Like most guys my age(early 30s) I am a Glock guy. I own many, shoot USPSA Limited with a 35, and carry a 19/26. A couple weeks ago I won a local pistol league and spent my store credit winnings plus cash on a like new Colt LW Commander in 45.($750) I have a Colt 1991 I tinker with. But that is the extent of my 1911 knowledge. So I decided to take my new Commander and existing Colt and dedicate the next 2 months to practicing, competing, and carrying nothing but a 1911.
At this point I have 657rds though these guns. I have had 7 malfunctions. 3 were due to possibly limp wristing with light loads during the first 200rds with the Commander. (Side note the Colt duel recoil spring was stupid stiff at first.) 1 was due to a bad mag(last round) 3 were due to my exaggerated grip with my weak hand locking the slide open mid-mag.
So far I’m really enjoying this experience. Hitting at distance is stupid easy compared to a Glock trigger, and my reloads should improve by necessity going from Limited to SS major in matches. I will continue to update this thread as I go.
Colt LW Commander @ 25-75yds
Colt 1991 USPSA SS major.
I have often thought about getting a Colt lightweight commander in 9mm. As far as reliability goes my go to is currently a 2012 made Colt .38 super auto. It was good right out of the box but it had some issues when dirty and with certain ammo. Modest polishing of the feed ramp and breaking the edges on the throat cured the issues. It’s now on it’s 3rd 2000 round no cleaning, no extra lube test. The first two were quite successful and the third is going well too. Now I’m just lazy with it, shoot it and put it away, shoot again… Put it away… I’m also making good hits at 50 yards with the right ammo. I now have expectations to hit the A zone at that range.
Lube it up well, use quality mags, eliminate any mags that give it problems and use good ammo. It’ll run.
Keep us posted. As VT has a looming mag ban that will limit’s pistols to 15 rounds and rifles and shotguns to 10 rounds. We can keep what we have but I now I am going to want something new sooner or later. I found myself thinking about a .45. I was looking at the FN Tactical with a just legal 15 round magazine!
Good looking 1991 FastCat; everything you need, nothing you don’t.
Might consider 25 LPI frontstrap checkering if you get really serious about the 1911.
Heck, I’d carry that one now.
Thanks! It is a special pistol to me. When I was a kid my dad carried it doing UC work. It was stock then. 9 years ago I got it as a wedding present. Instructions were given to wear it out.(I doubt I ever will but I think the intention was for me to get good with it.) Everything on it was done by me with the exception of the Novak milling. It’s my USPSA Single stack rig. There is nothing that brings back memories of learning to shoot like a well worn 1911. One of my shooting mentors had a 1911 Colt that had countless rounds through it; starting when he was a kid. I’m not sure if any of the parts on it were still original when he died but it represented a life’s work of shooting. He was military and LE. If I ever cross paths with one of his kids I’d love to see that old pistol.
Now I am wondering why I am playing with all these plastics toys when I have a few 1911’s collecting dust. Probably the silly games I play and the need for hi-cap mags.
I don’t know what games you are playing but some unintended consequences/benefits of this are:
I am gonna get way better at stage planning. If you don’t run your plan w/ SS it’s a disaster.
My reloads should improve across the board. I’m doing a lot more under pressure.
Going 1 for 1 on targets is way more important. This will really show once the weather is nice enough
to go outside and steel gets mixed in.
I went from USPSA Limited to Singlestack major. 20+1vs 8+1. Last Monday I was within .2 Hit factor of a M/GM level
Limited guy on a 18rd stage. I was pumped!
I hear ya! I like the challenge. When I first started shooting 2 gun [pistol-carbine] I had been competing in IDPA revolver division. So that’s what I went with in 2 gun. I saw guys blow through magazine after magazine on the plate rack then I get up there and go 6 for 6 because… I had to. Now I’m using a 10+1 round Colt .38 super and I don’t feel disadvantaged, at least in the game we play at the club level. IDPA went away leaving USPSA and 2 gun. If I ever do USPSA I’ll probably go production with my Beretta M9.
