Philosophy and the 1911 Build

[Bigslug]

The world keeps on changing.

Sometimes, I'm OK to go along with it. More often, I'm dragged kicking and screaming into the future leaving fingernail marks behind me because change pretty much amounts to someone else's idea of "progress" and I see no need for it. In effect, I'm not using a tenth of the capabilities of the software upgrades from nine upgrades ago, so why the fudge should I have to adjust to "Version 10"?

I've been a shooter to some extent for probably 48 of my 53 years, and professionally in the "gun trade" for the last 32 of them. Due to my historical nerdishness, I guess you could say that I've been following the gun trade for longer than I've been alive - - if that makes any kind of sense. Over that span, I've seen a whole bunch of trends, fads, and "flavors of the week". Every once in a great while, somebody will come up with something that actually advances the game, but usually, it's just a new label slapped on an old concept. Case in point - the 6.5 Creedmoor: sorry, but the Japanese gave us that around 1897. 5.7x28 and the "PDW"? Congratulations! You just invented the M1 Carbine!

The latest craze is of course the 2011 concept of a 9mm, optics ready, composite- or alternate materials frame 1911-ish pistol with a double-stack magazine. The first two on that list fit the category of things I can follow along with; the latter two, not so much.

So when Springfield dropped their "AOS Operator", it made me go "Hmmm". Please consider:

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So it's got a light rail on the frame and an optics cut on the slide, but it's otherwise a 1911. . .

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Sort of

So follow along for a few posts as I outline my journey of setting this thing up. The mindset of this build is in line with what the Japanese Emperor had to say at the end of The Last Samurai as he was contemplating the "need" to modernize while holding a sword: "We can not forget who we are, or where we come from"

Enjoy the ride!

[Bigslug]

So it's got a pretty nice set of G-10 fiberglass "Alien" grips in "Military Brown" from the factory already:

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Not traditional enough, and it's got a WW1/1911-spec flat mainspring housing that points the gun low for me. People send their Glocks out to have the "Glock hump" removed; I want it put back on! Except for my actual WW1 Colt, I go to WW2/1911-A1 spec across the board.

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So I ordered up a set of VZ's "Tactical Diamonds" which nicely approximate Uncle Sam's earliest "small diamonds" plastic grips from 1942, made in the narrow window after they went away from wood, but before they started molding "reinforcing rings" around the screw holes. This "Earth Brown" G-10 fiberglass is a little closer to the true military reddish brown. It should darken up as exposed to hand oils and cleaning solvents and turn into a pretty good match.

I swapped in a Smith & Alexander arched mainspring housing/mag guide from one of my .45's. Recent attempts to contact S&A for a new one have been met with dead air. I've got a gunsmith friend a little bit closer trying to determine if the aging proprietor has closed the business, or worse. I may have it Cera-Koted to match the pistol. . .or not. . .

I also ditched the T-15 Torx head grip screws in favor of Cera-Koted slot head from Wilson Combat. I DETEST needing specialized tools to disassemble, reassemble, or simply tighten things down!

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And yes Virginia, it has a lanyard loop. Not because I plan to use it, but because it helps me point out to the 2011 guys that their new Wunder-Pistole is just a 115 year old mechanism designed with heavy input from the U.S. Cavalry with a fat grip. Yes, we have thousand-lumen flashlights and electronic sights bolted on, but ROOTS BABY!

[Wambli Ska]

Just a thought…

The Emperor in that movie DIED because he brought a long knife to a gunfight. So did his son who tried to fight guns with a bow and arrow.

Gallant?
Yep.
Stone cold dead?
Oh Lord YES.

[Bigslug]

I accept that the flat versus arched mainspring housing is a personal preference issue based on hand shape, but what I don't get is why the 1911 industry sticks to the long reach, WW1-spec for triggers:

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Top is what it came with. Bottom is the short, post-1924, 1911-A1 spec version I prefer. This one's from Nighthawk Custom. It has the overtravel stop screw common to modern 1911 triggers, but it also has an additional feature I really like:

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Pre-travel tabs that allow you to reduce the amount of take-up you experience before getting onto the actual trigger pull. . .

