Why, T-Bolt?

"Why are 1911s superior?"

Huh, what?  I just woke up.  Where did that come from?

"You said it last post."

I did?  Lemme check.  Oh, that was just a throwaway line.

"So you didn't mean it?"

Oh no, I MEANT it.  But not like you think.  They are superior for ME.

I did all that gunsmithing.  I know the design inside and out.  If I munged up the sear somehow, for example, I could have a chance at replacing it and not making an unsafe condition.  I'm not that good with a sear stone.  I'd probably ruin half a dozen $20 sears before figure out how to finesse that tiny little facet into something satisfactory.  And I can test a sear and no if it is any good right now, with one hand tied behind my back.  And if it breaks is it trivial to get one of the only 50-some parts for it, and that will be true for years years to come.  And much of the rest is easier to fit compared to harmony in the hammer-sear engagment.

What I am saying is that I have the working of a 1911 down, pretty good. 

My pistol training was 80% Glock platform and 15% 1911 and 5% revolver.  100% pistol.  And it was hours and hours.  I, of course, would welcome more.  And refreshers.  Etc.  Training is good.  But one thing I sorta worked through is pistols are pistols.  Like "shoot/no-shoot" is the same with a M&P as it is with an M&P (semi/revolver).  I have no bias on that, and I have a bit of work inside the guts of a revolvers, just nothing like a 1911.  I can now run a Glock, when before the training that, for some reason, was my worst personally-performing platform.  

"So why not a Glock?"

Well, I don't OWN a Glock.  Nor have I taken a Glock Armorers class (though that takes a weekend, not weeks)

The 1911 is superior because it is the gun I know, the gun I have, and the gun I like.  It's my solution for me.  Not the solution for everyone.  The 1911 is superior in this very specific use-case.  Me.  And it works ok.  It has limitations, and I am aware of them,

I'm not here to argue with you over your SIG P369 or 302 (or whatever) selection or make fun of you for it or try to convert you to my preference.  I might look down on your for a Taurus Judge selection a little bit.  But for wholly different reasons.  "Revolver, fine. THAT revolver?  Meh...." I used to be that arguing guy.  I've gotten much better

If I signed up for training I'd prolly have to borrow a black plastic service pistol.  Range up a few times ahead of the class.  And that is fine.  But that's because the trainers say to bring a black plastic service pistol to a lot of these.

You know what else makes me feel shame

Installing the mag release button before replacing the trigger/trigger-bow. 

And ALL 1911 gunsmiths have done that.  More than once.  Guaranteed.  They often don't care to admit it... 

I wouldn't be 'that guy'

 If I took my 1911s to a gun class.  I was checking my shooter logs.  

You know.  'That Guy' the guy that brings a 1911 to class.  Just one.  And 4 factory magazines, and no loader.  And his gun breaks halfway through and was never reliable up till that break, and he spent all his time frantically reloading and never really kept up.  The gun was, say, a Kimber?

I'd not have that problem.  I'd bring a couple dozen after market magazine I have tested through multiple range days.  I'd bring 2 guns. Duplicate set ups.  Those are tested too.  

The T-Bolt 001 gun has over 1200 rounds logged through it.  Zero malfs.  Never cleaned, yet, either.  I have oiled it a few times.

The Springfield backup 1911 I rebuilt has over 1300 logged.  I learned not to shoot Semi-Wadcutter though it.  It doesn't feed that ammo reliably, and I don't count those as malfs in the 600s.  Self-defense stuff works fine.  I lean toward Federal HST 230g, and American Eagle FMJ.  Three malfs in 1388 for this gun.  This gun has not locked back on the last round 3 times.  #442, #544, and #1369.  I am watching the mag I used on #1369, the next thing to look at is the slide-release geometry, obviously. 

I'd bring to the log to class to allay the fears of the instructor.  If it was more of a plastic doublestack class and not geared to 1911 fossils, I'd make arrangements for the proper pistols to come with me and leave the 1911s at home.  But if it was 1911 friendly class "as long as it is reliable" then hell yeah, I'm bringin' em.

