1911 MYTH or NOT......Very good read from a PROFESSIONAL forum ..

Capp325,

I beg to differ on the hi powers. I've seen well over half a dozen genuine FN or Inglis Hi-powers go tits up. Including a Novak tuned hi-power once owned by a notorious AR15 guru here on CGN.

TDC
 
Erg, I think I need to send my 1911 back to gunnar for some maintenance. I had it out in November... probably -5deg weather and after 2 mags it started to missfeed every second shot. :(
 
I think it would be fair to say that as a mechanical device there are limits as to how long parts survive. As indicated earlier, Slavex who might fire 50,000 rounds a year is going to put more wear on his pistol than I will in ten years. Parts break, even Paras. When they do you replace them.

JR at shooting edge has posted his experiences with range guns on this forum and the conclusion I have come to is all guns fail at some point. To say one design is worse than another is a bit subjective IMHO.

Take Care

Bob
ps Slavex are you coming up to the Terrace Qualifier? If so the room is available.
 
The 1911 is a well designed pistol. There is no inherent reason for it to be unreliable. All of the controls are in the right place, and there is no need to change grip when moving from safe to fire. The 1911 does seem to suffer from over modification. It is at it's best when the original design is adhered to, and at it's worst as a race gun. There is a benefit to be gained through some minor modifications; an enlarged ejection port, matching the recoil spring to the performance of the ammunition, improved sights, polishing the feed ramp, and dehorning. Some other modifications are seen as being handy without being detrimental; ambidextrous safeties, extended slide releases. Other modifications are seen as being a bad idea on a fighting pistol; match barrels and bushings, rod guides, light mainsprings, light triggers, etc.

If the fellow who wrote the piece had a problem with the reliability of a particular 1911, that gun should be sent to a competent smith who can sort out the problem. Once the gun has been made reliable (probably by throwing away alot of unnecissary pieces or by installing a stronger recoil spring) it is the best designed fighting pistol of all time.
 
the reason you see so many 1911's s**tting the bed at IPSC matches isn't really an issue with the 1911 design. it's more a result of guys that mess with their guns and shouldn't, or people pushing the envelope on what the design can deal with reliably. a bone stock 1911, with just a simple polishing and such should run as good as any other gun on the market. Except Para's they just fall to pieces if you look at them funny.





(that last bit was just for you Bob ;))

I agree 100%. I have seen to many "kitchen table" gunsmiths who have tinkered with their 1911's and several things have happened, everything from the gun not working, to the gun going full auto to the gun going KABOOM. Simply put, if you do not know how to work on a 1911, you should not. If you buy a Norinco and do not like the trigger, get a complete drop in trigger kit if you know how to take it apart, or send it to someone like Gunner at Armco who knows what they are doing. Food for thought, had a new guy joint he club a few years back, he was already a shooter, so he brought his own gun. Fancy STI that he built, lapped the lugs, tightened the frame, pinned grip safety, enough shock buffers to keep the slide from locking back, oh and some very piss poor hammer sear fitting that made the gun fire 7 rounds with the pull of the trigger, 5 of which ended up bouncing of our newly installed steel baffles along the ceiling. You do not know what you are doing, have a professional do it for you. We have a regular shooter in CDP that shoots a bone stock Norc Commander with the exception of grips, new thin wood ones I gave him. He is a single income, so this is what he could afford, but he is the most consistant shooter there, as is his Norc. bottom line, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!
 
Capp325,

I beg to differ on the hi powers. I've seen well over half a dozen genuine FN or Inglis Hi-powers go t**s up. Including a Novak tuned hi-power once owned by a notorious AR15 guru here on CGN.

TDC
Inglis hi-Powers have been in use since 1944-45, so it wouldn't be surprising to see one give up the ghost (not to mention, those guns were made by a refrigerator company under wartime conditions). And only God knows what has been done to a "tuned" hi-power, so if it goes #### up, it's not necessarily the gun's fault.

From my experience, a genuine, FN-made, unmolested Hi-Power is one of the most reliable semi-auto pistols out there.
 
My 1911a1 (1942 vintage) cost $300 in 1995, shot fine but had a 12 pound trigger. $500 more with vidicki trigger commander hammer, clark 4 leaf spring,and a lot of other parts includin ghost ring sights made it a fine machine that has passed a lot of ammo, mostly swc reloads. any problems Ive had have been ammo issues or me the gun is great. they and there klones are used in IPSC because they work.
 
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