooting
Camping/animal defense
Plinking

Have bunch of 1911s that run 9mm and .38 Super from a 3" Defender to 6" Longslide... Tisas, Kimber, Colt, PARA-USA, SIG, steel frame, aluminum frame.

If you want tritium night sights I would suggest most anything that has a Novak cut on the slide for sights. My favorite is the TruGlo TFX/TFX-PRO for 1911 carry guns as the tritium/FO dots always look the same in all light conditions...

Bob

 

[Bhfromme]

Thanks Bob. Since starting this thread I've purchased a 9mm Springfield Operator. I've had some failure to ejects with 115 grain ammo so I'm breaking the gun in with 124 and 147gr hoping the problem ejecting the lighter 115s will go away as the gun loosens up a little. I've only got about 200 rounds through it and it's already a little better. Love the gun though. Especially the sights.

Since I'm the OP here I'm going to drift a little. I've got a Colt Government Classic in .45 ACP. Great gun. Part of me wants to keep it original but my eyes aren't getting any younger and I love tritium on the front. I'm thinking maybe a Novak tritium dovetail on the front and keep the original on the rear? What would you do?

 

[SuperMan]

...I'm to the same point as you which is why more and more of my guns have tritium, FO or TI/FO at least in the front...

My main carry guns all have TI/FO...

If you can't see the front sight, either have one put in you can or sell the gun and get a .45 that is already dovetailed....

Bob

 

[Bhfromme]

I had shooting glasses specially made for me. They're basically upside down bifocals. With my shooting glasses on I view the front sight through the top portion of the lenses and then just have to tip my head up to see the target. I had them made so the top third is the close range prescription and the bottom two thirds is is medium range. They work great but I still love a tritium front sight.

 

[AJ]

Since I'm the OP here I'm going to drift a little. I've got a Colt Government Classic in .45 ACP. Great gun. Part of me wants to keep it original but my eyes aren't getting any younger and I love tritium on the front. I'm thinking maybe a Novak tritium dovetail on the front and keep the original on the rear? What would you do?

it is your gun for you to do as you want. If it was worth more as a collectable then sell it and get one that you will not mind modifying. I have an original Series 70 Gold Cup National Match .45 ACP that I have lightened the trigger on and changes the grips, but have the original grips marked to the gun in my spare parts box. I have a 1958 Colt .38 Super Government Model that was customized back in the day. The frame now has three slides for it. One slide is for .38 Special, .38 Super, .40 Cal. and 9MM. The next silde is for a .45 ACP barrel. The third slide is a Colt Conversion Unit in .22 LR. So you see it is your choice.

 

[AJ]

Thanks Bob. Since starting this thread I've purchased a 9mm Springfield Operator. I've had some failure to ejects with 115 grain ammo so I'm breaking the gun in with 124 and 147gr hoping the problem ejecting the lighter 115s will go away as the gun loosens up a little. I've only got about 200 rounds through it and it's already a little better. Love the gun though. Especially the sights.

If you keep having problems with the 115's and those are what you want to shoot them lighten the recoil spring. If not them move on to a different bullet weight. Be sure however, to use lube on the piece. See more malfunctions due to lack of lubricant than ammo failures during local matches. When I was working with some law enforcement agencies a long time ago, We would not let a gun on the street until it had 250 trouble free rounds through it. If it got to 249 and stove piped, double fed or whatever the count started all over again.

 

[Bhfromme]

Thanks. I've been using Lucas oil on the slide and barrel. Not sure how to lighten the recoil spring but I'll see what I can dig up online. But the gun is new so I'm not going to do anything until I've put 5 or 600 rounds through it.

 

[AJ]

Thanks. I've been using Lucas oil on the slide and barrel. Not sure how to lighten the recoil spring but I'll see what I can dig up online. But the gun is new so I'm not going to do anything until I've put 5 or 600 rounds through it.

M1911 style recoil springs come in different weights. A normal recoil spring weight is 16 pounds for the .45 ACP. The 9MM uses a 14 pound spring. I have a bunch of different weight springs in my parts box. https://www.gunsprings.com/COLT/1911+GOV'T+PISTOL/cID1/mID1/dID1
Try these folks as I like their product and are reasonably priced.

