[JTucker]

So today I was checking out all my local stores looking for a .22 rifle for plinking and squirrel hunting when I came across a very slightly used Springfield 1911-A1 GI. I've looked at the RIA 1911s several times before but hadn't talked myself into one. Well this one seemed really nice and it was a little cheaper than the rocks sale for new. I just had to have it. Now I must resist the urge to drop a bunch of money into it.

 

[SpringerFan]

Very cool. My first was the similar mil-spec. NO ONE can resist the urge, best to just give in now.

 

[mficare]

Man thats purdy...and i agree with springerfan its just to easy tou customise

 

[chameleon]

Sweet lookin shooter. Definitely dump some money down on it

 

[Kent]

Good job!

This is the year of the 1911!!!!!!! It's 2011!!!!

 

[jimdanos]

Good deal. The 1911 bug bites hard doesn't it?

 

[Quack]

uh oh...the bug has bitten.

 

[Roy D]

Welcome to the sickness!!!

 

[Bakerloo]

Got my Mil Spec last week. Dumping money in them is inevitible.

 

[JTucker]

I haven't gotten to shoot it yet. I've been looking at holsters and a few extra mags for it first. From what I've read pretty much any full size mag will fit, please correct me if I'm wrong. It came with a Wilson Combat mag for some reason. I took it apart to clean it and there's no way there's been more than a handful of rounds through that gun.

One more thing, wow .45 ammo is pricey. :-o

 

[OKcherokee]

I love the look of that gun. So simple and to the point.

 

[Richard Conrad]

Love it, but love my new Range Officer better!

 

[Bonehead]

Love it, but love my new Range Officer better!

I would own either one. great looking weapons.

 

[Stangman]

My condolences to your checkbook. It'll never be the same.

 

[XD9tacticalGlock17L]

good for you!!! now shoot them until your fingers bleed! not a figure of speech, but I love shooting my 1911a1 so much that my thumb blistered up and then bled and didn't even noticed until I ran out of ammo... You can never go wrong with S.A. 1911a1...

Some advice that you may find helpful someday:

- Don't buy any recoil spring besides the 16.5lbs that the stock came with. Why?:
your 1911 will become a jam-machine

- Buy a recoil plastic/urethane buffer. Why?
It's cheap and will save your slide from banging against the metal of the end of the bolt, trust you me your 1911a1 would really appreciate it.

- Don't buy a cheap magazine with flat base.
Why? you get what you paid for! it will bite your palm skin when you do reload drills.

- Buy a well made magazine. why?
Because when you decided to get a magwell someday, you won't be able to push that sucker in to lock. Cheap magazines also tends to jam a lot. I only recommend Wilson Combat w/ extended base and or chip mccormick 10rd mags, money well spent.

- DO NOT release your slide by depressing the slide release. Why?
IT'S BAD FOR THE 1911's!!! unless you have a round on the magazine to chamber then you're fine. And ow, if release the slide without a round in it, your hammer will almost always fall into half cock.

- Buy better iron sights. Why?
my 1911 seems to shoot .5" to the left of my target at 5y and about 6'-12' at 20-25 yards. LPA TPU is purteee nice...

- Don't buy a compensator. Why?
unless your 1911 is fully customized and well balanced made by a pro-gunsmith then it is functional. Other than that, it'll just look nice...

I hope I helped a bit to save you money and time... congrats on the purchase...

 

[MyName1sMud]

Man I can't wait till I can afford one.

 

[southern thunder]

congrats.

 

[jimdanos]

I planned to buy a Colt 1911 back in the seventies and my wife said no. Its 2011 now and I finally bought a Citadel 1911. I told her that if she would have let me buy it then that I wouldn't have bought all the revolvers and XDs. Just not right away.

 

[Brickboy240]

Shoot it FIRST...to see what you need to replace or tweak. After several boxes, you'll know what it needs and what you can live with.

Chances are, a trigger job and maybe some sights and you're good to go. Most important thing is that it functions every time and puts bullets where you want them. Everything else is not really THAT necessary.

