Short Slides
Ahhhh...The chopped 1911s...I know'em well.
For the record, I never said I didn't like'em...I said I don't trust'em unless they've proved themselves. The shorter the slide, the less likely you are to get one to hit the ground runnin' from the box.
The farther away from the 5-inch pistols ya get, the more persnickety they tend to get. They can be made to run, but it gets a little tedious sometimes. Even some Commanders can throw a curve once in a while.
That being said, the 4-inch slide/barrel combo isn't that far removed from Commander-length.(4.25 inches) and most seem to do okay as long as
the magazine timing is up to the task. That requires good mag springs.
The combination of Officer's grip frame and Commander slide is probably the
best as far as comfortable carry and easy concealment goes. The grip is
what tends to print the gun under a coat, and shorter is gooder. The shorter slide takes care of the pistol pokin' ya in the ribs when sitting or getting in and out of a car.
At the first sign of a last round feeding problem, save yourself a headache and order Wolff extra-power mag springs. Those things have been worth their weight in gold in solving last-round problems. A tuned extractor will
also go far in making the pistol reliable. If I can't get a spring steel extractor, I like Brown Hardcore or Wilson Bulletproof, slightly modified
and tweaked to the gun. The hardcore requires a little less work than the
Wilson. The Wilson has a little more meat in the fp stop slot to allow you
to press-fit the stop. Coin toss.
Luck!
Tuner
