ezra650

Dawson says not to use them with their tool less guide rod. I used an ISMI spring in my glock. It finally gave out after about 12k rounds and would not return the slide to battery. The first and only recoil spring I've actually had fail. I stick with Wolff now. Supposedly once a recoil spring takes a set it shouldn't need to be replaced for quite some time. Some folks are running tens of thousands of rounds on their 2011s with the same spring. If the gun cycles free then it really doesn't take much force to close the slide back. Just have to make sure it's enough to strip the next round from the mag.

That does sound like a killer deal, but I don't have $200 to coat a gun right now.

If you use an aluminium MSH you shouldn't have to worry about the weight of the guide rod as long as it's steel. If you DO use an AL MSH make sure to polish the spring tunnel to prevent galling. Brownells sells a special tool for it, but I just wrapped some sandpaper around a cleaning rod jag, chucked in the drill and went after it. It may not even need to be cleaned up. You can also use an AL guide rod to give you more room on weight, but the recoil spring will gall it and there is no fix for that. I use a steel guide rod. Here is the list of what is on my SA Loaded 1911 Factory adjustable rear sights, Dawson Front Sight- .180 x .090 (I would get .07 if it were an option) Dawson Firing Pin Steel 1 piece full length guide rod EE Litespeed 2 Hammer and disconnector Factory sear Dawson Mag Release w/ lo pro button STI polymer curved trigger Dawson Aluminum MSH and Magwell with the gap 10lb recoil spring IIRC 17lb Mainspring Colt or Wolff Sear Spring I make weight, but I can't remember how close I am. I also undercut my trigger guard so that may have helped weight, but I doubt it did much. Remember to include weight of your empty magazine. The trigger breaks at 2.5-2.75lbs and is very crisp. All the gun needs is for me to shoot it more haha. The pic "shooting Blanks" posted is about the same bag of parts I have. I just didn't change my thumb safeties. The SS safeties on the loaded are nice as is the grip safety. I'll echo ZZT. The factory mags run great. I only had 2 so when I ordered some I went chip mccormick. The only issue I had is seating a 10rd mag with the slide closed was near impossible. It could have been the dawson mag catch, but I'm lazy and clipping half a coil solved it and I've had zero malfunctions. I literally can't think of a time the gun has had a hiccup. I have small hands. For my grips I bought some walnut (lightest wood) unfinished wood grips $5-20. I sanded them down thin to 3/16" in the middle and stuck some grip tape on them. Just another option opposed to the techwell. The red is a little smart in that picture, I had just put it on. It' subdued a little now. The red makes it 5% faster. Best of luck with the new build.

That's good to hear. My buddy has all the equipment to spray duracoat and has done about 20 guns so I was going to let him do it while I shut up and watch haha. He waits 72 hours for duracoat to cure. I think I'll stick with the duracoat.

Right. I was just being paranoid. Looking forward to ordering mine!

Thats what I was thinking, but you had me worried for a sec lol. I actually find I prefer single sided safeties. It makes weak hand shooting easier for me.

I'm considering my options to coat my "used new" 2011 open gun that is in the white. I'm not looking to spend $500 on a coating, but I do want the finish to protect the gun from corrosion and to look decent. My friend does duracoat at home and has done multiple projects.I have used Brownells oxpho blue in the past and had great results. Seeing as I have all the materials on hand and it would cost nothing other than time I'm quite tempted to blue the gun myself. It's actually a combination of heating the parts and browning them and then using cold blue on top of that for a dark deep color. At the worst I can always easily remove it if needed. Anyway regarding duracoat I'm worried about how it could effect tolerances and if I needed to remove it how difficult it would be. I've also heard duracoat doesn't look too great up close and I am having 2nd thoughts about it. Also I want to coat the comp and I'm curious how duracoat will hold up there and also concerned about bluing there. PS: Don't hate on my cheap coating options. I'd rather spend the money on ammo and this is a franken gun built on a frame from 1992..... so yeah.

Ah fair point, and probably more likely. Didn't think of that

That's fine. It still fits a 2011 right? Or is the pin too short to use by itself?

Thanks for the pic! It was hard trying to find a pic of it installed on a gun. The 2nd would for sure be too low for me and interfere with my support hand. If I can sell my old SVI safeties I'm going to order the EGW in stainless.

I load 1.100 with blue 125gr... Have no issues in my 1911 SA loaded or the glock 34 I used to run with a storm lake barrel... Shorten the OAL. Heck in that pic I can see imprints/a ring on the bullet where it's hitting the rifling! That can also cause pressure spikes... no bueno. Your max OAL will have a lot to do with the profile of the bullet. If you for some reason need to load long look at using truncated cone or HP bullets. The longest I've ever gotten with 125gr blues is 1.125.