Hey, look, the founding legend/myth

 You have to get through a Babbel ad.

But it explains more, in cartoon form, than many know about the Moros.  Plus liberal use of the term 'stopping power'

Jeff Cooper Hearesy!

Naw, this guy pretty much has his number.  

Yes, Cooper contributed immensely to the knowledge base.  Yes, his study of the issue was constant.  Yes he did adapt when a new method proved more effective.

But he was also a curmudgeonly old codger set in his ways, and this was all obvious after only a brief exposure to his writings.

I didn't get into reading his stuff until this blog started in 2007, just after he died, but I knew all the negatives from the jump.  It was obvious.  He did become the default though.  I took his advice, and acted on it, until I learned better.  All knowing that I might very well learn better in the far, or near, future.

"Eschew .223 ARs and plastic 9mm's?  Gravitate toward steel 1911s and .308 rifles?  Can do, until I am more seasoned."

It's not like it is wrong-wrong to take Cooper's advice to heart.  It's not even wrong, singular.  It is a good starting point, especially when there were no other giants with a huge body of comparable published work to take guidance from.  Plus he is entertaining.

"So you are all about the plastic 9mm now, and 1911s are yesterdays news, T-Bolt?"

No.  I still like 1911s.  But I use, and have trained with to much higher proficiency than 10 years ago, both.  And enjoy both.  In a zombocalypse, when I wake up from a coma in an abandoned hospital, and someone hands me a 1911, I say "Cool!"  If instead they hand me a Glock 17, what do I say?  "Cool!"     

JMB pbuh

Ugly

It is 'universally' accepted that Glocki are ugly.  And other pistols are more attractive.

This is a subjective observation, but there is consensus.  Seemingly.

Why?

Oh, it's blocky, and not sleek.  The finish is only fancy if you do that after-market.  But it's the same with plastic pistols that came later, and those are considered less ugly. Sure, maybe there is a design flourish on a M&P, say, that apparently give that one style points over the Glock.  But are they really raising M&P that far above the Glock in the looks department?

Ok, let's compare it the 1911.  A pistol that is considered much more attractive looking.  And not a fancy one.  Picture a stock 1911, parkerized, plain grips.  Heck even paint those grips the same color as the rest of the pistol so it doesn't look two-tone. 

And now the hard part.  Set your prejudices aside.  And just look at the two pistols and judge as if you have never seen them before.

I know it is difficult.  The 1911 had a 60 year head start to get itself ingrained into the culture.  It had to compete on looks with revolvers, but those types are much more widely different than the two semi autos in question.

Is there some Golden Mean that grants the 1911 an advantage in the styling department?  Is that enough to place it head and shoulder over the Glock where most call one gun attractive and the other ugly? 

(and if there is the Golden Mean cooked into 1911s...  good job Browning!)

Need to sell another gun

Why?  No reason.  I got more than I want?

I over paid for Series 70 Colt Commander.  I thought it was stainless, but it was nickel plated.  I dunno why I like stainless, it's really something I need to get over.  Anyway, it's nothing special, and even if it wasn't plated, which would require stripping off, there isn't enough life to the rails to do a proper rebuild. 

The previous owner has done a horrible job putting on an extended slide release.  I mean, butchery to the slide release.  So I replaced that.  Pachmayr grips came with it, and I put them back on for the next person.

It's an ok gun, but I overpaid for it during one of the Obama panics.  Prolly won't get all my money back, but, I'll get some.  A decent some.

And, this is Maryland.  So I will put it up on consignment at my favorite boomstick purveyor.  All is well.

This one.  On the right.  I'm not selling the snubbie.

Tam's Got an Article

In Shooting Illustrated about the 2000 round challenge. 

She's gone over this before, online.  With links and everything to where the idea came from.  The concept is neato, and I like reading about it.

She even did the test with personally owned bespoke custom 1911.

Hey, I own my very own bespoke custom 1911!  And I keep a shooter log on that very gun, among others.  I could...

