New owner of a S&W 1911. Was wondering if there is a recommended kit? Or anyone had personal experience successful or other with any? This my first 1911 and have no experience with this.

Thanks

If you have a full size 1911 (5") in .45 cal. then a Marvel or Wilson Combat kit will work great with 22LR high velocity ammo. Semi-auto rimfires can be picky with ammo.
Welcome to the furum.

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2nd Admen.-Right to bear AR 's

Kimbers conversion kit works well..
Good luck and welcome

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I have a new 1911 E series and put on a Wilson Combat 22 conversion. I have not found an ammo that will feed yet. I'm going to polish the feed ramp and start over on my ammo search. If anyboby has suggestions let me know. Thanks

I have a few Ceiner kits. One required a send back to work right and they do not hold the slide after the last shot. I have a Colt conversion unit for a 1970 series. It isn't that accurate and requires careful, frequent cleaning to insure function.

My favorite is an Advantage Arms. It is very accurate and functions flawlessly with most any hi speed ammo. The 22 conversion operates exactly like the regular pistol including the slide stop. I also bought two more Advantage Arms units for my Glocks.

my father has an advantage arms. long as you use the right ammo it works and its VERY picky about ammo. long as remmington never stops making golden bullets i think its ok.

My brother-in-law has a Ciener I believe, and he seems to be having pretty good luck with it. Wouldn't mind getting one for my S&W 1911, but haven't been able to justify the cost over getting another .22 handgun. Anywho, the top three that I see get the most praise are (and in no particular order): Marvel Unit 1, Advantage Arms, and Tactical Solutions. The Advantage Arm ones are apparently hard to get as last I read on the net was their were in heavy production of Glock .22 conversion kits and 1911 kits have been put on the back burner.

I've got a Kimber conversion for my Smith 1911 and have had good luck with it.

I have two Ciener conversions. One for a full sized Colt 1911 and one for a Commander sized 1911. Both have worked perfectly from day one with any ammo tried and are very accurate. I purchased additional magazines from Ciener and they too have worked perfectly. Mr. Ciener is IMHO, an odd duck that marches to the sound of his own drums. I met him at a SHOT Show and started to tell him how much I liked his product; I got out no more than, "I have two of your conversions and.....". Mr. Ciener gave a, "humpf" and walked off. :-) ......... Big Cholla

describing him as an "odd duck" is sorta like describing a Nimitz class carrier as a "big boat".

He is rude and abrasive on the phone often.

That being said, I like his products.

I have the Advantage Arms target model. It favors CCI 40 grain round nose bullets. Hollow points such as W 333 will tend to hit the feed ramp.
It works great and when it does bobble it just needs a little oil.
AA's web site states it is not making the target model any more. I purchased mine from a member on this board.

Bruce

I have a Ciever, two Marvels, a Jarvis and a Tactical Solutions conversion kit. I also did have an original Colt unit.

The original Colt unit is all steel, plinker in terms of accuracy and has a floating chamber which is a pain in the neck to clean.

My Ciener unit came with a smoothbore barrel which they replaced. It has functioned well with several ammo brands. Accuracy wise it is slightly better than the original Colt unit. Customer service is nonexistent as I found out with my Ciener Glock17 unit. The Ciener magazines are well made.

The Marvel unit#1 is a favorite of the bullseye shooters, superbly accurate, extremely reliable with SV ammo, slide is aluminum and does not lock back after firing the last round. This is my favorite unit. I have one set up with iron sights and the other with a red dot. You can purchase an extra heavy recoil spring and use the Federal copper washed bulk pack HV HP ammo.

The Jarvis unit is all steel, prefers CCI MiniMag or Remington Golden Bullet, slide does lock back after last round, it has been discontinued. Accuracy better than Ciener or Colt but nowhere near that of Marvel #1.

The Tactical Solutions unit is an improvement on the original Jarvis, superbly machined from steel, somewhat picky in terms of ammo preference, CCI MiniMags work very well, some problems with getting the slide to lock back after the last round. The barrel rib extention does case an occassional ejection failre. Accuracy is on a par with the afformentioned Jarvis unit.

I have an Advantage Arms unit for the Glock-17. It will function reliably with CCI MiniMags or Remington Golden - you have to put up with the usual ignition failures using Remington Golden.

Hope the above helps you choose an appropriate unit.

Mine is a '70's era Colt unit. It is the second one I have owned, and I have been pleased with both.

Extra magazines are pricey (over $40), but work well. In fact, the newer Colt conversion mags seem to work a bit better than the old ones, and you can remove the floor plates for easier cleaning than the older ones.

Contrary to the experience of others, I get a few hundred rounds (over 300 anyway) out of mine before cleaning is needed to ensure reliable function. Wally World Federal bulk works fine, but the hotter the ammo, the better for reliability and reduced fouling.

All steel construction provides weight in the hand that duplicates the .45 for heft and handling from the leather. Locks open on the last round, so reloading practice is the same.

The floating chamber does not truly duplicate .45 ACP recoil, but does come fairly close to 9mm/.38 Super. Enough for realism, anyway, and far better than units that rely upon an aluminum slide to enable the piddly .22LR energy to provide sufficient energy to ensure function.

Here are mine, a Kimber Rimfire Target, a Kimber Pro Carry II with a Commander size Marvel Unit 1, and a Taurus PT1911 with a Kimber conversion.

The Kimber's took a couple hundred rounds to loosen up, but will shoot about anything now. They love CCI Blazers.
The Marvel likes CCI SV and Fed AutoMatch.
Kimbers will shoot 1.5" at 25 from a rest, the Marvel cuts that in half.
I like shooting them all, best of luck on your choice!

Thank you all for the responses and excellent information.

I will let you know what I end up with and report back on function

Thanks again

I have the Ceiner platinum set up on a SA black stainless. Very accurate and reliable with almost all ammo. My favorite is the Federal bulk pack. Mags hold 15. Slides doesn't lock back.

My friend has the Marvel, it has been to the factory and still doesn't run worth beans.