jstagn Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Someone mentioned that new USPSA rules (1911/2011, limited class) allow a longer (6" ?) barrel that extends beyond the slide with the front sight mounted on the barrel. The idea is a longer sight radius and a front sight that does not move with the slide. Anyone tried this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Talk to http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showuser=32359 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Contact "EngineerEli" on this forum. He had a 5 inch SVI Sight Tracker and had Brandon at SVI fit a 5.4 inch Sight Tracker Barrel to his pistol. The barrel sticks out .4 inches with the front sight on the barrel. I have seen and shot it and it works great. I'm sure Eli would be happy to send you some pictures. I'm not a gunsmith, but not sure you can put a front sight on a regular barrel, but maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjb45 Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) Will there be an issue with lock up? I thought the 5.4 SV was a bull barrel whereas I have (in my very limited experience) only seen 6 inch barrels requiring a bushing. MY BAD--SV makes a 6 inch bull barrel Edited July 29, 2014 by pjb45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) Yes I have gone through all this and it was a very fruitful experience. You can have a bushing or bull barrel in 5", 5.4", or 6", but for the added sight radius you need a Sight Tracker/ribbed barrel, so there is extra meet for the dovetail to be cut into. ( That is unless you make some kind of special compensator blank that mounts onto the barrel to cut the sight dovetail into) Take a look at the post i had here last year - Before deciding to do it: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=170859&hl= After getting it done: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=179082&hl= Edited July 29, 2014 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Great info guys, of course this brings up the old question 5" or 6" or ? in a complete new gun. Anyone shot a 5" 1911/2011 and shot same with a 6" barrel? Would like to hear your impressions.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ah1356 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 There is more than 1 way to skin this cat.. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6195&page=32#entry2092211 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I bought this pistol from a friend. Then I had another friend install a 6" Infinity sight-tracker with 5" lockup barrel in it. Much happier now. Long and tight shots are much easier with the 6" barrel. Put more weight out front, but I like it. Pistol weighs 41.35 oz the way it sits, no mag. Do not regret a thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howa4au Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Now I want a 6" barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dranoel Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Maybe I'm confused on this issue. Are we talking about using a 6" barrel in a 5" slide and mounting the front sight on the barrel? If this is the case then it has been done before and is nothing really new. There were a few compensators available in the early 90s that had a front sight post on them. In fact that was what inspired me to drill and tap my Centaur Systems comp for a set screw centered on the top 1/16" behind the first port. The set screw prevented the comp from unscrewing itself from the barrel and became the front sight post, effectively increasing my sight radius by a little over an inch. As long as the barrel locks up consistently you should have no problem with accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 My original post was 6" on a 5" frame with the sight on the barrel. However it seems like a 5 vs 6 is also up for discussion. Does the extra 1" really help (hard to quantify)? A new 6" gun would be needed or fit a 6" in current 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) Just to clarify, when purchasing barrels of any length from a company like SVI, Schumen or others, you can specify the lockup length. So when I got my barrel it was a 5.4" sight tracker barrel but with a 5" lockup. I'm pretty sure if you just bought a 6" bull barrel off Midway and tried to fit it to a 5" slide it would flop all over... Also, granted my SVI has the steel grip but after putting the 5.4" barrel in it, it is getting pretty heavy. In my opinion slightly too heavy, recoil is not too much of an issue to me, but my transitions may be just a hair slower. I definitely like the extra sight radius though. I have been considering finding an aluminum or titanium guide rod to replace the steel one, to see if it helps at all. If you like heavy guns though, this may be a perfect setup for you, and it keeps your slide light and the cyclic rate up. Edited July 30, 2014 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 For me I really see a difference on a plate rack at 50 yards. Not something you would encounter in a normal USPSA match, but I have ran into stages in three gun where there was something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Bacus Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Yours truly shooting a 5" 1911 with a 6" bull barrel in 1985. Nice to see you all finally catching up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 There is more than 1 way to skin this cat.. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6195&page=32#entry2092211 Indeed... I'll post mine when I get home but it can be found in the Vendor Tents here... Glenn at Lone Star Innovations did mine and I love it so far! Details to follow, its in the Builds and Stuff thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Yours truly shooting a 5" 1911 with a 6" bull barrel in 1985. Nice to see you all finally catching up! I am always playing catch up! Did you have your front sight mounted on the barrel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Tim, do you still have that gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Bacus Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Front sight was slide mounted. I no longer have the gun. It was a Detonics Scoremaster frame with a Colt Gold Cup slide and Detonics 6" bull barrel. This was my first competition gun. Slide was replaced a couple of months later with a Detonics slide and the barrel was shortened and a compensator added. I sold the gun in early 1986 to fund my first 38 Super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Details on another way to skin the cat can be found here. KKM Bull cut for commander lockup, 4.5" slide, titanium front sight block. It is super soft. Feels a lot like a 45 that is loaded sub major, a very gentle lift and return. Gun weighs 38 oz, barrel and fsb are 8.2 oz of that. Seems that it is a bit heavier to do it with the bull than the way ah1356 did it, and both of our guns have a heavier barrel assembly than the way Glenn at Lone Star Innovations did the U Trac. That is the lightest and probably simplest way to do it, it's in his vendor thread. I'm going to run the gun this weekend and I may end up doing a bit of fluting on the barrel so it unlocks and cycles a bit more snappy. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=198921&p=2208172 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Details on another way to skin the cat can be found here. KKM Bull cut for commander lockup, 4.5" slide, titanium front sight block. It is super soft. Feels a lot like a 45 that is loaded sub major, a very gentle lift and return. Gun weighs 38 oz, barrel and fsb are 8.2 oz of that. Seems that it is a bit heavier to do it with the bull than the way ah1356 did it, and both of our guns have a heavier barrel assembly than the way Glenn at Lone Star Innovations did the U Trac. That is the lightest and probably simplest way to do it, it's in his vendor thread. I'm going to run the gun this weekend and I may end up doing a bit of fluting on the barrel so it unlocks and cycles a bit more snappy. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=198921&p=2208172 Man, that is a great pistol. So the actual barrel is 4.5"? Are you shooting 200 grain bullets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Details on another way to skin the cat can be found here. KKM Bull cut for commander lockup, 4.5" slide, titanium front sight block. It is super soft. Feels a lot like a 45 that is loaded sub major, a very gentle lift and return. Gun weighs 38 oz, barrel and fsb are 8.2 oz of that. Seems that it is a bit heavier to do it with the bull than the way ah1356 did it, and both of our guns have a heavier barrel assembly than the way Glenn at Lone Star Innovations did the U Trac. That is the lightest and probably simplest way to do it, it's in his vendor thread. I'm going to run the gun this weekend and I may end up doing a bit of fluting on the barrel so it unlocks and cycles a bit more snappy. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=198921&p=2208172 Man, that is a great pistol. So the actual barrel is 4.5"? Are you shooting 200 grain bullets? Thanks! The barrel is actually a 6" barrel that KKM made special just for me. The barrel was profiled like a commander barrel so it would lock up with the chopped back slide. The slide is a cut down 5" go keep the full length stroke. That leaves about an inch and a half of barrel that protrudes from the slide which was turned down and threaded for the titanium sight holder. I am currently shooting 180s, I have 200s but I feel like that would be the opposite effect on the feel that I am looking for. I may track down some 165s to see if that helps. The goal was a gun that balanced like a 5", had the sight radius and room for the bullet to accelerate like a 6", and cycled like an open gun. I am still playing with weight and a bit more material removal but as of now it is both lighter overall and lighter in the nose than an Edge and handles pretty nice but I think I'll get just a bit more weight out and then shoot it until I wear it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I like that a lot Mike! All the benefits of a 6" barrel and sighting system, with the reciprocating slide weight of a commander. If you end up lightening that barrel at all, I would love to hear what you think about the difference it makes. I have been considering getting my sight tracker barrel fluted to trim a little weight from the front end and lighten up the barrel a tad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 (edited) Very cool! So it is a bull barrel that locks up with a commander length slide, and has extra length? There is not a cone on the titanium extension? Edited July 31, 2014 by bmiller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Exactly the examples I was looking for. Great gun!!! Thanks Mike.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Very cool! So it is a bull barrel that locks up with a commander length slide, and has extra length? There is not a cone on the titanium extension? Correct! The cone/aluminum front sight block would have saved me an oz and a half but I wanted the simplicity of the bull. Ill take a picture with the slide retracted when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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