ken_mays

Tagging in case of fall-through

Since this thread is now the walking dead, I will say I have a 1911 that was done by ECG and I'm pretty pleased with it.

Does the gas system on this one have the knob, or is it the old spud and jam nut setup? Thanks!

.308 for me. It's a very well thrashed-out chambering, and is equally at home in battle rifles or precision bolt actions. There are gazillions of .30 caliber bullets available and it's a caliber you can shoot rather inexpensively if you want to. it's got some good legs and a punch that will do the job when it gets way out there. There are better choices for specific scenarios but .308 is pretty much ubiquitous. It's not the new kid on the block or hardly sexy to talk about, but its effectiveness will cover 95% of everything on this continent. Plus I like to shoot battle rifles!

My opinion for what it's worth, is that if you're going to buy into the rather shaky rationale behind the .45 / 410 revolver, you should at least stick with a decent manufacturer. Full disclosure, I do have a previously-owned S&W Governor somewhere in the safe that has been to the range one time.

1911s in .45 are more likely to run out of the box, but they are more expensive to shoot. In 9mm, they tend to be improperly setup out of the box (depending on manufacturer) but cheaper and more pleasant to shoot. Springfields in particular often require some spring swapping and tweaking to run reliably, but the good news is these are cheap and easy things to fix.

Back about 20 years ago I was following the LTW crew (Yost, CT Brian, Chen, Christanensen etc) and was amazed by their work, which was some of the best going. Over time you began to notice that most of the people who bought these guns were more collectors than anything. You’d see the same gun pop up for sale, unfired as it was when the previous owner had bought it. Almost nobody was carrying them or doing competitions with them. The occasions where someone did send in a beat-up custom for refurbishment were noteworthy threads on the forum. Most “real” working guns were the realm of lesser known smiths (but not necessarily less capable) whose work could actually be afforded by most of us. I always had a lot of respect for the smiths in the competition world because they constantly saw high round count guns and knew what worked and they learned how to build guns that would stand up.

I’ve been waiting for them to figure out if they dropped the SAO action into something that wasn’t a 4lb steel behemoth, people might buy it.

When I’m wavering on a gun purchase, I ask myself, “will I regret walking away from this gun right now? Will it be easier or harder to get it later at this price?” You can always get more money but is your opportunity to buy this gun right now one that you’ll regret if you pass it up?

True gun- and metalsmithing is a dying art. There are a variety of skills to master: machining, finishing metal and wood, making small parts and springs, heat treating, and of course mechanical diagnosis. Not to mention a good knowledge of the legal requirements and licensing. Today there are easier ways to make better money. Cylinder and Slide was planning on closing their doors because they apparently couldn’t find anyone willing or able to take over the business.

Neat idea! Another homemade tool that’s served me well is a bench block made from a hockey puck. You can buy them at sporting goods stores for a couple bucks and I’m always using it as an impromptu hammer as well, when a non marring blow is needed.

Haven’t seen one in person yet.

I’ve never really seen the point of buying a tiny concealable auto and then bulking it out with extended grips, or far worse IMO, pinky extensions. Maybe if that was your only gun and you had to make it comfortable for range sessions or weren’t going to carry it, but most of us have multiple pistols and are buying these subcompacts to do subcompact things. Makes more sense to carry an extra capacity mag as your reload.

Correct

I bought a Hudson H9 and liked it. I bought an Arsenal Strike One and liked it (for the most part). I'll pretty much buy any crazy pistol you put in front of me, if it's well-built and I like the design, so I'm down for this unless I learn something that makes it a no-go. Just from the photos, I don't see much not to like about the RIA.

The grip looks like a separate piece, much like a 2011 frame. If this takes off and doesn't Hudson itself into obscurity, I feel certain we'll see different grip materials offered.

I can verify a Burris Fastfire 3 does NOT line up with the screws on top of the slide. The hole spacing on the Burris is too wide. It seems as though some mini-RDS might fit, but I don't have any to try. My P17 has been typically reliable for a .22 auto, maybe 1 failure to eject out of 10 magazines. Generally the case will get extracted but wind up wedged somehow in the ejection port. I did have keyholing problems with Federal bulk pack, but I haven't seen it happen with anything else. The rifling does look shallow to me, so maybe it's a bullet diameter issue.

I bought the SIG P320 sights from Dawson Precision, black front and rear. Front sight height is .300". I had to buy the .330" tall front and file it down to height. I moved from the RMR to a Holosun 507C.

Learn how to remove tiny broken screws without destroying the surrounding surfaces

Quick addendum - existing HP holsters and most 1911 holster are going to be a no-go for this model because of the new takedown lever on the right side of the frame. I do have a couple of leather 1911 holsters that will fit it.