 

[Bhfromme]

M1911 style recoil springs come in different weights. A normal recoil spring weight is 16 pounds for the .45 ACP. The 9MM uses a 14 pound spring. I have a bunch of different weight springs in my parts box. https://www.gunsprings.com/COLT/1911+GOV'T+PISTOL/cID1/mID1/dID1
Try these folks as I like their product and are reasonably priced.

Oh yeah, I am online. Thanks!

 

[Bhfromme]

So AJ, there's a 14 in there now. Will going to 12 even be noticeable or should I jump down to 10? A side benefit here is lightening the spring should increase the recoil I would think. Personally, I find the wimpy little kick from 9mm kinda boring.

 

[Bhfromme]

And when do you reach the point of needing the more powerful firing pin spring? I'm hoping that the OEM firing pin spring will be fine just dropping from 14 to 12 or even 10.

 

[AJ]

So AJ, there's a 14 in there now. Will going to 12 be noticeable or should I jump down to 10? A side benefit here is lightening the spring should increase the recoil I would think. Personally, I find the wimpy little kick from 9mm kinda boring.

Bill,

Will the gun cycle at all with the 115 bullets? If it does 75% of the time I would try the 12#. If less than that I may go to the 10#. My bullet of choice in the 9MM is a 147 grain. We used those in our Beretta's and HK's when I was in the Corps. If you do elect to go to the lighter bullet/spring set up, I would put a buffer in to reduce the impact of the slide to the frame during recoil.

 

[Drm50]

I’ve only had one 1911 in 9mm. It was a new Commander bought in early 70s. At same time I had new M39 & new Brn.HP. To make long story short the HP was most accurate off bags, M39 easiest to shoot well offhand. The Colt was bottom on accuracy for several reasons but the one thing it would do is fire anything you shoved in it. That was not my goal so I sent that little pig down the road and never got another 9mm/ 1911 type pistol.

 

[Bhfromme]

It cycles every time with the 115s. I would just stick with the heavier bullets but my accuracy seems considerably better with 115 compared to the 124s and especially the 147s. I'm not working with a large sample but it appears that way so far with just a few dozen rounds.

But slamming more force on that frame can't be a good thing. I'm hoping once the gun loosens up it'll extract everything and this all becomes a moot point.

 

[AJ]

And when do you reach the point of needing the more powerful firing pin spring? I'm hoping that the OEM firing pin spring will be fine just dropping from 14 to 12 or even 10.

Have never had to replace a firing pin spring. Have several spares, just in case they are needed.

Recoil spring I have replaced from time to time. When I shot IPSC, I used a 12 # with a buffer. Did the same for Bullseye Competition. When shooting hot loads have used an 18# spring. Have made my own by cutting coils off a 16# spring until I got the pistol to function.

 

[AJ]

It cycles every time with the 115s. I would just stick with the heavier bullets but my accuracy seems considerably better with 115 compared to the 124s and especially the 147s. I'm not working with a large sample but it appears that way so far with just a few dozen rounds.

But slamming more force on that frame can't be a good thing. I'm hoping once the gun loosens up it'll extract everything and this all becomes a moot point.

If it is cycling the 115's everytime, I would just leave it alone. To me as long as I can keep everything in a six inch bull at 25 yards it is all good. The 9MM to me was never a "target gun". As long as it shoots"minute of chest" at 25 or so yards it is good.

My preferred pistol is a .45 ACP for both target and serious work.

 

[Rock185]

Bh, I had bifocals set up as you describe before I had cataract surgery. Those glasses actually did work well. FWIW, I've routinely used 14#-16# recoil springs with 5" 9mm 1911s for years. But, a couple of my 1911s came with factory 10# recoil springs. Those two functioned reliably with even the lightest loads, as I'm sure the manufacturers intended. But I rarely used the lightest loads, hence the heavier springs I used..

 

[LVSteve]

It cycles every time with the 115s.

HUH? I thought it wasn't extracting? A gun that malfunctions in any way is not cycling for me.