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Bending these forward has the effect of pushing the trigger rearward slightly in the frame. You don't want to take ALL the pre-travel out as that amounts to having your trigger partially pulled while at rest, but this feature, coupled with carefully stoning the top and bottom surfaces of the shoe so that it fits snugly inside the frame makes for a much more "polished" feel without the "GI slop" common to more hasty, generic assembly.

But here's why I like short triggers: One trick I learned in shooting and teaching others to shoot Glocks is to straighten the first joint of the index finger in from the pad, and try to make a 90-degree bend with the second joint. This does two things: (1.) it lets you pull the finger farther out of the triggerguard so that the palm-most end of the finger isn't rubbing against the frame, causing a right hander to push the gun left; (2.) it lets you pull the trigger more directly straight to the rear, again, reducing a right-hander's tendency to push the gun left.

Trigger finger contact on the "long" trigger:

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Versus trigger finger contact on the "short" trigger:

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I'm a 6'3" dude with large-ish hands and the short trigger is a better way to go. The Army got this right in 1924. I'm not sure why the industry insists on reversing it with most of their builds.

[Bigslug]

If you've followed my posts for more than a couple years. . .

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. . .you'll know that I love mocking people who come to me looking for the Allen wrench or paper clip they need to take their modern, "improved" 1911 apart. I get an equal kick out of those who upgrade those guns to a "tool-less" guide rod assembly. Yeah guys. We already had that one solved. . .IN 1911!

Cylinder & Slide makes a copy of the "True GI" spec recoil spring plug which has the stamped dimple cut allowing you to thread it on to the end of the spring to prevent launch and loss. Not that I feel I need it after 40+ years of taking this platform apart with much stronger .45-rated recoil springs than this gun's mild 11-pounder, but again, tradition/purist.

[Wambli Ska]

It I do like what you’re doing with this gun, except for the fatass option

I like my 1911s like my women, svelte. Flat MSH and slim grips for all of mine.

[Chiro1989]

I did not picture my favorite 1911 nerd as being 6'3", my apologies

[Bigslug]

ON TO THE OPTIC!

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While I've been very happy with Holosuns for the last few years, I wanted to crash test an Aimpoint ACRO for the troops at work, and also wanted something a little more "NATO" than "People's Republic" on this heavily American pistol. The Aimpoint rifle optics have a reputaion of being "Marine-proof", plus Zee hasn't managed to break one in his "shoe store". Seemed like endorsement enough.

This is the new C2 version of the ACRO, which has a smaller 2.5MOA dot compared to the P2's 3.5. They're marketing it as a carbine optic, so it came with an AR-cowitness Picatinny mount (which I left in the box) and a set of flip-up lens covers (which I promptly took off). But they didn't charge extra for them compared to the P2, so no real grief there.

The Springfield/Agency Optic System mounting plate / rear backup iron sight combo zeroed correctly without any need to replace the OEM front sight. YAY!

Only two minor gripes with the optic. Number one gripe is that it uses a T-10 Torx bit to adjust windage and elevation. Trijicon knocked it out of the park with dials that will accept the rim of a 9mm or 5.56 case to turn them, but I REALLY don't like the fact that Trijicon puts their "plus" and "minus" brightness controls on opposite side of the optic, so Aimpoint for the win there. Number two gripe is that the top of the Aimpoint is rounded, not square. When you have disassembled and cleaned pistol sides for decades by resting them upside-down on their sights, having your slide roll over on it's rounded optic is a bit disconcerting. I expect I'll get used to it.

The finished package:

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So what we end up with is:
An all-steel gun that, with light and a full load, weighs about 54 ounces. . .
. . .it points like a 1911-A1, because it IS a 1911-A1, without the crappy ergonomics a double-stack mag forces upon you. . .
. . .in 9mm it doesn't hardly recoil at all. . .
. . .and with a dot has INSANELY fast recovery time.