My GI only needed some smoothing up of the trigger/sear surfaces and I replaced the GI sights with the Springer Mil-Spec 3 dot sights. You can order the Springer Mil-Spec sights from Springfield for about 20 bucks or so. They fit right on the dovetail and tenon of the GI with no mods. Cheap and much better sights. Other than that....hell...I am leaving the GI alone - it is 100% reliable and puts bullets where I want them.

Shoot it heavily first...then do mods if you need them.

- brickboy240

 

[BrigadeGunLeather]

Some advice that you may find helpful someday:

- Don't buy any recoil spring besides the 16.5lbs that the stock came with. Why?:
your 1911 will become a jam-machine

True: you should use the stock 16lb recoil spring and stock other springs and proper tension on the sear and disconnect as well.

- Buy a recoil plastic/urethane buffer. Why?
It's cheap and will save your slide from banging against the metal of the end of the bolt, trust you me your 1911a1 would really appreciate it.

Do not use a shock buff on a carry or defense gun. Browning designed the pistol purposefully without one. There is no damage to a frame assuming the pistol is built correctly with the proper tolerances and link size and so on, even using modern hollow point ammo. The return bounce you get from the barrel lug and frame/VIS (vertical impact surface) is needed for utmost reliability. Think of two metal hammers hitting each other, the return energy bounce is what I am talking about, try hitting a metal surface with a plastic/rubber face and note the difference, some builders try and compensate with a heavier recoil spring but that throws off the timing for the mag and more energy upon returning to battery which creates more technical problems I won't go into. I recently worked on a WW I Colt with tens of thousands of rounds and zero frame damage. In addition to the reduced bounce affect there is the shortening of the stroke by about 1/10th of an inch give or take, again timing and too detailed to explain in a post easily.

- Don't buy a cheap magazine with flat base.
Why? you get what you paid for! it will bite your palm skin when you do reload drills.

Use the original Colt designed mags with the correct follower with the dimple. 7 round mags are best but if you need 8rounders make sure you get the ones by Checkmate that are designed for 8 not a 7 rounder with a hybrid follower that allows you to stuff an extra round in there. A bumper pad is fine if you want of course but adds length to the grip for concealed carry but does help with reloads like he said.

- Buy a well made magazine. why?
Because when you decided to get a magwell someday, you won't be able to push that sucker in to lock. Cheap magazines also tends to jam a lot. I only recommend Wilson Combat w/ extended base and or chip mccormick 10rd mags, money well spent.

-Again for utmost reliability the 7 round Colt USGI design is optimal on an in spec pistol for .45

- DO NOT release your slide by depressing the slide release. Why?
IT'S BAD FOR THE 1911's!!! unless you have a round on the magazine to chamber then you're fine. And ow, if release the slide without a round in it, your hammer will almost always fall into half cock.

True: don't drop the slide on an empty chamber except about 1-2 times a year to ensure you don't have the dreaded hammer follow.
False: You will not have any hammer follow on a well built pistol with the proper sear spring, mainspring, hammer-hook length & angle, sear nose angle that agrees with hooks & proper recoils spring 16lbs. What will result with dropping the slide on an empty chamber after a while is the trigger job will suffer eventually. Remember if your hammer falls to half cock or all the way down, find a gunsmith who knows and truly understands what is causing it, again it will not follow while dropping on an empty chamber if it is built right, if it does something is not right!

- Buy better iron sights. Why?
my 1911 seems to shoot .5" to the left of my target at 5y and about 6'-12' at 20-25 yards. LPA TPU is purteee nice...

True for target shooting...
Get fixed sights for carry of self defense purposes though, the gunsmith should have sighted it in while installing the sights to shoot point of aim point of impact at say 10 yds.... although most will never see their sights when stressed in a real life or death shoot out at around 3-5 yards, that will most likely be over before you realize you are out of rounds and you may have hit your target. Learn to point shoot and you will stand a better chance of living.

- Don't buy a compensator. Why?
unless your 1911 is fully customized and well balanced made by a pro-gunsmith then it is functional. Other than that, it'll just look nice...

Absolutely right, besides at night the flash will affect vision...

Yes congratulations on your 1911, great base gun indeed.


Watch this video to learn just about everything regarding proper trigger pull and springs and what happens to the parts when the gun fires and recoils.