bountyhunter

And the grip pre-loads the tendons and muscles so they "snap back" when the gun lifts. I think the weak hand wrist can be "cocked" to load tension. Some people lean forward to move the center mass over the toes which pre loads the leg muscles.

Even if a .40 barrel could be fit into the slide, the 9mm breech face would not be large enough to accommodate the .40SW case diameter. I have a dual caliber 1911 and you have to change the whole top end assembly.

Nope. The usual suspects like Midway, CTD and Brownells never heard of it.

+1 There's usually a spring that pushes into a groove in the pin. The pins usually break at the groove so the pieces fall out easily enough, but you can't get the new pin back in until you get a way to hold the internal spring back.

That's why I put adj rear sights on my 92. You can put the stock sight back on..... and then you'll kick yourself when it hits about 3" low at 25 yards. I believe the 92 sights must be set up to shoot 124 grain +p NATO ammo, not the typical 115 gr factory stuff. Anyway, they always shoot low with standard ammo.

A cobweb fell in my memory and triggered a dumb question: shooting any steel case ammo? Used to see a lot of broken extractor tips back when people started shooting Wolf ammo.

That really is the point...... when anybody asks why people will $1500 for a semi custom 1911 compared to a standard mass produced gun you can buy for $900. No consistency of fit/quality in the latter. If you get a good one, it's a great deal. If you don't, it's a fixer upper. Sounds like yours just needs a little work on the sear and some polishing, nothing serious.

Then don't ever buy a HI Power.... LOL.

Sounds about typical for a mass made gun. I would break it in before deciding how much work it needs to make it right.

I wouldn't overthink this. Bill Wilson probably forgot more about 1911s when he sneezes than we'll ever know and he uses grease for lube, in fact wilson combat sells the grease. Lube is just lube. Grease stays put better than oil and protects better in general but is thicker. If your new gun is tight, grease might cause a cycle problem (might not) but ll you have to do is wipe it off if it does. I personally have more kinds of grease and liquid oil than I can count. Never saw one that wasn't pretty good. A good liquid lube that is widely available is 5-30 synthetic car motor oil. Some people also swear by using ATF. Its a lot cheaper than gun oil because any product made for "gun use" has the price automatically raised by 1000%.

Yeah, I remember when I broke my knee, I had pain for months but eventually it got back down to the "normal" amount of pain.... I'm old.

Bingo! That's mine.

Me too, but they don't allow that in my league. They don't want people manipulating a gun that still has a round in it.

Personally, I use the slide release which they conveniently included in the design for that specific purpose.

with only that clue, it might be what I call a three point jam where the nose of the round is starting into the barrel throat but the tail of the round is hung in the magazine feed lips. The middle of the round's case is resting on the top of the feed ramp. Next time it jams, look at the position of the jammed round. Post some pics and we can probably diagnose it.

It's possible the mag is going in too far. I have some HP mags that I had to silver solder a "lip" on the base tab to prevent then from going in too far. But it may be a lot of other things as well. The slide has less energy when doing a "drop from lock" than it does when shooting. You could have a feed ramp issue. First and most important is determine what kind of a jam we are talking about and what position the round is in when the slide jams.

Nope, no need. Just add some oil and stir it. I have a small modeler's paint brush that I use for applying the grease. I use the non-brush end for stirring in the oil. It mixes perfectly.

Or a more general question is: "What I am trying to figure out is why everyone wants an STI while a Para (SA, Colt, RI, etc) will cost significantly less." It depends. Mass made guns are a lot like mass made cars: if you get a good one, you get a real value and a dependable product. If you get a dog.... you get a nightmare that spends all it's time getting worked on. And there seem to be a lot of dogs and more than there used to be.... With a 1911, there really is only one right way to build one and it requires having parts in tight spec and some parts being fitted to others. Mass makers can't afford fitting pieces, but semi custom makers like STI, SVI, Wilson et al can and do. So you get a better gun. That's not to say none of their guns ever have problems, but when they do, you generally get excellent response and it's made right. And (at least to my knowledge) the better makers still have many gunsmiths in the process and flea-bitten junk just doesn't get out the door. Most mass maker have fired all the true gunsmiths.... at least SW has but that's another story. Anyway, that's just my opinion. I think the "next level up" from mass made is the best value for 1911's and the performance and resale values reflect it. So, to answer your question about why people want to pay more: because it's not what you pay, it's what you get for the money. EDIT TO ADD: I'm not a snob about guns, I own CZ, Beretta, Ruger, SW, Browning and in fact all of the guns I own EXCEPT my STI 1911's are mass made guns so I am not averse to them. But in the case of STI (at least historically) you can spend about $300 more and get a whole lot more for the money.

Also, as the temps get colder grease can cause some 9s to short stroke. Not to point out the obvious but: you can mix FP-10 (or any good gun oil) into grease to lighten the viscosity. I have two tubs of slide glide, one pure for "full grease" and the other gets blended as I want depending on where I am using it and what time of year.

Interesting. I would think best would be if the base part was made of springy steel and then the tip was surface hardened. Probably too expensive to do that.

I noticed Para used nonstandard parts in my 1640. When the guide rod failed (kept unscrewing itself) I bought a standard one and found out the Para was thicker diameter for no reason I can fathom. Had to use only Para guide rod, spring and reverse bushing. I think the extractor was non standard as well, the Para part was also a cast piece (junk). Really annoying.

Personal experience in my case. I paid big money for a 1640 that was really an abomination. The piece parts were VERY poor quality, barrel was not fitted correctly. Shot 5" high at 25 yards with with rear sight bottomed out. This was back in late 90's and the gun sold new for about $1250. Have no idea what percentage of Para's are dogs, but the fact that a gun which jammed on half the rounds fed to it got out the door was enough for me (along with all the other problems). IMHO, Para is pretty much like all the mass gun makers today: they throw a lifetime warranty on them and use the customers as QA.

What's amazing is how realistic the pictures were. They didn't have CGI effects back then so the lunar landscape had to be simulated in a sound stage on the Paramount lot. They did a really good job, especially the projection of the image of the earth above the lunar horizon. Just kidding...... but there are morons out there still claiming it was fake to this day.

All 1911 extractors require tuning and setting tension. Not really difficult, just something to learn if you shoot 1911's. Some reference info: http://blog.wilsoncombat.com/uncategorized/checking-the-extractor-tension-on-your-1911/ http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/tech/reliability_secrets.htm http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10261/learn/1911_Auto_Extractor_Adjustment I use these gauges to accurately measure extractor ension. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/handgun-tools/action-frame-tools/extractor-tools/extractor-tension-gauge-set-prod16125.aspx

Is that an MIM piece? The granular looking surface at the break makes me wonder. You can usually find the mold lines or injection hole mark on an MIM part. The extractor is one piece where I think the extra $$$ for tool steel is definitely justified. Not sure what gun makers use what parts these days. I thought Wilson made a "bulletproof" extractor? Been so long since I shopped for one that I don't know who has best parts these days. Here's wilsons: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1070110670/wilson-combat-bullet-proof-extractor-1911-45-acp-series-70 The EGW looks like a good part, I haven't used them myself: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/679977/egw-hd-extractor-1911-45acp-series-70-blue