I bought the conversion kit for a 1911 and a bag of brass.
When Can Am was selling those plain slide 1911s with a case of cheap ammo, I bought several guns from guys who wanted the ammo, but not the gun. I paid $250 to $275 and thought it was a good price for potential project guns. I was right.
The guns are poorly finished compared to current production Norcs, and somewhat sloppier. I selected the one that shoots the poorest, and dropped in the conversion barrel, full length rod guide and the 25 pound spring.
The good news is that it it a true "drop in". No fitting is required.
The bad news is that you need the hand strength of Attila the Hun to compress the spring and get the barrel installed. It took two of us, plus a vice to hold the slide, to get it done.
I spoke to Clark Custom (the maker) and they tell me that within a month new production will have a pin hole in the rod guide so that the spring can be compressed and locked in place with a pin, outside the gun, then dropped in. Great idea. If you want, you could drill a hole yourself, to have this feature.
I shot the pistol with the 460 brass, 200 grain AIM plated bullets and 9.5 to 12.0 gr of Power Pistol. Accuracy was fair. I am guessing the plated bullets might not like Mach 1 +.
Next step will be to try 230 FMJ.
The muzzle brake works. Recoil was a bit more than a regular 45, but nothing like shooting a 44 Mag revolver. The sound was quite different. More of a snap than a boom.
I will report back on how the FMJ bullets group.
Note: I loaded with standard Winchester Large Pistol primers. They worked just fine. (Clark suggests Magnum Pistol primers).
I also fired some standard velocity 45ACP ammo. They cycled the action, but just barely. I did not notice that the muzzle brake did not do much with this ammo.
When Can Am was selling those plain slide 1911s with a case of cheap ammo, I bought several guns from guys who wanted the ammo, but not the gun. I paid $250 to $275 and thought it was a good price for potential project guns. I was right.
The guns are poorly finished compared to current production Norcs, and somewhat sloppier. I selected the one that shoots the poorest, and dropped in the conversion barrel, full length rod guide and the 25 pound spring.
The good news is that it it a true "drop in". No fitting is required.
The bad news is that you need the hand strength of Attila the Hun to compress the spring and get the barrel installed. It took two of us, plus a vice to hold the slide, to get it done.
I spoke to Clark Custom (the maker) and they tell me that within a month new production will have a pin hole in the rod guide so that the spring can be compressed and locked in place with a pin, outside the gun, then dropped in. Great idea. If you want, you could drill a hole yourself, to have this feature.
I shot the pistol with the 460 brass, 200 grain AIM plated bullets and 9.5 to 12.0 gr of Power Pistol. Accuracy was fair. I am guessing the plated bullets might not like Mach 1 +.
Next step will be to try 230 FMJ.
The muzzle brake works. Recoil was a bit more than a regular 45, but nothing like shooting a 44 Mag revolver. The sound was quite different. More of a snap than a boom.
I will report back on how the FMJ bullets group.
Note: I loaded with standard Winchester Large Pistol primers. They worked just fine. (Clark suggests Magnum Pistol primers).
I also fired some standard velocity 45ACP ammo. They cycled the action, but just barely. I did not notice that the muzzle brake did not do much with this ammo.
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