I have two 1911s. One is a black Parkerized Norinco, built by real Communists (almost extinct...), that's my "go-to" gun. I point it, a hole appears where I wanted it. It almost makes me look like I can handle a pistol...
Though I vowed never to change anything on it, it has the typical Norinco "soft barrel" problem. While it is still accurate and reliable, there's visible setback on the locking lugs. The barrel will have to be replaced. I've been looking at Clark Custom's .460 Rowland conversion, which is a stretched .45 case loaded up a bit hotter than .44 Magnum. The Clark kit runs $300-ish, for the barrel, new recoil spring, and the compensator, which they insist is mandatory to keep from beating the gun to death. But I've been looking at that kit for almost two years now, and that compensator is just triple-coyote-fugly. Much as I yearn for Magnum goodness, that comp is a deal-breaker.
It probably *is* necessary; Wilson made a standard 5" slide gun in .460 without a comp. They withdrew it after a while. Word was they were getting beaten up pretty bad.
Set that aside for a moment.
The other 1911 is a work-in-progress. A Government Model Caspian frame in stainless, .45 feed ramp, a stainless .45 slide with no rollmarks and nice sights, a gunsmith-fit Storm lake .45 barrel, a gunsmith-fit Briley spherical bushing, and a bag of stainless and titanium bits. Not enough to assemble a complete gun yet; I've been saving my shekels and buying decent-quality pieces here and there.
So... I could steal the barrel and bushing from the project gun and put them in the Nork. Then I build the project gun in a more righteous caliber.
How to avoid the fugly comp? LAR made a 6" .45 Win Mag without a comp. Mostly standard-interchangeable 1911 bits. They also made a version in .50AE. net.lore says that with a long slide you use a much weaker recoil spring, even with .45 Super and 10mm.
I have almost talked myself into selling the 5" slide and buying a 6" slide. I'm fairly confident the .460 would run in a 6" gun without problems; LAR did it, and the .45WM is a tad hotter than the .460.
A small but vocal subset of the Voices insists that if I'm going to buy another slide and barrel, I might as well go for a 4.25 or 3.5" size and put together a sweatproof CCW gun. Though the majority of them are chanting ".38 Super!", there seems to be a subgroup pushing for 9x23...
Anyone else want to put their oar in? Longslide or Officer, .460 or ???
Though I vowed never to change anything on it, it has the typical Norinco "soft barrel" problem. While it is still accurate and reliable, there's visible setback on the locking lugs. The barrel will have to be replaced. I've been looking at Clark Custom's .460 Rowland conversion, which is a stretched .45 case loaded up a bit hotter than .44 Magnum. The Clark kit runs $300-ish, for the barrel, new recoil spring, and the compensator, which they insist is mandatory to keep from beating the gun to death. But I've been looking at that kit for almost two years now, and that compensator is just triple-coyote-fugly. Much as I yearn for Magnum goodness, that comp is a deal-breaker.
It probably *is* necessary; Wilson made a standard 5" slide gun in .460 without a comp. They withdrew it after a while. Word was they were getting beaten up pretty bad.
Set that aside for a moment.
The other 1911 is a work-in-progress. A Government Model Caspian frame in stainless, .45 feed ramp, a stainless .45 slide with no rollmarks and nice sights, a gunsmith-fit Storm lake .45 barrel, a gunsmith-fit Briley spherical bushing, and a bag of stainless and titanium bits. Not enough to assemble a complete gun yet; I've been saving my shekels and buying decent-quality pieces here and there.
So... I could steal the barrel and bushing from the project gun and put them in the Nork. Then I build the project gun in a more righteous caliber.
How to avoid the fugly comp? LAR made a 6" .45 Win Mag without a comp. Mostly standard-interchangeable 1911 bits. They also made a version in .50AE. net.lore says that with a long slide you use a much weaker recoil spring, even with .45 Super and 10mm.
I have almost talked myself into selling the 5" slide and buying a 6" slide. I'm fairly confident the .460 would run in a 6" gun without problems; LAR did it, and the .45WM is a tad hotter than the .460.
A small but vocal subset of the Voices insists that if I'm going to buy another slide and barrel, I might as well go for a 4.25 or 3.5" size and put together a sweatproof CCW gun. Though the majority of them are chanting ".38 Super!", there seems to be a subgroup pushing for 9x23...
Anyone else want to put their oar in? Longslide or Officer, .460 or ???