Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting 1911 reliability upgrades?

[Radshooter]

A few weeks ago I picked up a bare bones basic . 45 ACP Springfield Armory 1911, full size pistol. I plan to transition to carrying this 1911 for CCW instead of my EAA Witness.

Right now it is in the shop getting night sights installed. Should be back in a week or two. When it gets back, I will be looking do do some upgrades to make it super reliable. Not looking to turn it into a race gun with lots of bells and whistles. I don't need all that fancy stuff. I want a rock-solid, utterly reliable, bet-your-life pistol.

What would you guys suggest? I thought about polishing the feed ramp, Wilson Combat mags (do you recommend 7 or 8 rounders?) for starters. I would like to be able to do as much of the work myself to get familiar with the pistol. I am fairly mechanical, but have never worked on pistols other than field stripping/cleaning.

Not interested in turning it into a 100 yard tack driver either. I know that accuracy needs tight tolerances, and that is usually counterproductive to reliability. I do want it to be accurate at self-defense distances though. Am I asking too much??

Thanks for your ideas. <!-- / message --> <!-- controls -->

 

[SFPADGETT]

When you get it back get as many boxes of different brands of ammo and find out what YOUR gun likes. I have several pistols / rifles (same make, same cal. ) but they are more accurate with different ammo (even handloads). Each gun has its special liking, find yours and Practice--Practice--Practice. With a CCW weapon, dont forget to keep it clean, you might be surprised to how much "lint" will get in the barrel during normal use.

 

[GHarman]

Aftermarket magazines

First determine the ammo you will be using. Then fire/check every magazine. I have found the some of the 8 round magazines will NOT feed the 8th round reliably. GregH

 

[BHanna]

There are lots of things you can do but if you can put a few hundred rounds of hollowpoints through it without a malfunction, I wouldn't worry about any of them. Sometimes the mil-spec models run fine with FMJ ammo but hiccup once in a while with hollowpoints.

If you do have any malfunctions, it's important to figure out exactly why you're having them and fix the problem. There are some good books on how to do this. Check out brownells.com. They have books, parts, tools - pretty much anything you need.

 

[sarj]

I second brownell's as a great source. I just picked up a sight adjustment tool for my Springfield Champion. It was right from day one, I put 500 rounds through it, and it was still right. I really didn't want to send it off. It dialed that bad boy right in.

I have Sig's & 1911's. I like both of 'em very much.

 

[The patriot]

#1 sights, you got that covered.

#2, I like wilson mags. Whatever mag you choose, make sure it's 100% reliable, cull out and mags that arent, mark them and use them for range practice/malfunction drills.

#3 DRY FIRE. A LOT!!! This is under rated. Be familiar with your CCW gun.

#4 Get a good holster & belt. I like the sparks VMII.

 

[Radshooter]

Thanks guys. I can't wait to get it back and start shooting. Am I the only guy that has "gun withdrawal"???

 

[31b]

I've just recently started using Virgil Tripp's Cobra mags. (8 round) and so far they have worked well. That having been said, I've used Wilson 8 rounders for years with no problems.

 

[Midnite]

The only other thing I might add that I haven't seen mentioned yet is before you do any reliability mods to the gun, get 200 rounds of cheap plated or jacketed ammo and shoot it up. This will break the gun in, which is something you want to do before deciding what needs modified.

Mike