Another First 1911 Thread

[Quinn]

Was bit by the 1911 bug a long time ago. A brand new Colt Rail Gun found its way into my local gun store and I couldnt help myself. Put it on lay away, should be picking it up before the end of the month.

I carry a glock 19 and will most likely continue carrying it. I am just asking M4C what I should do differently (besides clean and lube) with my 1911. What are some nuances of the platform that I should be warned about?

Thanks.

[montanadave]

Beyond the obligatory "use the search button" recommendation, one place to start is reading the articles posted on the 10-8 Performance website (http://www.10-8performance.com/pages/1911-User%27s-Guide.html).

I will now defer to those members who really know their shit about 1911s, as I'm still on the steep side of the learning curve myself.

[Quinn]

lol forgot to mention, I did hit the search button. Most threads were "what should my first 1911 be"

[m1a_scoutguy]

Hey there,,,Congrats on a Great Choice in a 1911,,can't go wrong with a Colt !! Without getting into a bunch of stuff right off the bat,the MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do is buy QUALITY MAGS ! There are many out there,,but I use and Love the Wilson ETM 8 RD mags,,,go to Wilson Combat,,,they are on Sale at the moment !! Lots of guys like the Chip McCormick Power mags,Tripp 8 RD mags !! They are great mags,,I just have never used them so I can't say,,but have heard they are great ! I'm just partial to the Wilson ETMs ! Other than that,,get it home,,take it apart,check everything,make sure its is lubed correctlly,,buy a bunch of ammo and shoot the heck out of it then report back !!!! ;)

[glocktogo]

+1 for the Wilson mags. If you're going to add a magwell, the ETM's are great. If not, I prefer the 47D's. The ambi safety that comes on the CRG is oddly proportioned and not all that comfortable. I prefer the Wilson Bulletproof safety. Other than that, clean it, lube it and shoot it as much as you can. It's a great pistol!

[Wake27]

+1 for the Wilson mags. If you're going to add a magwell, the ETM's are great. If not, I prefer the 47D's. The ambi safety that comes on the CRG is oddly proportioned and not all that comfortable. I prefer the Wilson Bulletproof safety. Other than that, clean it, lube it and shoot it as much as you can. It's a great pistol!

Couldn't agree more. There's plenty on here about 1911s but for the CRG specifically, that's my biggest suggestion. I was going to do my absolute best not to swap anything or have any work done on it until I had shot a few thousand rounds and was ready to dump about $1k into it, but the thumb safety gave me a nice blister in the web of my hand one day after a few hundred rounds. Between that and the odd proportionality, I decided to have a local, reputable smith install a WC BP single-sided safety. It feels incredible, the safety is so smooth and well-finished and the fit is awesome. I don't know how much of it is from the actual part and how much is from the solid installation, but as soon as I got it back I went on Brownells and started finding a bunch of other BP parts. I think I'll upgrade my grip safety and trigger next, and continue to shoot it before going in on that major smith job.

I bought mine to be a project gun though. It really doesn't need any upgrades and mine has always run reliably with ETM's (granted I only have about 554 rounds through it which makes me sad). I also put some Novak night sights on it that I found used on here for cheap and have some VZ Aliens in the mail.

[Quinn]

I appreciate the advise thus far, this was purchased as a project pistol but in the meantime I will be shooting it, stripping it, dry firing ect..

Not concerned about parts yet.

I am inquiring into the Do's and Dont's of the platform that I might not know because of my limited experience.

The 10-8 link was very helpfull (thanks montanadacve) and pretty much what I was looking for, just looking for other nuggets of gold

[blackscot]

I'll weight in.

I've always maintained my 1911's quite differently from the various plastic-fantastic Glocks, M&P's, etc. Their simple, quick, and easy swab with CLP just doesn't seem adequate for a 1911's steel-on-steel design.

