Glock style 1911

[TheProf]

Anyone wish they made a 1911 with drop in parts.. (like a Glock)..that does not need tuning.. with Glock-like reliability... ..that can take neglect like a Glock..(not that you should neglect maintaining any gun)

...all the while retaining traits that make a 1911 a favorite of many.

 

[rbernie]

I am led to believe that the military contract 1911s were treated in exactly that way, and that it is only the more modern commercial market, which allowed and encouraged deviations from the standard blueprints, that tend to require more fiddling. I have, for example, owned dozens of 5 inch 1911s from various manufacturers over the last 35 or 40 years. I can count on one hand the number of times in which I struggled with the gun, and in each case it was because the manufacturer failed to adhere to the original design and materials specifications.

I have also found that taking the original design and attempting to use shorter and shorter barrels introduces issues, simply because the design was created around the timing of a 5 inch barrel. This is why many of the manufacturers that make 1911 pattern pistols have ultimately introduced non-1911 single action micro pistols - because they found that they simply could not scale the 1911 down and keep it reliable.

 

[JERRY]

no such beast. if you want a "commander hammer" and a beavertail grip safety instead of the standard spur hammer and low profile grip safety you will need fitting. change the standard thumb safety to one with an extension and you will need even more fitting. that's just the way 1911s are.

 

[Fiv3r]

I don't think you can get the same performance out of a gun that allows for drop in parts. Think about your car. There are numerous parts that will plunk right in, but many of them require someone of skill to tune them...even if that is juat knowing what buttons to press on a computer screen. I've got a 40 year old AMC Jeep in my garage. It's a head scratcher to a young mechanic. It runs great, but you have to know how to talk to the old girl.

Truth be told, ive had more issues with any of the three Glocks I have owned than I have had with my 5" 1911s. The only issues I've had with my 1911s has been a wandering stop pin, and that was on an officer model. I also had a SA Loaded that would get knocked off "safe" in my holster, and that was due to the extended ambi safety. My more loosy goosy GI type 1911s have given me no issues short of a Turkish budget gun that would not feed jhp.

I have never felt the need to tinker with my gun. Different grips? Sure. But if I wanted non-GI sights and a beaver tail and an extended safety, there are scores upon scores of guns that come from the factory with them fitted and ready to go. If I buy a basic gun, I bought it to be basic. I kinda like the barebones 1911s. I have always been a windage shooter, so adjustable sights are wasted on me unless the gun is really screwed up. I have no need for an extended safety as I have no problem finding the stock one and it is less likely to get bumped. Beaver tails are nice. I do like the aesthetic and the protection, but I dont have meaty hands so they aren't on my deal breaker list. I kinda like a 1911 to look and act like one my grandfather would have been issued in WWII...if he hadn't been an electrician in the Navy on a Destroyer

Glocks are Legos...dang fine Legos. However, I don't view their modular design as their greatest strength. They are cost effective, durable, and reliable guns. I'm OK with my old school guns requiring an old school way to maintain them.

 

[Balrog]

I don't think you can get the same performance out of a gun that allows for drop in parts.

That is a two edged sword. A gun with drop in parts will probably be more reliable, but probably not as accurate. A custom fit gun may be more accurate, but will need more gunsmithing to make it as reliable. You can have both superb accuracy near 100% reliability, but its going to take time/money to get the gun that way.

 

[Tallball]

Perhaps I'm misremembering, but it seems like I've heard descriptions of military armorers dismantling a bunch of 1911's, cleaning the parts all at once, and then reassembling them without regard to which parts came from which pistols.

Standardized parts like that are a normal requirement for modern military pistols.

 

[tarosean]

I am led to believe that the military contract 1911s were treated in exactly that way,

One of the requirements was that it could be assembled from a box of parts regardless of manufacturer.

I treat my 1911's the same as my Glocks and none required tuning..

 

[LiveLife]

Yes, it's called RIA Tactical/Ultra, the "Glock of 1911s".

Unlike other 1911s, it's got flared chamber mouth to reliably feed/chamber even sloppy lead SWC reloads and continue to reliably cycle after 500 rounds of dirty reloads when my railed Sig 1911 XO with tighter chamber slows down after around 300 rounds.

And compare to other 1911, more affordable with more features for best "Bang for the buck".

 

[Palolosj]

Anyone wish they made a 1911 with drop in parts.. (like a Glock)..that does not need tuning.. with Glock-like reliability... ..that can take neglect like a Glock..(not that you should neglect maintaining any gun)

...all the while retaining traits that make a 1911 a favorite of many.

Warld War II era 1911s made for government were parts bin guns with different components made by different manufacturers.

 

[TheProf]

One of the requirements was that it could be assembled from a box of parts regardless of manufacturer.

I treat my 1911's the same as my Glocks and none required tuning..

None required tuning? I was under the impression that all 1911s (even a perfectly functioning one.)..will need tuning.

I really do not want to do that myself or have to visit the Smith. Hence, been staying with the Glock.

1. So...is my assumption wrong about tuning the gun? That all 1911 eventually need it...

2. If the extractor is not broken, but the extractor is not tuned..will the gun still function?

 

[Balrog]

One of the requirements was that it could be assembled from a box of parts regardless of manufacturer.

I treat my 1911's the same as my Glocks and none required tuning..

I do too for the most part, but I would not disassemble all my 1911s at once, jumble the parts in a box, and then randomly reassemble them with whichever parts I pick up first?

