HOW TO MAKE A 9MM 1911 RUN RELIABLY WITH HOLLOW POINT AMMUNITION
I have been a big proponent of the 9mm 1911 for many years. Nothing quite fits my hand and points like a 1911. In my previous assignments I have had the opportunity to shoot at length just about all of the handguns commonly used by police officers. Yet I have stayed with the 1911 because of its superior ergonomics and its safety features
The first 20 years of my career I carried a 1911 chambered in .45 . However, I have to confess the torque and muzzle flip of that big round always bothered me a bit, particularly shooting one handed.
I have not been impressed with the “stopping power” of handguns (as compared to a shotgun or rifle) and have felt that I would be better served with a handgun round that I could hit faster and more often with (within reason). Further, in this age of the “third generation hollow point ” I suspect many tactical shooters are better served with a 9mm. In fact some police departments are going back to this round because there officers tend to shoot higher qualification scores with a “9 - particularly with women and smaller stature males.
I understand many will not agree with me, but these have been my observations.
After much trail and error; this is the combination I have found that works and will provide a 9mm 1911 that is combat reliable.
A 5" inch gun (more on a commander length later).
Stock Recoil Spring
Make sure that your slide has a true 9mm/38 super breach face, some Kimbers, Springfields maybe others may have a wider breach face (.40/10mm) and the extractor has been bent “way over” in order to engage the 9mm cartridge rim - this will cause problems.
I usually polish my breach faces so they are nice a smooth.
Wilson Nowlin Ramped Barrel (standard profile /bushing configuration)
EGW Heavy Duty Extractor - properly tensioned with a bit it of polishing (these are fairly new and I have been using them in my latest builds)
Extended Ejector - the shape of the tip does not seem to be so important - if you have erratic or weak ejection it most likely is a lack of proper extractor tension.
Most important the “magazine” - I have tried them all, you name them I have tried them. The one that works; the one that correctly feeds the round smoothly and keeps the round “trapped” so that a loaded round does not pop out of the top and also so a partially filled magazine can drop free is the Metalform Springfield 9mm Magazine with the integral ramp that spaces the rounds to the rear.
With one caveat: I disassemble the magazine and with my Dremel Tool using the round gray abrasive polishing wheel (its not a stone but some sort of softer abrasive polishing substance) I polish and open up the last 1/3 of the magazine lips so the round releases earlier. From the factory the Metalform magazine lips are parallel to each other and are approximately .335 apart. You want to gradually open the lips - only polishing the last 1/3 length of each lip so at the end where the cartridge is released you are at about .350 - .355. I usually get my polishing wheel to where it will fit in the magazine and under the lips and polish from there. I frequently stop and measure until the lips reach the desired distance apart. I did not figure this out myself a gunsmith who specializes in building 9mm 1911 told me the “secret”. I also usually polish the magazine integral feed ramp so it is nice and shiny.
Modifying the magazine is very easy and only takes a few minutes for each one.
I also make sure that the magazine body will drop free of the guns mag well. If not I sand and polish the outside of the magazine until they do ( I find that sometimes I have to do this on Caspian guns - no problem on Colts)
Next, after putting the magazine back together I load it with nine rounds of duty ammo (usually Speer 124+p Gold Dot). I then put in a shortened firing pin in the gun (so I cant have an accidental discharge). Then with the slide forward, I put the magazine in and “inch” the slide back till it just clears the magazine well and I then release the slide. If the bullet hits hard on the ramp (you can sometimes feel and hear this hard hit - its hard to explain), I disassemble the gun and using the same soft gray abrasive polishing wheel on my Dremel Tool (the same one that I used on the magazines) I polish the top half of the ramp and “slightly” reconfigure the ramp to a slightly shallower angle - I have no way to measure, but its not much and there is still plenty of case support (very important in a 9mm).
In my duty gun which I have been running for years and have run many thousands through I have never had any feeding or extraction issues with hollow point ammo - none! The only issues have been cheap practice ammo. Some very soft 9mm brass that my extractor pulled right through (Remingtom UMC) and some with dead primers (Winclean).
I have built several 4.25 inch guns with good results. My favorite is using a Caspian 4.25 slide on a Caspian Officer size frame. It is a great combination for concealed carry, particularly if you live and work in a hot, humid climate in and around Houston, Texas.
The envelope for good performance on this combination is tighter then on the 5 inch guns. I find that extractor tension on the shorter guns seem to have to be a bit stronger then on the longer guns. Everything else applies as on 5 inch guns - with one big difference. Again I have tried all of the magazines - the only one that works all the time is the shorter 8 round Metalform Springfield 9mm Magazine made specifically for Officer framed guns.
There is however one big difference between the 8 round and 9 round Metalform Springfield 9mm Magazine; and it is this: If you look on the magazines there is a rib or a crease that runs the length of the magazine on either side. The crease protrudes inside the magazine and decreases the width of the magazine at approximately the point where a 9mm FMJ bullet meets the shell casing (with the base of the cartridge resting near or on the back wall of the magazine). In the Metalform 9 round magazines the distance between these two ribs is very “generous” and if a shorter 9mm hollow point bullet while in the magazine and while “in the stack” should ride forward (its shorter then a FMJ) to where the tip of the hollow point is all the way forward inside the magazine there is still sufficient room between these two creases for the tapering 9mm casing to ride up the body of the magazine with out interference.
Not so on the 8 round Metalform magazines. Apparently the forming jigs that Metalform uses is different and distances between these internal creases are closer together - so much so that if one or two of the shorter hollow point rounds ride forward inside the magazine tube under recoil they can bind at that spot and the magazine follower and stack of 9mm hollow points will freeze at that spot.
This type of jam does not happen often with the shorter magazines - but when using hollow points it eventually will.
I have tried to modify the magazines by polishing down the ribs or hammering them down a bit using a hand made mandrel. The mandrel worked well - but then the magazine was very tight in the mag well and took a bit of effort to pull out. I then tried sanding/filling down the outside of the magazine so that it would drop free but was not successful.
The only fix that I came up for the Officer sized magazines was to load 124 grain Gold Dot ammo “long” - out to about 1.150 inches so that if the rounds rode forward toward the tapering walls of the 9mm case would be stopped before they became “pinched” between the two creases inside the mag tube.
FMJ ammo because it is longer length, as compared to a shorter hollow point is unaffected and works fine,
As a side not I recently tried the Wilson ETM 9mm Magazine (Officer length). However, the top round hit the ramp very hard and usually jammed in that position.
I have never been satisfied with any of the 10 round magazines for 9mm 1911's that are marketed by various manufacturers. When using hollow point ammo the top rounds hit the ramp to hard and are sure to eventually jam there.
Hope this is helpful.
Chris
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Originally Posted by CANDERSEN
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