I sent my older .45 version out to have it milled for a dot a few months back. My plan is to do some shot timer work for a truly apples-to-apples comparison of one cartridge versus the other. Should be some fun science!

[Bigslug]

On kind of a neat side-bar - MAGAZINES!

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On left is the OEM Springfield 9-rounder, which is typical of most 9x19 1911 mags I've run across. On right is the 10-round Mec-Gar that I purchased a few of for this project.

Note the three dimples stamped in the rear edge of the Springfield. That's to help lock in the spacer insert that's installed to take up space in what is nominally a .45-sized mag body. Here's a top view of that insert:

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In contrast, here's how Mec-Gar does it:

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They stamp a groove along the front surface to shorten the interior volume, but the CLEVER bit is that they have rounded the top edge of that groove in order to make it act as an extension of the pistol's feed ramp, which in the case of Springfields, is extended and integral to the barrel, versus the original .45's 2-piece system where the frame is blended into the barrel. I had two failures to feed/fully lock up within the first 20 rounds of shooting this gun, which I chalk up to it being a new pistol with tight tolerances. Since then, I'm approaching a thousand rounds and it's been flawless with ball, duty HP, flat point "low lead emission" training rounds, and my cast flat point handloads.

As in Zee-Land, the Glocks will continue to be my workhorse, but this one was something of a cathartic a "need to do". Go figure.

[Bigslug]

It I do like what you’re doing with this gun, except for the fatass option

I like my 1911s like my women, svelte. Flat MSH and slim grips for all of mine.

Go buy yourself a Tokarev if you like pointing your pistol in the dirt.

I DID finally figure out why the Stalin-era Soviets designed that grip the way. It's a TERRIBLE grip angle until you consider that most of its targets were only three feet in front of the shooter, facing away, and on their knees in front of a hole. . .

[breamfisher]

I have wee little girl hands.

Translated it for you.

[breamfisher]

Just a thought…

The Emperor in that movie DIED because he brought a long knife to a gunfight. So did his son who tried to fight guns with a bow and arrow.

Gallant?
Yep.
Stone cold dead?
Oh Lord YES.

Nope. It was the head Samurai, former daimyo, who died.

Emperor didn't carry a weapon. "Too divine."

[CPJ 2.0]

I’m ain’t gonna lie, I like big butts.

But not on a 1911. Flat is where it’s at.

[breamfisher]

Interesting handgun. The new ones fro Springfield really are. But, if I'm going to carry a 9mm, it's gonna be a Hi Power or clone thereof, or some flavor of Glock. But that's just me. If you want a 9mm 1911, rock on!

[breamfisher]

I’m ain’t gonna lie, I like big butts.

But not on a 1911. Flat is where it’s at.

You just have wee proportional hands to your size.

[shotgunshooter3]

Am I the only person on the internet who doesn't notice enough difference between flat and arched MSH to care?

[breamfisher]

Am I the only person on the internet who doesn't notice enough difference between flat and arched MSH to care?

Hush, you. We're having a nonsensical discussion.

[Zee]

I’m ain’t gonna lie, I like big butts.

But not on a 1911. Flat is where it’s at.

This.

[Zee]

And Lanyards…………while I will admit that it saved me one time in a UTV rollover at speed when my pistol launched out of my holster, reached full extension, and came back at me with velocity as opposed to disappearing into oblivion. More often than not, it’s a pain in the azz catching on brush and everything imaginable. I’ve since realized the stupidity on them. Just get a good holster.

[Bigslug]

Interesting handgun. The new ones fro Springfield really are. But, if I'm going to carry a 9mm, it's gonna be a Hi Power or clone thereof, or some flavor of Glock. But that's just me. If you want a 9mm 1911, rock on!