No, hold it right there.  Tam her ownself might counsel against that.  Her experience was as the 1911 shed all the oil it had in its rails it slowed down noticeably, and shy of 2000 rounds.  It was doing great then got cranky when dry, failing to go into battery after a while.  It was after hundreds of rounds, but the gun could have made it and passed with flying colors if the challenged allowed two drops of oil every 500.

And she said why get your expensive gun all gritty, possibly loosening it up with unnecessary wear, running it dry, anyway?  She had to, but she's a professional gun writer.

So, I am of two minds.  I want to see if my gun handle it, but I don't want to age it more than I have to.  A rebuild is time consuming and expensive.  Why be forced to do one at 4000 rounds when I can push that date up to 7000 rounds or more?

But it has been about 500 rounds since I last put a drop of lube on the gun.  I had the gun open at round 150 or so and that meant oil then.  I'm at 839 now.  Wait, now.  I last lubed it at round number 257, according to the log... so that is...  582 rounds into the 2000 round challenge.  IF I were to do it.  I am leaning toward no.  I probably won't detail strip it til 2000ish.  But two or three oil drops will almost surely happen before 2000ish.

I'm just super pleased it has never malfunctioned, yet, and easily passes the bogus '500 round challenge.'  In a big round count class I would not be That Guy.

Range 21 FEB

I was relaxed.  Which is nice. 

41 shots,  the first 6 are circled in yellow, at 8 yards.  A few magazines at the head at 8 yards.  The rest at the chest at 25 yards.  No malfunctions of any kind.

Similar to my usual recent flaws.  Up and right flinch. 

Shot kinda fast as with the black the silhouette there is less temptation to 'prairie dog'.  Shoot, look at where you hit, shoot, look at where you hit.  Instead it is front site, bang... hey, there is the front site again might as well.. bang.   

More confidence that I can reliably hit center mass at 25 yards.  Don't laugh, I wasn't anywhere close to reliable for YEARS.  Might as well get a big old front sight back then, I wasn't gonna try to hit things more than 30 feet away, with a pistol, even if they were shooting back. 

775 rounds through this pistol.  Not one issue.  Zero.  Pile of parts.  Filed on them parts.  Dremelled them parts.  Assembled them parts.  Dead reliable from the word go.  A well running 1911 is a joy, isn't it?  Even better when it is your hands that did it. 

164 years young

Happy Browning Day!

Where has Training Lead Me?

So, Training Progress.

Lots of people drank the Jeff Cooper Kool Aid and went 1911.  Plenty of people without red-stained sugar drank lips and tongue also were fans of working with a 1911 and didn't know who Cooper was. 

Over time many folks have flopped over to the Plastics.  The platform matured since 1980.  The modern pistols have lots of advantages over the older design.  The more training a body got, the more folks grokked the whole problem, the more a body started leaning to the Glock and clones.  Plenty of advantages to go this route.  I totally see that. 

So, when do I switch?

One set of advantages is the inexpensiveness of the Plastic guns.  Both to acquire and to support.  If I were a Police Department armorer that liked to go home at a decent hour I'd PRAY for a switch over from a 1911.  It takes time money and skill to get one right and keep it right.  But I have those skills now, and I have the pistols already.  The sunk costs and already sunken.  So that Glock advantage applies less to me.  Plastic guns nowadays are more reliable out the factory door than the 1911.  That also doesn't apply to me, as my 1911 isn't just a craptastic run of the mill/factory gun.

What advantages for Plastic are left?  Capacity.  That's a big one.  And a primary one for people to switch.  9mm today isn't perceived the same way as Jeff Cooper wanted people to perceive it.  And if the 9mm Europellet bothers you, there are Plastics in .45.  With greater capacity than 1911s.

That's the one side's advantage.  What's on the other side.  Great trigger, obviously.  That still applies to me even with my training as much with a Glock platform as I practice with a 1911.  The difference in triggers is less important as I get better, but it's still there.  The 1911 is slimmer.  You can get a slimmer Plastic, but then you often have the same capacity as a 1911 with a less-good trigger.  And why do that. 

