New 1911 toys 45 ACP and 9MM

[tazman]

Well, I was able to take possession of my 2 new Springfield 1911 pistols today. One is a stainless Range Officer in 9mm. The other is a MIL-SPEC in 45 ACP.

I brought them home and gave them a good cleaning. Both barrels appear to have fairly generous throats so there should be no problem feeding cast with normal OAL.
I tested my reloads for feed in the 9mm and they fed manually from the magazine perfectly. The loads I developed for my Beretta 92FS have .358 or .359 diameter boolits in them. They chambered in this pistol fine with no sticking or needing any assistance. Hopefully I won't need to do anything different for this pistol.
The equipment for making boolits and reloads for the 45 ACP should arrive tomorrow or the next day.
Hopefully I can get to the range soon and find out how well they shoot.

[gtrpickr]

Nice looking guns, you will have to let us know how they perform.

[pjames32]

We need a range report. Good looking pair!

[Forrest r]

Did a heck of a job cleaning them now it's time to see how dirty you can get them. Looking forward to a range report.

[EMC45]

I have the same Mil Spec .45. It shoots cast well. The Lee 230gr. TC bullet sized to .452 does very well for me. Even the Lee 200gr. SWC (kind of H&G clone) does well too.

[DougGuy]

Congratulations Taz!! You will get a lot of enjoyment out of them!

When you go to setting up dies, take the barrel(s) out and use them for a gauge, you will want ammo to drop in freely, i.e. to "plunk" all the way into the chambers. Sizing .451" you should be able to hit published COA with just about any style boolit, sizing to .452" may come with some issues so I think by now you are aware of what to check for.

The 9mm same thing, sizing to .356" or .357" may plunk freely with any boolit style, .358" may cause some problems.

One note of caution with the 9mm, since it operates at 35,000psi it can be VERY dangerous with any boolit setback so you will want to do a push test, that is after seating and taper crimping, try to push boolits back into the case, you should not be able to push them at all by hand and this is what you want because feeding in the 1911 can sometimes cause the boolit to be pushed back into the case farther and pressures can rise dramatically. Enough to cause a KB..

[tazman]

One note of caution with the 9mm, since it operates at 35,000psi it can be VERY dangerous with any boolit setback so you will want to do a push test, that is after seating and taper crimping, try to push boolits back into the case, you should not be able to push them at all by hand and this is what you want because feeding in the 1911 can sometimes cause the boolit to be pushed back into the case farther and pressures can rise dramatically. Enough to cause a KB..

I have been loading 9mm for several years and have that part figured out. The loads I have made up for my other 9mm chamber fine in this one. There is no possibility of setback the way I put them together.
I will do the plunk test when I start loading for the 45.

I have the same Mil Spec .45. It shoots cast well. The Lee 230gr. TC bullet sized to .452 does very well for me. Even the Lee 200gr. SWC (kind of H&G clone) does well too.

Those are the exact molds I bought for the 45. I received them today and have cast a few boolits to try out. I need to wait a couple of days for them to harden since I water drop and tumble lube.
I'll get to try them out later.

[Pistolero49]

Congrats on two fine semi-autos!

[Texas by God]

You forgot to get a .38 Super!

[Plate plinker]

Funny I don't remember selling you my 9mm Springfield.

[EMC45]

Very nice pistols by the way.

[RobS]

Thumbs up...........Glad you were able to bring home the 1911's you spent time researching about a while back. Let us know how they do.

[Groo]

Groo here
Don't clean them too much, they won't know how to act.
JMB designed them to run dirty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

[tazman]

