I have always wanted a 1911 for no other reason than that it’s one of those handguns you must have in your collection (technological innovation, history and military significance and such). I have previously owned a GSG 1911 in .22 LR which in almost every aspect is as close to a “real” 1911 in .45 ACP as you can get; most of the parts are interchangeable with the real thing. I grew tired of it and eventually sold it (kicking myself today since after the new gun regulations in CT it can’t legally be sold here for whatever reasons only gangster daddy, I mean Governor, Dannel Malloy and his henchmen know).
German made ATI GSG 1911 in .22 LR commemorative edition. Moral of the story: Never sell a gun. You will regret it.
A month or so ago I had finally done all my research and it was down to a Kimber 1911 Pro Carry II (4″ barrel) and an all-steel Ruger SR1911 CMD (Commander 4.25″ barrel). I tested both out at Hoffman’s Gun Center in Newington, CT and ended up with the Ruger. Partly because the Kimber isn’t completely true to the original design (doesn’t have a barrel bushing), and because the lightweight alloy frame of the Kimber makes the recoil feel more intense than the full-weight Ruger. The sales guy also more than strongly hinted that the Kimber was inferior. Both were similarly priced at ~$730.
I’ve taken it to the range a few times and have about 200 rounds through it and it’s disappointingly un-fun to shoot. It’s a wonderful gun, looks great, seems to be well made, and I can easily make a fist-sized hole center mass in a stationary paper silhouette that isn’t shooting back at seven yards. But it’s just a little blah, if you know what I mean. Compared to my polymer 9 millimeters it feels like chunky, dead weight in my hands and when you pull the trigger it’s a dull, thumpish boom and recoil. Nothing negative about Ruger here, I guess it’s just the nature of the 1911 platform.
Surprisingly, the trigger is the one thing that doesn’t feel refined about the gun. It’s not too heavy, the pull and break are smooth and crisp, but the reset is crunchy, and we can’t have that. I’ve watched a ton of YouTube videos to figure out how the pistol works and how to take it apart, and, more importantly, put it back together (see pics below, completely broken down except for the mainspring housing, ejector, and hammer strut).
I’m fairly confident about the mechanics of the gun (I only needed to consult the book to figure out how the disconnector and sear mate together upon reassembly). All I need to do now is find out exactly which parts rub on each other for that millimeter or two from when the trigger is fully to the rear and when it resets, polish out whatever burrs or tooling marks that cause the crunch, and hopefully that will fix the issue. I’ve purchased a jig and some stones from Brownell’s for that purpose.
I’ll update when such time comes. In the mean time I’ll practice disassembly/reassembly until I’m fully confident (as opposed to “fairly”) about the inner workings of the gun. No matter what, I think my new 1911 will spend most of its life in the safe. But at least I have one.