But I like the slimmer.  You can have Slim, or Capacity.  Generally.  A double stack 1911 is right out though.  I have one, and the reliability is not there.  Need to test those $120 magazines, but JEEZ.  That price tag even makes ME balk a bit.

So my impetus to evolve from 1911 to Modern isn't there yet. 

But I am glad I got over my issues with Glocks that I had before training, so I could switch if I wanted to.  That's huge.

---

But there's the thing.  I expected that change preferences away from the 1911 by now.  I follow the parades.  I am easily lead and swayed.  That's the way the parade it going.  Cooper has been gone a dozen years.  But I guess maybe it will still be a while before I take to a new path.  In the meantime, ima relax and just go with it.  I am happy and satisfied with wear I am, but not above changing if the need calls for it. 

Range 22 OCT

Continuing to test my built gun.  The T-Bolt Special?  Double Ought One?  Thunderstruck?  Jupiter's Gatt?  None of them fit.

Federal HST, 42
Magtech, 44
American Eagle, 22
8 yard range
Zero Malfs.
150 rounds total so far since I built the gun.

Target:

I'm heeling a bit, this time.  Making the shots go high.  With 3 magazine through each target one after another, though, you get time to correct your error in a string.  I shoot ok... start to heel, then correct.  The bad shots tend to be in the middle of a string.


One adjustment I have to make is...  there is some creep at the start of the trigger pull.  It's the disconnector.  The hole in the frame is a bit too big and you can feel that little give in the trigger pull.  What to do?  There is a tool on that same catalog page.  The disconnector staking tool.  A wack with that in the right spot will close up the hole in the frame, tightening it.  Simple, huh?  Boy I hope so. 

I love Jeff Cooper

In a ballcap.

You shoulda seen the scratches BEFORE

Maximus Arms 1911

I am les familiar with the foundry work side of 1911 making, so the beginning of this video is a treat for me.

But the stuff I do know a little about starts about 22 minutes in.



That lapping the slide to frame fit is fine. Not very tight, doing it that way, but it is a perfectly adequate for a functioning gun. We did it a bit tighter.

Then Keegan assembled a gun in fast motion. Drop in parts. He didn't even need to file, oh, the thumb safety? To get it to fit and function. They must spec the parts really well.

Or... More likely... That gun was fitted up and smiffed in the other room the day before, then disassembled to show assembly for the cameras. Yeah. Gonna say that.

More?

More 1911 models?

I thought the 1911 market was pretty saturated back in 2009.  But only because that was when I started to pay attention to saturation levels.

Some spendy models there, too. I am constantly telling the gunsmith he could get more for his custome 1911s.  Add a thou to the price.  They sell almost immediately, as is, to repeat customers.  In fact, they are often spoken for before he is close to finish making one .

The Best 1911.

This is practically a meme on what is left of the gunblogosphere.

And now I can pretend to be an expert and make a fool of myself spouting opinions, 10% from personal experience, 20% from learning for a gunsmith, and 70% osmosis from his experience.  So... add that all up and my opinion is worth...  6.77%?

Anyway.  New guns

Colt: 80% Crap.  Maybe the steel is better than some others, but they've been coasting on that metallurgical reputation for sometime.  The more you pay the more disappointed you will be.  Only Wilson owners in the basic armorers course were more disappointed.

Springfield:  50/50 chance it is crap.  Maybe 55/45?  Flip a coin on your lucky day.

Wilson:  Worst gun and most expensive gun in the survey class.  Every time.  Often arrive unsafe.  As in it fails the safety checks.  Their parts are either crap or the best, but no way to predict what you'll get.  Like an extractor I bought was rounded over junk, but the fancy ambi thumb safety was a piece of art. 

S&W:  50/50.  If the extractor works.  If you have extractor troubles trade it in.  Those with extraction trouble are 100% crap.  It will never be right.

Taurus:  No

Kimber:  A more expensive-than-Taurus 'No'.  For similar reasons.  It's reasons just don't have a Portuguese accent.