RANGE REPORT-- I took the 1911 pistols to the range yesterday and again today. Yesterday was function testing with factory ammo.
The MIL_SPEC 45 did ok but not as good as I was hoping. It turns out I wasn't shooting it correctly and had to get used to a heavier trigger besides. It and I did better today. I had reloads with me today with boolits and plated along in a couple of different charge weights and bullet weights. I got my 45ACP molds yesterday and got some boolits cast, sized, and lubed. Cast boolits were Lee 452-200-swc and Lee TL452-230-2R. I also got some Berry's 230RN plated to try.
I found I was able to seat both of the boolits so the front drive band was showing just barely(maybe 40 thousandths) in front of the case. Both boolits fed smoothly and plunked just as they were supposed to. I tried powder charges of Bullseye from 4.6 to 5.0 grains under the 200 SWC and 4.6 under the 230. All loads functioned flawlessly at the range and the accuracy was good.
I had the flinches most of the day today so I am not posting any targets since they are embarrassing. The shots I made correctly hit in a tight group in the center of the target. The flinches--not so much. Definitely not the guns fault.
All the reloads and the factory hardball shot to the sights. I figured that might not be the case so I am pleased with that aspect.
I sized the boolits to .452 and tumble lubed them. I got no leading whatsoever. No failures to feed or eject. The 1911 MIL_SPEC ran perfectly. I now have 200 rounds through this gun and it is still has not had a malfunction.
I am going to try some other powders and charge weights to see how light I can go and still get this gun to function. I have another recoil spring from times past I can cut a coil or two off of if I need to go that low to run the light loads.
The 9mm RO shoots extremely accurately with everything I ran through it. It also fed every boolit design I ran through it. I shot factory hardball, some jacketed hollow point reloads, 3 different cast boolits and a few plated round nose. I had all these loaded up for the Beretta 92FS and my S&W 929 revolver. All loads shot into a 1.5 inch group at 10 yards which is as good as I can do with my revolvers.
I only had 2 failures to feed. These were due to using extremely light loads intended to be used with my revolver. I wanted to see if they would work the gun. They were accurate but wouldn't kick the slide back far enough to lock open after the last round. In 2 instances they didn't kick the slide back far enough to feed the next round even though the case ejected. Certainly not the pistol's fault.
All other loads functioned perfectly.
The cast boolits used were NOE-360-135-fn, Lee 356-125-rn, and the Lee TL356-95-rf.
The NOE 135 was somewhat more accurate than the others. The group size was nearly identical to the jacketed factory. The hollow point load shot well also as did the plated bullets.
The handling, trigger, and recoil of the 9mm RO was outstanding. By the end I was certain the shot was going to hit where I aimed it. No question in my mind. It is that good.
When the first three rounds you shoot with a gun tear a cloverleaf in the center of the 10 ring you get a special feeling for that gun. This one gives it to me.
I didn't put three consecutive rounds touching the rest of the session but it was still outstanding.
The only down check I can give it is the magazine springs are so stiff I can only put 7-8 rounds in instead of the 9 they call for without a tool of some kind to help. I am going to leave them loaded for a couple of days and see if that helps some.
I ran into an gentleman at the range today who spent much of his time in the service as a weapons instructor when he wasn't shooting or overseas. He spent a little time with me and gave me some tips that helped tremendously. After speaking with him, my groups shrunk by nearly 1 third and I didn't flinch nearly so often or as badly when I did.
Overall I am very pleased with how things went today.
Always something new out there to learn.

[birch]

I think the 1911 is the hardest handgun to shoot accurately when chambered in 45. I can shoot 3-4 inch 15 yard groups with any medium quality 1911 all day long. If I shoot a 2 inch group, I only consider that luck.

I don't think most shooters could realize the accuracy potential of a Les Baer Custom over a production Colt series 70.

[gray wolf]

From what you have said it seems you have a little issue with recoil.
Not a slam, just an observation.
If you like the loads that didn't function the pistol and want to shoot them it's an
easy fix. Get a wolf spring kit and drop the spring weight down till you find the correct weight to function the slide.
Make sure the slide comes back all the way to properly eject the case and also has enough forward inertia to correctly feed the next round.

You have B/E powder, that's good. The 200 grain SWC can run in the 45 with as little as 3.5/ 3.9 of B/E, fact is it's a very accurate load, all it takes is the correct set up of the pistol. 12, or 13 pound spring for a full size 1911 should get you there, or close enough for you to see whats going on.

+ it may help down the road with Mr. flinch.

Hope I helped----------A little anyway.

[tazman]

I am headed that direction. I do have a problem with recoil. Some days it is worse than others.
That spring kit and light load combination sounds like a good idea. Simple and inexpensive change.
The man who helped me let me shoot his 45 with his loads. He was running 3.5 grains of Titegroup under a 200 grain boolit. Very easy to control and shoot accurately.
I have many pistol powders. I picked up a pound here and there during the shortage. I now have some large quantities of the ones I used the most.

[gray wolf]

Sounds like a plan Eh,
I think with the reduced power spring kit from Wolf +
the reduced load you got Err done.

As a fall back you could even drop down to a 185 grain bullet. 185's shoot very well with the reduced loads you have mentioned.
You have two nice pistols and the way to go forward, now go enjoy them.

Sam

[EMC45]

Great range report!

[Pistolero49]

Great range report!

I agree. Very informative.