Yeah. . .what I like to call the "Browning-Had-Nothing-To-Do-With-It" Hi Power. An unfortunate case of some really cringeworthy mechanics hiding behind nice ergonomics. Granted, I got burned by a factory-defective FEG clone that I never could get working right, but between the teeter-totter trigger actuator mechanism that transfers the force of your trigger finger from the frame. . .up to the slide. . .back down to the frame at the sear. . .and back up to the slide where the hammer hits the firing pin; plus the fact that you have to rip that teeter-totter out just to access the extractor I was trying to get working properly. . .I feel dumber for just having known one. But you do you.

The history of it all is pretty interesting. The Army of course wanted a .45 - partly due to needing to occasionally kill horses; partly due to their notions of "stopping power" that were prevalent at the time; and undoubtedly partly to their negative experiences with the truly anemic .38 Long Colt and the unfortunately fragile 1892 Colt revolver series that fired it. That was a sad case of damn near anything would have been better.

Before Georg Luger created the 9x19 by opening up the mouth of his bottlenecked .30 Luger, Browning had pretty much identical performance with his slightly longer .38ACP cartridge in his early tilting barrel guns, which hit the scene around 1902, as I recall. Once those more fragile guns were discontinued, the round went on to become the .38 Super in 1929 with the addition of a +P designator and chambering in the much more robust 1911-A1 platform.

Between the World Wars, the Brits down-scaled their big .455 Webley revolver to a much lighter, handier .38S&W version that fired a 200 grain round nose bullet at 600 fps that had a tendency to tumble on impact, giving something of a hollowpoint effect without the hollowpoint.

And of course Colt sold A LOT more 1851 Navy cap and ball .36's than they did any of their other percussion revolvers.

Clearly there was a lot of thinking even way back that .35 was the way to go. I think what launched the .45ACP to popularity is that the 1911 was SO MUCH BETTER as a mechanism than anything else in the world at the time that the cartridge just kinda followed along for the ride.

At any rate, combining the 1911's ergonomics with the 9mm's gentle recoil makes for a SWEET shooting machine!

[Bigslug]

Am I the only person on the internet who doesn't notice enough difference between flat and arched MSH to care?

I started shooting a 1911-A1 when I was 12. I'm pretty sure the arched MSH beat the bones of my growing hand into that shape, and nothing else fits anymore.

[breamfisher]

I learned how to run a Rossi, K, L, and N frame Smiths and Ruger GP-100s in double action before I got into bottom feeders. The FEG clone I had wasn't that bad. Not after I ditched the French influence and put in a heavier trigger return spring.
Not as good as a 1911, and definitely not as good as a Colt Woodsman March Target, but I can manage it.

[Wambli Ska]

It I do like what you’re doing with this gun, except for the fatass option

I like my 1911s like my women, svelte. Flat MSH and slim grips for all of mine.

Go buy yourself a Tokarev if you like pointing your pistol in the dirt.

I DID finally figure out why the Stalin-era Soviets designed that grip the way. It's a TERRIBLE grip angle until you consider that most of its targets were only three feet in front of the shooter, facing away, and on their knees in front of a hole. . .

I’m good, my 1911s set the way I like them naturally point where I need them too. And they look great

[CPJ 2.0]

They made it a .45 cause they didn’t make a .46, by Gawd

[Bigslug]

And Lanyards…………while I will admit that it saved me one time in a UTV rollover at speed when my pistol launched out of my holster, reached full extension, and came back at me with velocity as opposed to disappearing into oblivion. More often than not, it’s a pain in the azz catching on brush and everything imaginable. I’ve since realized the stupidity on them. Just get a good holster.

But. . .but. . .

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. . .It goes with the cross-chest strap on my Sam Brown and swagger stick!

Yeah. . .the Brits tended to wear their pistol lanyards across the chest and held them in place with their epaulets, which made for a lot less lanyard flopping around loose below the waist to hang up on stuff.

Certainly they made sense on a horse. They probably made sense crossing No Man's Land if you were unfortunate enough to go there without a rifle. Boarding parties crossing between boats? Maybe. At the point we start talking about retention in modern helicopters, I tend to think "not so much".

But the 1911 lanyard loop can be used in conjunction with a partially dropped mag to open beer bottles! Hopefully someone can find that great photo from the Korean War. . .