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1911 musings

1K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  hvymax 
#1 ·
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 ???
 
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#2 ·
Yes.

Does that help? LOL. Sorry I'm no good with this one.
 
#6 ·
1911s are modular, like ARs. You need ALL those uppers, a selection of ejectors and magazines to match, and a fitted carry case with space for everything. And a new Nowlin EDM oversize bbl and a NM bushing for the Norinco. See, now that was an easy decision, wasn't it? :rockin:
 
#8 ·
For your further consideration:

baseline:
.45 ACP +P: 230 grain at 950fps 461ftlbs

the contenders:
.460 Rowland: 230 grain at 1,340fps 917ftlbs
.38 Casull: 124 grain at 1,800fps 892ftlbs

for comparison:
.45 Win Mag: 200 grain at 1450fps 934ftlbs
.44 Magnum: 240 grain at 1260fps 848 ftlbs

the weak sisters:
10mm: 180 grain at 1220fps 595ftlbs
.41 Avenger: 210gr @ 1,100fps
.45 Super: 230 grain at 1,100 fps 618ftlbs
.400 CorBon: 150 grain at 1350fps 607ftlbs
.357 Sig: 125 grain at 1480fps 608ftlb
.357 Magnum: 158 grain at 1400fps 688ftlb (Coonan!)

The Casull is a weird child; it came and went a few years ago without much interest. Dies are still available for it, though. It's basically just the old .38/45 Clerke, except loaded hot-Hot-HOT.

As far as muzzle energy the Casull and Rowland are practically identical; the little .38 bullet's psychotic velocity makes its numbers look good. The other loads are representative; you can find hotter and milder numbers listed if you look.
 
#9 ·
Sarco had some surplus stainless Para 6" long slides in stock for $225. One is on the way.

Para is on Clark Custom's "recommended" list, so it ought to hold up OK.

Downsides: the Para slide uses different sight cuts from my existing slide, so I can't just move them over, and it takes the larger-diameter "PXT" style extractor, which requires a sleeve to take a standard extractor. [sigh] Always something...

I also took a wild fling and got one of the 6" "Roto" barrels along with it. I've seen a number of posts saying the Rotos are mismachined, that they're castings with soldered-in liners, etc. Sarco claims they're hammer-forged. I'll give it the hairy eyeball and whip the calipers out, and if I don't like the look of it I'll send it back. I don't expect to get a premium quality barrel for $57, but brand-name 6" barrels are going for four to five times that much. For $57 I'll accept "meets USGI print."

Yeah. If it looks OK I'm going to run the chambering reamer in and run .460 through it.
 
#10 ·
Does anybody make a rail top slide for the 1911 or at least a flat top that could be milled into a picatinny? I think it would be great. At least a section ahead of the rear sight for a microdot. I think that would be better than a proprietary setup that needs a gunsmith to set up of to change to a different model. Taller sights to Cowitness would be perfect especially if you ever suppress it.
 
#11 ·
I'm sure I've seen a screw-on rail somewhere... but as long as you have a flat top slide (not that unusual now), there's no reason you can't just add your own. You can even get steel rails now as well as aluminum.

A reflex sight makes good practical sense, particularly with my aging eyes, but I just can't get past the "that looks too weird" part yet.
 
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