I have a high end Springfield and 2 Willson Combats that were put together by hand and did have some fitting. They run reliably, but I am not sure I would want to mix up their parts with a bunch of off the shelf 1911s and expect them to be 100%. Maybe they would, or maybe they wouldn't.

After I know one 1911 runs reliably with the parts in that gun, I don't want to interchange parts.

I would be much more comfortable jumbling the parts on a bunch of Glocks and then putting guns back together randomly. They would probably run ok.

 

[bannockburn]

TheProf

Many years later (and many 1911s as well), I have yet to tune any extractors on my guns. As a matter of fact I have yet to do any tuning at all to any of my 1911s. I have worked on some of my guns and some of my friend's guns to change out certain parts (beavertail grip safety, hammer, extended thumb safety, slide release), and some parts did require fitting but the box stock guns themselves worked fine to begin with. The only time I did considerable work on one was when I built one of my own. It took me a very short period of time (and some added expenses), to learn that not all 1911 parts are created equal. I believe that if you stick with a quality manufacturer you'll more than likely get a quality 1911 that won't require any tuning to get it to run properly out of the box.

 

[tarosean]

I do too for the most part, but I would not disassemble all my 1911s at once, jumble the parts in a box, and then randomly reassemble them with whichever parts I pick up first?

I have a high end Springfield and 2 Willson Combats that were put together by hand and did have some fitting. They run reliably, but I am not sure I would want to mix up their parts with a bunch of off the shelf 1911s and expect them to be 100%. Maybe they would, or maybe they wouldn't.

After I know one 1911 runs reliably with the parts in that gun, I don't want to interchange parts.

I would be much more comfortable jumbling the parts on a bunch of Glocks and then putting guns back together randomly. They would probably run ok.

I cannot even mix my different generation glock parts together and expect a functioning gun. Why would I expect to do the same with dozens of different manufacturers?

 

[Balrog]

I cannot even mix my different generation glock parts together and expect a functioning gun. Why would I expect to do the same with dozens of different manufacturers?

I am not sure you should expect that. I have never tried. The military did it with 1911s, I guess, and not sure how well it worked for them. What I am saying is that I would rather take a bunch of Gen 4 Glock parts and mix them to together and rebuild guns at random, than I would with 1911s.

 

[Texas10mm]

I am not sure you should expect that. I have never tried. The military did it with 1911s, I guess, and not sure how well it worked for them. What I am saying is that I would rather take a bunch of Gen 4 Glock parts and mix them to together and rebuild guns at random, than I would with 1911s.

I would take a bunch of Springfield Armory GI models and mix them together and expect them to all work when reassembled.

As stated in the second post the problem starts when companies start tweaking things.

 

[Balrog]

I would take a bunch of Springfield Armory GI models and mix them together and expect them to all work when reassembled.

As stated in the second post the problem starts when companies start tweaking things.

I wouldn't necessarily expect all the Springfield GI models to run reliably out of the box, thought most seem to, but that again probably has more to do with the way parts are manufactured now compared to the early 20th Century. I do agree the Springfield GI models would likely do better when parts are jumbled together than some others.

 

[tarosean]

1. So...is my assumption wrong about tuning the gun? That all 1911 eventually need it.

The problem is "1911" has become a generalized term. Are we talking a 10000.00 dollar custom or a 300 dollar import. What is your definition of a 1911?

No, not all of them will eventually need it. Just like not all glocks run from the box.

 

[TheProf]

I have a Springfield milspec that is so far 100 percent reliable.

Would it eventually get out of tune and need tuning? Are there sign that this is starting to happen?

I thought about getting a Ruger commander size for carry. Do those need tuning?

 

[kidneyboy]

I have a Springfield milspec that is so far 100 percent reliable.

Would it eventually get out of tune and need tuning? Are there sign that this is starting to happen?

I thought about getting a Ruger commander size for carry. Do those need tuning?

I'm curious what you mean by 'tuning'.

 

[greyling22]

I'm pretty sure this is vaporware at this point, but it is exactly what the OP is talking about.

http://liberty1911.com/

Pity too, because it's a neat design.

 

[rskent]

Anyone wish they made a 1911 with drop in parts.. (like a Glock)..that does not need tuning.. with Glock-like reliability... ..that can take neglect like a Glock..(not that you should neglect maintaining any gun)

...all the while retaining traits that make a 1911 a favorite of many.

No. A Glock is a Glock and a 1911 is a 1911. They are both great handguns in their own right. With their own positives and negatives. I like them both for different reasons. I don’t think reliability is a problem with either one. At least not mine. As far as tuning. I don’t have many firearms that haven’t had some changes, or “tuning”.

 

[rskent]

I treat my 1911's the same as my Glocks and none required tuning..

And I treat my Glocks the same as my 1911’s. Tuning is required.


Maybe not required to function, but a gun that operates smoothly makes me happy.

It’s the little things in life.

 

[TheProf]

I'm curious what you mean by 'tuning'.

Ok... I'm showing my ignorance here. .. I have heard that 1911s need tuning to get it to run right . I'm not sure myself what "tuning" is all about. I googled the darn thing...and assume it has something to do with the extractor.

My milspec Springfield is running fine so far. I was concerned that I may have to tune it as part of regular maintenance ....(or is this something that was done only if problems show up.) I was not sure.

 

[LiveLife]

Or you can get S&W/Sig 1911s with external extractors and not worry about tuning the extractor.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I don’t view Glocks or any striker plastic gun as being in the same class as 1911s. They’re two different animals and I don’t really see any reason to cross contaminate the gene pool.

None of my guns are neglected, but all are used as intended.