Para:  Dunno, really.  Never seen one in the Basic Armorer class.  Or anywhere else for that matter.  I know of a sketchy reputation, but other than that I can say nothing one way or another.

RIA/Armscor:  Not half bad actually.  72/25 or better?  You have a better chance that BOTH hammer hooks engage the sear with this than any of the other choices above.  Out of the box.  The metallurgy is a little softer, but so?  And if you ruin it you are only out $500.  So very good gun to take to a rebuild class.  If I ever buy a 1911 again it will be $500 for an Armscor slag 1911 or $3500 for a custom.

That analysis was free and worth every penny.  Why are you listening to a 'New' Jovian Thunderbolt?  Look for the Wise Jovian Thunderbolt or the Half-Competent Jovian Thunderbolt.  Not-a-Fool Thunderbolt.

1911 factories don't have the skilled work force that is cheap enough to turn out a new 1911 for less than a kilobuck or two.  I worry that the $2000 1911 guns come in two qualities.  Dreck for people that don't know the difference but undoubtedly filled with some higher end parts, and Decent enough if the guy that knows what he is doing lucked out or had time to make Decent.

Also, today's parts... you have to get cost savings to compete on price.  So labor AND materials.  Lots of exciting and innovative news ways to make gun parts.   But maybe apply those to new models.

Little story.  The first 1911 I bought was a Springfield Loaded.  9 years ago.  I didn't know any better then, despite my research, or I might have caught this.  The barrel hood where it contact the breach face was an angle.  Like a blunt chisel.  It's peened an indentation into the breach face now.  So the barrel and slide are junk.  I use that frame as the base for a .22 conversion kit.  The second Springfield I got was a Stainless GI.  Or was it Range Officer?  No matter.  It was ok.  Enough meat to the slide rails it became my rebuild gun.  The ejector didn't come with a hole to a pin the ejector in.  Boo.  But it bears out.  50/50 with Springfields! 

Is it just me

Or do you, when you see a custom gun, go "Oooo, very nice, but I'd swap that curved trigger out for a straight one."  Or what have you.  "That'd be perfect if the grips were smooth."  "Black instead of coyote."

I'd chance THAT because I want different function and THIS because I want different style.

Often your opinion on this and that changes over time, too.  As you learn and get better and as trainers influence you and as your tastes change.

Range 24 May

Been a LOOOOONG time since I practiced with .45.

It was a good short session.  Not that I shot great.  I didn't.  But I shot some good, and some bad, and knew when and how I was doing both, and correcting more often than not.

I only shot 3 mags.  Baby steps.

Before the first shot I thought "I bet I do ok with number 1 and flinch on number 2," and that is what I did.  It took the rest of the magazine to settle down again, and shifted to the other side.

Two more mags, Second mag lower right.  Third mag is the left side.

When the shot are decent that is am T-bolt "Make Trigger Go Good" and those are in the paint or better.  When I slip too far right I am in "Make Trigger Go NOW" mode which hurries the squeeze and produces unsatisfactory results.  And one more plain old jerk to keep my head from getting too big.  I hope I have some warm up shots when a bad guy home invader busts in to hurt me and take my stuff.

But like I mentioned, I knew what was good and what was bad and why before I even looked at where the hole was.  And for the bad I knew what to do to fix it before I even looked.  For me, that awareness is huge. 

As you can see even the good one favor the right side.  And that's with me trying to draw the trigger in a way to pull it more left.  Watch, I'll improve even more and start land rounds in a group that can be covered with a half dollar and they will still be slightly right. 

But hey, since I went on the training vision quest I've been using mainly three 1911 styles on my live fire days.  A Springfield from the factory trigger with a Ceiner .22 conversion kit.  A 9mm double stack with a sweet trigger done by Sam, and my rebuilt Springfield .45 with a trigger done by me with heavy supervision by Sam.  All are different, with the .22 least satisfactory, yet still usable for what it is.  Different triggers but same shooter.  Same flaws.

I am pondering my next training step.  It will have to be someone as patient as Sam.  But different.  I want to learning new different tiny little details and improvements.