Hammer fired guns tend to have one advantage - they will usually light harder primers than striker fired guns. This is pretty much a non-issue if you only ever buy factory ammo, but if you reload, you're aware of the primer shortage. I've known folks to use small rifle primers when they couldn't get hold of small pistol, and you really need a hammer fired gun to reliably ignite those.

I think it was more about FN having a metal framed 9mm to compete with similar offerings from the competition. Their FN 509 based polymer striker guns leave something to be desired IMO and they weren't exactly blowing their competitors off the road. I've owned several and I would rather shoot the new High Power than any of them. I'm also glad they took the opportunity to redesign it from the ground up and modernize it.

I recently picked up a Springfield SA 35 as well as a Girsan MC P35 Ops. The SA 35 has minimal but important improvements such as a good trigger, good sights, and an extended safety lever you can easily get ahold of and manipulate. The grips aren't the prettiest but they are contoured (unlike the flat panel traditional BHP grips) and quite comfortable. The Girsan has more design updates, adding a beavertail, light rail, straight trigger (which I find far more comfortable than the curved standard trigger), good visible and adjustable sights, aggressive G10 grips, and a modestly flared magwell. But the SA 35 comes out ahead on the trigger, mine measures at 4.5 # and is pretty smooth out of the box except for a slight false break that will likely go away with more use. The sights are right on for me and it's easy to see it shoots tightly. The Girsan has a trigger measuring just over 7 # and was hitting a good bit left for me, so I had to crank the sights over. I haven't yet sat down and tried to wring the best groups I can out of it, but I am certain the 7# trigger isn't doing it any favors. I tend to push left when I have a hard trigger to work with, so I'm willing to bet it would shoot straighter for me once the trigger is lightened up. Both have some sharp edges, the Springfield more so. There's a real risk of cutting yourself on the ejection port edge, the safety lever is not as comfortable as it could be, and I'd love to see a mild carry melt done to it. Both guns cost me about $650. If I could own just one? Right now it'd be the SA 35 because it is more like a High Power and more pleasant to shoot.

I wanted to bump this thread now that the new FN High Power is starting to hit the streets. My FFL managed to track down a couple at his distributor and I bought the FDE version. Price was near $1100. Mine came with plastic FDE grip panels installed, a spare pair of OD green grips, two 17 round mags, and a carrying case. The first thing you notice picking it up is that it doesn't feel much like a High Power. The grip feels longer, front-to-back, and flatter on the sides than the traditional BHP which has a real wasp waist shape by comparison. The trigger is very nice, mine breaks right at 4 pounds. The reset is shorter and crisper than any BHP trigger I have. The sights are serrated black and are easy to acquire and align. The thumb safety is ambi and much like the later BHP safeties, except crisper snapping on or off ( though still too light IMO ) and easier to get underneath to activate. Shooting was pleasant. I put about 100 rounds through it in a short range session. I had about two or three instances of premature slide lock with rounds in the mag, and I realized I was inducing it by accidentally pressing down on the forward end of the slide stop with a thumbs-forward grip. If you shoot with high thumbs pressed against the frame, you'll have to remember not to do it with this gun (or the front of the slide stop could be trimmed to remove the largely useless forward end, or replaced with an aftermarket part). Function was good otherwise and recoil was softer than in a traditional BHP. Accuracy was excellent, every bit as good as any other BHP I ever owned, and sights were very close to right on for my 124gr handloads. Hammer bite was nonexistent and not even close to happening from what I could tell, due to the rather small hammer spur and overall grip shape. Rapid reloads are a bit easier than on traditional BHPs because the new magazine design isn't as square as the old magazines. It's closer to a Beretta 92 or SIG P226 in shape. In fact, Beretta 92 mags will fit very nicely in the HP but won't lock in. I'm pleased with the redesign and look forward to spending a lot more time at the range with this one.

From what I've seen and heard, the barrel fit isn't as good as Staccato/STI. There isn't an optic plate available for any but the little-loved Springfield Hex optics at this point, but it's just a matter of time until CHPW or someone offers one. I also have noticed owners have had to do some basic tweaking and adjustment of things like extractor tension, but honestly I expect to have to do that on Springfield 1911s anyway, they are a soup sandwich out of the box for things like that (especially 9mm). The triggers on the ones I've handled have been nothing special, but again that's easily fixed. I'm definitely interested in owning one, but I'll wait till I can pick one up secondhand. I already have enough quality 2011s that I'm in no rush to pay full retail.