Accurizing a 1911

[red-beard]

So, can someone walk me through the different things that really work on making a 1911 more accurate and reliable?

[Jim Bremner]

send it here! HOME | Derr Precision

[Joe Bob]

A slippery slope....

[RacerX1166]

Accuracy and reliability are often somewhat mutually exclusive in a 1911. Depends just how accurate you want the gun.

Accurizing is often focused upon tightening up tolerances in slide/frame fit and barrel/slide fit. In short, you want the all the parts to fit together exactly the same way every time the gun returns to battery.

For reliability, you can polish components such as the feed ramp and extractor as well as throat the barrel, which provides a larger opening for the big .45 caliber bullet to get into place. Looser tolerances can assist in improving reliability.

Depends what you want to do with the gun. My comp guns are all super tight and thus super accurate. But a carry gun needs to go bang every time and is subject to accumulation of crud like pocket lint and such, so you want tolerances to be just a bit looser.

[red-beard]

This will be a target spoon. I have a Mil-Spec Springfield 5"in Stainless Steel. Things I'd like:

Front and backstrap checkering.
Better grips (something both pretty and functional)
basic tightening and accuracy work but not to the point of reducing reliability

I had some work done a few years ago, just want it raised a notch and for this to look even better.

The carry spoons are smaller, except for the .40 cal. And I'm looking to replace it...So mad at myself for NOT buying a Hi Power in .40 when they were being dumped on Gunbroker for $450 each. I like my SiGP226, but it is a monster for concealed carry.

[flipper35]

Try here. HOME - heirloomprecision.com

Travis Haley hit steel at 300 yards on the 4th shot with one of these.

https://youtu.be/-3xJVnkLJDs?t=554

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Try here. HOME - heirloomprecision.com

Travis Haley hit steel at 300 yards on the 4th shot with one of these.

https://youtu.be/-3xJVnkLJDs?t=554

I would be happy with a 1911 worked over by Heirloom!

[Jeff Higgins]

So, in your relationship with this particular pistol, which one of you is the limiting factor? Can you honestly out-shoot it, or can it out-shoot you?

The advice I most often give is to take the money you would spend on "accurizing" and buy ammo. Shoot at least a couple (preferably more) days a week until it's gone. I bet at the end of that, the whole "system" - the gun and the nut behind the butt - is a good deal more accurate.

[red-beard]

OK - I want to make my 1911 look cool so I look cool at the range...

[id10t]

Originally Posted by red-beard

OK - I want to make my 1911 look cool so I look cool at the range...

You need a FAL or M14-type or maybe a HK91 to go with the 1911 to do that.

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by id10t

You need a FAL or M14-type or maybe a HK91 to go with the 1911 to do that.

Or all 3

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by red-beard

OK - I want to make my 1911 look cool so I look cool at the range...

I'm sure some of these things would fit the 1911 nicely

[id10t]

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

So, in your relationship with this particular pistol, which one of you is the limiting factor? Can you honestly out-shoot it, or can it out-shoot you?

In my case it is the "nut behind the butt".

There is, of course, no substitute for seat time but I also had some bad habits that were cured by shooting a single action revolver. Jeff wrote a post years ago about the benefits of practicing with a revolver and it greatly improved my habits with my Browning HP and sundry 1911's, both Commander size and full.

Effective seat time was my goal.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

So, in your relationship with this particular pistol, which one of you is the limiting factor? Can you honestly out-shoot it, or can it out-shoot you?

The advice I most often give is to take the money you would spend on "accurizing" and buy ammo. Shoot at least a couple (preferably more) days a week until it's gone. I bet at the end of that, the whole "system" - the gun and the nut behind the butt - is a good deal more accurate.

This is great advice.

Same holds true for our cars. A lot of guys want to spend $ on go-fast mods. Take half that money and do a lot more DEs. You will be faster, and safer, than just bolting stuff on.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

This is great advice.

Same holds true for our cars. A lot of guys want to spend $ on go-fast mods. Take half that money and do a lot more DEs. You will be faster, and safer, than just bolting stuff on.

On this note I'll mention that CDNN has had GSG1911-22s on sale, and decent ammo is plentiful right now... oh, and read the first post here for info on making the 22 version more accurate. For under $1k you can get the gun and more than 5k rounds... get the trigger time. Then call Clark, Wilson, or similar.

[red-beard]

Holy crap! .22LR for 5000 rounds for $384.99!

Price is beginning to come down! I guess I can start shooting again...

[flipper35]

You can also drop a .22 barrel and slide on yours for practice so you have the same grips and trigger when you shoot. I run a ton of rounds through the .22 then take a minute to swap to the .45 and run some more to stay used to the recoil.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by flipper35

You can also drop a .22 barrel and slide on yours for practice so you have the same grips and trigger when you shoot. I run a ton of rounds through the .22 then take a minute to swap to the .45 and run some more to stay used to the recoil.

The cost of the conversion kit is about equal to the original price of the 1911!

[flipper35]

I got mine for $289 from Buds.