Linstrum
01-28-2010, 10:57 PM
After about 50 years of thinking about it, I finally got around to getting my first 1911A1, I got Citadel's full-size version of John Moses Browning's masterpiece Colt 1911A1 .45 ACP. I did a little research before deciding specifically on a Citadel since there are some pretty awful as well as unjustifiably expensive copies being made of the U.S. Military's former but (in my opinion) best-ever side-arm. A long-time friend already has a Citadel that he likes and he specifically recommended getting the Citadel because his particular pistol is well-made and functions as intended. The particular pistol I got is nicely finished, all the parts work together smoothly, and there is not any slop that I can feel between the barrel and barrel bushing. I slugged the bore and it measures right at 0.4505", just a grunt hair different from what a lot of .45 ACP pistols run and perfect for the Lee .452-228-1R round nose mould I have that pours exactly at its stated size of 0.452".
As it should be, my new 1911A1 works great right out of the box. I didn't have any .45 ACP reloading dies the day I bought the pistol, so to try it out I bought 50 rounds of Russian-made steel-cased 230 grain copper-jacketed ball ammo since that is the only stuff I can get off the shelf around here right now. I don't have any idea what my pistol's ultimate accuracy will be with my hand loads, but shooting the Russian-made ball ammo at 40 feet, my very first shot was a dead center bull's eye, which I think was partly just luck, but shooting one-handed standing up, all 8 rounds did go into an area about 3" wide by 4" high and about 1" above my point of aim, a little bigger than a standard playing card. I am pretty happy with my new Citadel-version of the 1911A1 since it is accurate enough and hits hard enough for me to rely on it with complete confidence that I WILL hit what I'm aiming at. I have two other pistols that are so bad that I'd be better off just throwing them at what I want to hit.
Back a long time ago when I was 29 years old, I bought a new Smith & Wesson model 19 Combat .357 Magnum revolver with 6" barrel and fully adjustable target sights. I have always made my own .357 Mag loads for it using Lyman's classic #358156 semi-wadcutter gas check boolits propelled by 9.8 grains 2400 powder; a little on the mild side for a .357 Magnum, but very accurate. Using that ammo I can hit pop cans with it at 25 yards all day long. Because I have had a taste of what I can do with an accurate pistol and my own hand loads, I should be able to get a little better accuracy with my new 1911A1 by working up some hand loads than what I'm getting right now with the Russian ball ammo. The powders I already have on hand are 700X, Unique, Red Dot, Green Dot, and Blue Dot. One of those powders ought to work pretty good with the Lee 228-grain round-nose boolits.
Any ideas?
rl718
As it should be, my new 1911A1 works great right out of the box. I didn't have any .45 ACP reloading dies the day I bought the pistol, so to try it out I bought 50 rounds of Russian-made steel-cased 230 grain copper-jacketed ball ammo since that is the only stuff I can get off the shelf around here right now. I don't have any idea what my pistol's ultimate accuracy will be with my hand loads, but shooting the Russian-made ball ammo at 40 feet, my very first shot was a dead center bull's eye, which I think was partly just luck, but shooting one-handed standing up, all 8 rounds did go into an area about 3" wide by 4" high and about 1" above my point of aim, a little bigger than a standard playing card. I am pretty happy with my new Citadel-version of the 1911A1 since it is accurate enough and hits hard enough for me to rely on it with complete confidence that I WILL hit what I'm aiming at. I have two other pistols that are so bad that I'd be better off just throwing them at what I want to hit.
Back a long time ago when I was 29 years old, I bought a new Smith & Wesson model 19 Combat .357 Magnum revolver with 6" barrel and fully adjustable target sights. I have always made my own .357 Mag loads for it using Lyman's classic #358156 semi-wadcutter gas check boolits propelled by 9.8 grains 2400 powder; a little on the mild side for a .357 Magnum, but very accurate. Using that ammo I can hit pop cans with it at 25 yards all day long. Because I have had a taste of what I can do with an accurate pistol and my own hand loads, I should be able to get a little better accuracy with my new 1911A1 by working up some hand loads than what I'm getting right now with the Russian ball ammo. The powders I already have on hand are 700X, Unique, Red Dot, Green Dot, and Blue Dot. One of those powders ought to work pretty good with the Lee 228-grain round-nose boolits.
Any ideas?
rl718