about upgrades to 1911 pistols

DocHolliday331

Im about to purchase either a colt 1911A1 pistol, or a colt 1991A1. I plan on upgrading the pistol part by part as finances allow to eventually have a great(er) pistol.. My question... There are so many upgrades offered by colt and others i.e., porting, throat and polish, action, match trigger, lower and flare ejection, checkering, etc., Which upgrades should be my first priority, which are the best to get (bang for the buck), and which are just a waste of money???
Thanks



Edited by - DocHolliday331 on 05/04/2002 16:00:39

Edited by - DocHolliday331 on 05/04/2002 16:01:27

cpermd

Trigger job.
Sights.
2000 rds of ammo.
Forget the rest.
cpermd

Prescott Pete

The very first thing you want in a handgun is reliability. This is especially true if you are going to rely on it to protect yours or someone else's life.
Try several different types of ammunition to see what functions and what doesn't. If you don't know why a certain type bullet gives the gun problems find someone who does.Have a competent gunsmith fix that problem. Most semi-auto handguns of today will function fine with full metal jacket bullets.You will probably want to use some type of hollow point for defense.The gun should work every time flawlessly for at least 300 rounds before betting a life on it.
I would think next should be a good trigger and then good sights.
Everything after that would be lots of practice so you are very competent with it and then add things such as grips that work for you.
Good luck.

leeblackman

What do you want to use it for? Defense or Competition? If Competition, then what type?

There are some features like a meltdown job. It would be great looking, and great for concealed carry, lessening the risk of the gun snagging on your clothes, but it would be ablsolutely pointless on a USPSA race gun.

Also, stay away from anything that say's drop in... Most of the time if it effects performance or function and it doesn't have to be installed by a gunsmith or require fitting, it ain't worth a crap.


You should probably have a reliability package done on it. This involves basic cleaning up of tool marks. Polishing the breech face, tuning the extractor, and the tip-over edge of the chamber.

Lower and flare ejection port and install longer ejector to throw cases out to side more rather than straight up if needed.

Have a match bushing fitted if needed. Also a fitted link will help.

Install a new trigger if the one you have isn't long enough. Also different grips effect this.

You may consider putting new sight on it, if your going to use it for a defensive weapon I personally would NOT advise putting a snag free rear sight like a novak lopro because if you ever want to clear a malfunction one handed its a real pain in the rear. This is from personal experience. You may or may not want night sights. I personal never found them worth the money, but alot of people have. If you front sight is staked, you may want to have you slide cut and replace it with a dovetailed front sight. It does two things. Alows you to kinda tap the sight to the left or right a little. And its more stable than traditional staked sights which have a tendancy to pop out.

If your going to start shooting competition you may want to install a magazine funnel or just have your frame bevelled out. Makes it easier to align you magazine in the bottom of the gun for reloading. Sometimes this is a good oportunity to change out your mainspring housing for whichever fits your hand better. Arched, raised, or flat.

You may want checkering cut on you front strap for better gripping or even on the front of the slide.

If you slide to frame fit is kinda loose you may want to have them refitted by a pro. Its called having your rails peen and swained.

If your gonna shoot competition, your probably gonna want a match grade barrel, maybe even a compensated barrel. If you install a match barrel and your frame isn't already cut for one, you might want to have it cut to put a ramped match barrel in.

Trigger job, yup.

Beavertail grip safety? All about how it feels in your hand, I have one with and one without. No big deal to me. You might also have to replace you hammer when you do this. SO DO THIS BEFORE YOU GET A TRIGGER JOB. If you don't already have a beavertail, then your frame will probably have to be modified to accept one.

Ambidextrous safety, never helped me any, I just use my index finger on my left hand.

Extended magazine release? Can you reach yours. Also replacing the magazine release can sometime cause problems, some magazine followers might not like your new magazine release.

Magazines, find a brand that works and stick with them, get lots of them too.

Full lenght guide rod. Didn't help my gun any.

And after you do all this stuff, if your like me, you guns gonna look like sh*t. Refinshing, take your choice. I personally like Springfields GunKote. A bake on polycoat from what I understand. But whatever you do, have it done by a competent gunsmith, otherwise your gun will comeback and everything will be to tight because they didn't know what they were doing.


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Nighthawk

I think I would go with the 1991a1, for there alone lies a great handgun. I would go with polishing the throat first,then a trigger job. That alone may be enough modifications for you, however there are many other things you may want to do. You might want to consider buying a Springfield 1911a1 with the loaded package Springfield offefs a lifetime repair policy. I own each of these guns and find them equally superior to many other 1911s, and I would hate to have to make a choice between these equaly good guns. But I understand if you are partial to the Colt.

Good Luck.

Rugster

William81

I bought a Colt 1991A1 Compact three years ago with the same intention as you outlined. I had a Amb. Safety put on first as I am left handed. Next I a trigger job from a very good gunsmith that I have used many times before. The gun has been flawless since that time so I am not sure that I will have anything else done. I keep thinking about getting better sights for it, but I am satisfied with it as it sits for now.

leeblackman

I have a Colt Govt. Series 80, am righthanded, but shoot bilaterally (for ever right corner theres a left corner), so I use my left hand alot. I put an extended magazine release on it, cause I was having trouble reaching it, put a flat mainspring houseing/mag well on it, put hogue panel grips, a longer trigger, had the extractor tuned and got some chip mccormik 8rd mags with base pads for it. I plan on having a match bushing fitted in it to replace the factory "finger" bushing thats in it cause I hear they tend to break. Right now off the bench it will shoot about 2" at 25 yards with my handloads.

Visit me http://www.geocities.com/gunsmithlee

mballai

I had my Series 70 1911 worked over in two or so stages. It shot fine just as it was, but there were things that needed some work. Trigger,sights, lowered eject port,grips, well, beavertail, hammer,sear, ejector, firing pin,mainspring housing and some other minor details. It's got an ambi safety and ambi mag release. I'm a southpaw, but the real reason for the ambis is for speed. I might have a match barrel and bushing put in at some point in time, but it's the best combat handgun I have ever used. A lot of money to put it all together, but I love mine.

If I had to do it again, I'd buy a fancy Kimber or Springfield Armory or splurge and have Les Baer build me one. I had swapped for the Series 70 and I just knew its greatness was just a few modifications away.

Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead

leeblackman

Honestly unless you either have an old 1911a1 to mess with or unless your a gunsmith, it would probably be cheaper just to buy a 1911a1 factory with all the bells and wistles.

Only reason I think that is cause I know a guy that bought a Springfield Armory Mil-spec Operator and then had it tweaked out to get it like the TRP Operator only to spend twice the cash and still only have half the gun.

Visit me http://www.geocities.com/gunsmithlee

4GodandCountry

Buy a Kimber and forget about it.

When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....

binder

Just take the gun out with 2-500 rounds of ammo, over a couple of shooting sessions, and see if it feels the same as when it was new. At 2-500 rounds, you should be able to tell if it is feeding okay, and trigger is good or not.
Then go from there, and ask a few other folks you shoot with and see if they can recommend someone for the upgrade you have in mind or if they have a gun with that upgrade so you can see what it looks like before you buy it.

Xracer

Doc....take it just as it comes out of the box, and shoot it....a lot. At least 4-500 rounds. Try different brands and bullet types (or different loads if you handload). Then just start changing things that annoy you, or that you think need improvement....one at a time.

Eventually, you'll end up with a gun that's just right for YOU!

Good luck.