Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte
In my experience, this is only when a manufacturer attempts to "improve" upon the original design with (unnecessary) tighter tolerances or "features" that (even slightly) change the operation or timing of the spoon. Stick with the original design, and things go well. Tart it up, and you need to spend $$$ fixing everything you just fked up with your "improvements". Unfortunately a lot of companies (Kimber and Para leap instantly to mind) don't make this second investment in ensuring their "enhancements" aren't screwing things up. Add to that the mass production mentality from some of the larger companies (that employ assemblers instead of gunsmiths) and you have a recipe for disaster.
I'm not talking sights, stocks, or cosmetic/ergonomic changes. I mean things like tighter slide/frame fit, tighter lug engagement, additional "safety" doohickeys, lighter springs, etc.
|
Right on. A standard mil-spec 1911 will be one of the most reliable autos you can lay your hands on. Probably not the most accurate, but that was never the intent. Bulleye, or "2700" competitors have recognized for generations that attempts to significantly accurize one lead to finicky operation, but they have been willing to accept that in the game they play. Their modified guns never leave the range. Such shenanigans have no place in a carry or duty gun, though.
The same dynamic is at work here that I mentioned on my ".375 H&H" thread. Everyone wants the coolest, most accurate, most gee-wiz gun at the range to show off to their shooting buddies. A parkerized, mil-spec, fixed sight 1911 just don't do it these days. Especially one that shoots 3"-4" groups (at 25 yards by the way - what's with this 7 yard grouping? My range doesn't even have stands closer than 25...). No cool factor or bragging rights there. So the same dissease has infected the 1911 world - tighten them up in the name of accuracy (clearing a jam at the range or in a match is no big deal) and festoon them with so many adornments as to render them virtually useless in the real world.
Oh, and Rick - drift the rear sight and file it down. Re-file the notch a bit deeper if you have to. This is how one adjusts the sights on a "fixed" sight 1911. It's not the load, it's not your grip, it's not how you hold your mouth. It's the sights.