I use full-strength Hoppes to strip the soot. Thoroughly wipe off all residue, including using pipe cleaners to get deep into the rails and other hard-to-reach surfaces. I always detail strip the slide regardless of the number of rounds, and run pipe cleaners through the firing-pin and extractor channels. The frame gets detail stripped between 500 and 1000 rounds, depending on how dirty the loads I'm using are. (I shoot a lot of low-power match loads that leave a lot of soot.)

After cleaning, the mag catch and fire-control parts (trigger, sear, etc.) get a drop of light oil. All heavy-wear surfaces, however, get a generous coating of a good gun grease (I like Rig). This includes the rails, locking lugs on both the barrel and slide, inside of the barrel bushing and along the outside section of the barrel it rides on, barrel link hole and the part of the slide-lock lever it rides on, and the contact surfaces between the hammer and underside of the slide.

Cycling of the 1911 involves a lot of surface-area contact. Although CLP and similar wipe-n-go products work fine for striker-fired plastic-framed guns, they seem to me to get "shot out" very quickly on the 1911 platform. Grease hangs onto the high-speed surfaces a lot longer, and hopefully is keeping my current slabsides from loosening up any faster than is inevitable.

FWIW.....

Enjoy shooting your first "real gun".

[Joe Mamma]

Be careful whenever you put the slide stop back into the gun. Avoid scratching your gun and leaving the "1911 idiot mark." You can google it if you don't know what it is.

Joe Mamma

[smoky]

One of the most dangerous things you can do as a 1911 owner is look through the Brownell's catalog with your credit card nearby...

[7 RING]

One of the most dangerous things you can do as a 1911 owner is look through the Brownell's catalog with your credit card nearby...

That is a fact! :agree:

[CAVDOC]

I think detail stripping in general, and for someone new to the platform in particular is not a good idea and is rarely needed for any reason. Good mags are a must and Wilson's get good reviews but some of mine have started to act up- they are 20 years old mind you with minimal care. For the budget minded metalforms work well and are under 20 bucks each. I prefer an American made 1911 so lean to Colts, and with a bit of patience a good colt can be Found for under 700 bucks. Springfields have a good reputation despite being foreign made, and the same can be said for rock island.

[MoCop]

The only "nuances" you might run into are that it is much heavier than your glock and holds less ammo. But once you shoot it, you'll probably forget about those little intricacies ;). ole slabsides is a great gun and one I'm sure you will enjoy. oh and don't forget to lube the thing. It needs just a little more than your glock.:cool:

[Quinn]

Thanks for all the advice! Going to pick it up today, Christmas is coming early! Is slip2000 not appropriate?

[Martin_B]

Sliip 2000 is fine. I've been using M Pro 7 with great results. Keep it well lubed and enjoy the trigger pull =)

[duece71]

Be careful whenever you put the slide stop back into the gun. Avoid scratching your gun and leaving the "1911 idiot mark." You can google it if you don't know what it is.

Joe Mamma

Sounds like I am an idiot. I wonder if my village has called..............

[David Thomas]

I carry a glock 19 and will most likely continue carrying it. I am just asking M4C what I should do differently (besides clean and lube) with my 1911. What are some nuances of the platform that I should be warned about?

Thanks.

That is exactly where most people, who are new to the platform, screw up. 7 Ring and Smoky are right. Leave it alone unless you know what you are doing. A properly set up 1911 can be run dirty. If it doesn't run then look at it and find out why. In the meantime, there is vast amounts of material to read and study. Also there are a handful of courses, such as Larry's, 10-8, Rodgers, Ned Christiansen's course and probably others I forgot that can teach you what to look for and how to fix it. The inernet is full of people that know and those that don't know. Get your information from a vetted source and you will be better off.

Contrary to internet myths, a 1911 can run fine dirty as sin:
Wilson XTAC
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/310rev.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/113slide-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/577-2.jpg

Customized Colt:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/021-6-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/023-5-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/077.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/030-1.jpg

dry as a bone and dirty (not recommended):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/DavidThomas/007-7.jpg