My MK 3 is at 2.5lb. I only have the volq sear and trigger with factory hammer. I wonder if the hammer would make it lighter/smoother. I don't have a problem with the weight, but the break is a little tough.

I got the DAA adjustable and am really enjoying it. Based on the design of how the adjustment screw tightens I don't think it will need any loctite, but if it shoots loose I'll put some blue on it.

EGW is always top quality. I feel like the wider pad would be more comfortable for me too. I have a set of SVI extra wide safeties, but they angle my thumb too high.

I have shmedium/small hands. I never have problems getting a solid grip, but I do reaching the trigger shoe. On my last 2011 limited gun I did my best to mitigate this by using a short flat shoe and reducing the grip. By the time I reduced the corners of the grip to my preference a 2nd time I was experiencing mags not wanting to drop free (even with no grip pressure). I'm working on getting my new to me 2011 open gun fit to my hands. I've found that by rotating my right hand slightly I can get the entire pad of my trigger finger on the shoe and still keep the web of my hand high in the beavertail for a solid grip. The down side is doing this rotates my thumb to an odd spot on the thumb safety, not fully on, not fully off. I was thinking about alternative TS options and found these 2. Anyone have experience/opinions with either? http://www.egwguns.com/frame-parts/egw-lower-paddle-safety-ss/ https://shop.harrisoncustom.com/extreme-service-thumb-safety

I'm about to drink the vortex kool aid. Getting a Viper HST rifle scope this week and possibly a 6moa Venom red dot in the future for Steel Challenge. I've always been impressed with their products the few times I've demoed them and handled them. I'm glad they have a great warranty/customer service... but it seems like people use their warranty a lot lol.... I don't want something to break when I need it. TL:DR- Is Vortex CS/Warranty so popular because people have to use it all the time??

I had good performance with the Winchester 222, 333, and 555 packs. They are copper plated and are the same power wise as mini mags. I ended up switching to federal automatch 325rd pack because it shoots softer, only downside is exposed lead bullet so a little dirty. I wipe down the gun/chamber and lube every 300rd or so otherwise I get slower ejection no matter what ammo I use. I have had one failure in the automatch. Incomplete primer. I rotated the case and the round fired fine.

Well shucks. Yep that's why I ordered from RMR. I just got the 115gr round nose plate, but next time will be going with jacketed HP. The price difference is nominal. If I can see any benefit of 124gr compared to 115gr in major then I will stock 124s for USPSA and load 115s for steel. I've alwasy shot 124gr through my single stack, but of course that's a completely different animal.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for a sale. Good to hear there is no compression worries. Thanks for the info! I mix denatured alcohol and lanolin wax 10:1 in a spray bottle. Works great for brass lube on pistol and leaves a thin film on the comp. You have to respray the 22 comps every 200-300rd or so. I stay on top of it with a pick and q tip. Clean in 5 minutes and gets resprayed. Probably not worth wasting the solution if I'm shooting copper bullets in open. Yep I think I'll just be ordering hollowpoints from PD or RMR from now on. Ordering 2k at a time is a good price break and I doubt I'll shoot more than 2 matches a month and 2 practice sessions. You prefer the 115gr over the 124gr? My primary game right now is steel so thats why I just ordered 115gr. If I can make major with 115gr easily I may just use it for uspsa as well. Depending on how much you have I'll pay hazmat for you to ship the HS-6... It's gonna be another month+ before I can buy the keg of HS-6 off my shooting buddy.

Enough said... I'll be saving the coated bullets for my 1911 iron sight gun. Where are you buying major pistol powder for that price at? With 10.4gr in the case I'm guessing it's a compressed load? Planning to do some load testing this week. Do you spray your comp with lanolin or anything? I've been doing that for my 22 comp and it makes a big difference in cleaning.

A good habit that I follow on my 550. If I have to step away from the press while loading I will leave the ram up/ handle down. It keeps anything on the shellplate from getting bumped etc. and also makes it harder for you to just spin the shellplate and keep loading when you return to the press leaving a case with no powder. I also don't leave anything on my shellplate once I'm done loading.

I'm surprised you can fit a 1.16 in a 1911 mag and chamber. I'm loading 1.100 for my 1911. Also yes, the chips are difficult to strip, after mine broke in I only have trouble hand stripping the first round off a full mag. I just try to shoot my mags to unload them

Even for minor? Dang... My ultrasonic cleaner with the right solution might make it doable for cleaning. Just have to keep it off the comp threads or might risk breaking the comp loose. I kind of toyed with the idea of using gas checks too since I already cast and coat my own bullets anyway.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/883142/briley-reverse-recoil-spring-plug-1911-commander-stainless-steel Is this similar to what you are referencing? I've heard others call them a "hat" style spring plug. The open gun I just bought has one. I have no idea why. I'll be switching to the dawson toolless ASAP and it comes with a normal reverse plug.