Range report S&W 1911 Pro Series .45

[waltherguy]

I went to the range today and happily can report my new S&W 1911 shoots as good as it looks. I picked it up yesterday and love how it feels in my hand. It is a .45 cal 3" barrel two toned with rosewood stocks. It should be a nice ultra conceal firearm. This is definitely a keeper.

 

[t-bird]

Thanks for the info and pics. Best of luck and enjoy your new toy.

 

[zenner22]

I've got one exactly like yours and took mine out for the first time last week. Only put a box through it but it fed fine. One failure to return to battery at about round 50 but thumb pressure at the rear of the slide locked it up fine. I should also point out I didn't field strip and clean before the range. I put a couple drops of clp on the rails on range day, so one small ftrb did not disappoint at all. Accuracy to 15 yards was right on, when I backed it up to 25 yards I had to slow down and concentrate to get good hits. But when I did my part the pistol did just fine.

Recoil isn't too bad, but you know you ain't firing a 22! I like the gun, nice lightweight, compact firepower. It's a nice package. The Lew Horton edition also looks fantastic.

 

[waltherguy]

Good feedback on your initial range experience and I agree it looks great and is a good weapon. I am looking for some night sights for my Pro Series gun.

 

[jgreiner]

I went to the range today and happily can report my new S&W 1911 shoots as good as it looks. I picked it up yesterday and love how it feels in my hand. It is a .45 cal 3" barrel two toned with rosewood stocks. It should be a nice ultra conceal firearm. This is definitely a keeper.

Congrats....that's one sweet little gun!!! I too, am EXTREMELY happy with my S&W 1911sc E series bobtail......the gun shoots far better than I can (it actually makes me look almost like a marksman). In fact, my old Ruger Mark l WAS my most accurate gun......until I go this one. All i can say is WOW!!! And the .45 does make nice BIG HOLES in the paper.

 

[jgreiner]

Good feedback on your initial range experience and I agree it looks great and is a good weapon. I am looking for some night sights for my Pro Series gun.

My S&W 1911 has the Trijicon night sights. They are unbelievably good!!!! For day OR night use.

 

[icemn]

Picked mine up a short while ago. Very nice little package. Carries great, shoots great and is very accurate with WWB ball. But- I'm getting feeding issues with Speer GDHP 230 gr. I've tried both the factory mags and Wilsons. It doesn't look like it's the mags.. I've got some Federal Hydra Shocks coming in 230 gr and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If they don't work, it's back to the factory. Can anyone share their experience with carry ammo?

 

[Jim PHL]

Very nice gun. Reminds me of my Springfield Micro-compact I used to own (and wish I still had!). There are many posts regarding the reliability of 3" 1911's but mine was 100% with every round I tried in it.

icemn; keep experimenting with ammo but I will just mention that from a 3" barrel expansion may be hit-or-miss anyway. As stated my Micro shot all kinds of ammo but I usually carried ball in it anyway.

 

[Ranger98]

I have had pretty good luck with Winchester 230 gr.JHP in mine.No feeding issues.

 

[icemn]

Tried the 230 gr Hydra Shoks and no more feeding problems.

Speed GDHP is on the left and Hydra Shok is on the right. The Speer bullet appears to be more rounded and the Hydra Shok looks more tapered.

Jim Phl, Ranger- thanks for your comments.

 

[knucklebuster69]

I too have a Lew Horton sw1911 pro compact, I've only fired 50 rounds through it so far, but it is a sweet shooting little cannon! I shot at 21feet at first, just to see if I could still shoot...turns out after 15 years, I actually can still shoot then I took it to 25 feet, did just fine, then 50 feet, still right on the money. I was surprised how accurate a pistol with a 3" barrel could be. Very dependable weapon. Light, quick, easy to handle, recoil is noticeably more pronounced than a full frame pistol, but not so bad as to cause it to be a control issue. I like mine a lot! It's a keeper for sure!

 

[Ironbark]

I just picked up this exact model yesterday to replace my pk380 as a ccw. I havent hit the range yet .... in fact there is such a ammo shortage right now I have been to 3 seperate gun shops and can't find any .45 acp for sale!!
It's great to hear about the positive reviews tho, It's such a beautiful little gun I'd be heartbroken if it was a lemon.

cheers,

IB

 

[dougthug]

I stumbled onto one of the Lew Horton models a few months ago & really had no knowledge about them just thought it looked bad-*** in the case.
After looking at it for a while & feeling how lightweight it was although I was a little apprehensive of the price I decided to go for it that day....impulse buy or not I'm so happy I bought it.
I've shot over 800 rounds thru her so far, mostly 230 grain "anything" that's cheap & its eatn it up like a champ.
Got new Larry Davidson grips & a nice lightweight FIST kydex holster & I've been carrying it ever since.
Really love this 1911 a lot more than I ever thought I would.