When I used to shoot single stack it was no big deal to take match most accurate. I don’t think I ever took an overall with a single stack, but I have done it with a stock Glock 19.
1911s are still better.
I’m a mid to high A class shooter with whatever I practice with.
Yes it is. It’s strictly a game thing. A lot of guys pin them. I can freeze it up occasionally if there is an array of really close targets and I’m running the gun flat out. (High grip/not meaty hands.) Once I get a chance I will fit a new one that is more pronounced. Again I wouldn’t recommend that in any other situation. I like for now being able to take it off if I’m doing anything else.
I thought so. I noticed it didn’t look like it had a memory bump like your lightweight. Certainly makes it harder to consistently get that safety depressed without one.
Up to 757rds. I ran 30rds Chronographing new loads for USPSA; the other 70 were random old reloads.
No malfunctions. 15 rds through the Commander, 85 through the Government. One thing of note yesterday
was that I was shooting low like it was my job. With loads at factory power and new loads. I’m guessing it was a bit of a flinch caused by slow firing over the chrono in 18degree temps(spring feels like it’s a long way off!)
My USPSA loads are using 230gr Black Bullets with Clays powder:
3.5grs: Avg Vel-628fps out of the 5”(oddly enough this load cycled both the GOVT and Commander.)
3.7grs: Avg Vel-678fps out of the 5”(cycles both guns)
3.9grs: Avg Vel-728fps out of the 5”(168pf consistently) I’m hoping this will run around 172PF in not stupid weather.
813rds: Shot a local weekly USPSA match last Tuesday. It’s a quick 3 stage indoor league with 2 small stages and 1 large one. I used my Govt model and fired 56 shots. I had a failure to feed on the second round of the night. It was probably User error. I shot Limited 10 and took a CMC RPM 10rd out of the package and loaded it full on a closed slide. Either I failed to seat the mag or the light load combined with the top round pressure caused a failure to feed. Being in a match I just cleared it without much diagnosis. I had 5 mag changes on the clock and all of them were fast and bobble free. That is one thing I am noticeably improving on during this exercise. The other is shooting targets clean. Without the 21 round limited gun I am making hits much more effectively with less waste.
The above images are from a classifier type stage involving a barrel start, 3 targets(one hard cover) and a mandatory reload. 2rounds on each target freestyle; reload; 2 rounds each target strong hand. One thing that is abundantly clear is it is much easier for me to shoot this gun one handed than a Glock. Mostly due to trigger and partly due to the grip angle. I got 7th out of 36 on this stage and 13th overall. Considering 80% of the shooters were running open, PCc, and limited
I was pretty pleased.
Running this same match again tomorrow. Saturday is a monthly 7 stage match. Stand by for updates.
OP, I have 40 years experience shooting, loading for, and packing 1911s. A few observations:
Magazines are important. I have good luck with the Wilson ones with the nylon follower. Those perform flawlessly and I use them for carry mags. I have a half-dozen $7 gun-show special GI type for the range. If I have a problem, I can throw the mag away.
You can save money using lead bullets for practice. Use a hard cast 230 grain round nose over 5 grains of bullseye. It’s a nice stout load and will duplicate the GI hardball load. A tight sizing die and a very slight taper crimp ensure reliable operation with no bullet setback. I use a 4-die set for this purpose.
.45 is really easy to load for, because the fat cases and bullets are easy to handle. I rely on 9mm for protection, but my .45s are my range toys.
Don’t try to hop-up the .45. It’s a low-pressure cartridge and the stock chamber may not be fully supported. Duplicate the factory loading only.
Generous lubrication on the locking lugs, link, and frame rails (I use Breakfree LP). Light lube everywhere else. DO NOT omit to put a drop of CLP in the little tube that holds the detent springs for the slide stop and the thumb safety.
