Stroked - How is it done and why?

[Flatland Shooter]

I've noticed that some gunsmiths offer their guns "stroked".

Not familiar with this, I did a little research. All I've found is this allows the slide to travel further back.

How is it done and what is the purpose?

Thanks.

[bonglee0507]

Watch the videos. One says its not effective and the other one says it is

http://youtu.be/RF6G3URu9Q8

http://youtu.be/-XbIjAN54P8

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[BeerBaron]

yeah it's funny. Shay is all for it. Bobby is not a fan. One offers it as a service, one does not......

in his vid bobby is adamant it does nothing at all, though in his comments he does step back a bit and clarifies "does nothing" to 'does nothing most shooters could actually notice".

I would probably tend to agree that the benefit on an open gun would be marginal, but that it is possibly of benefit. Perhaps it's something you could feel better on a limited build. I certainly don't think it'll hurt the gun as long as it's done correctly (no stress risers introduced etc). Generally it's such a small amount of additional stroke (like maybe 3% more stroke (just a guess, someone can measure I'm sure), and I think 3% extra 'anything' would be hard to feel.

My humble opinion is that I'd happily pay my money to have a gun built by either shay akai or bobby keigans. both have a very strong following in IPSC/USPSA for good reason.

like many things it's just different schools of thought. some guys think steel grips balance the gun better. Others swear plastic grips are the only way to go. Some run popple holes, others will tell you they are a waste of powder and are robbing gas from your compensator. and on and on.

do some research and if you think it might be something you want then go to a builder that offers it.

[ParaGunner]

I stroke my pistol every other day.

[Glockinator]

I stroke my pistol every other day.

TMI...

[Chips0410]

I stroke my pistol every other day.

Glad to know there is like minded people

[calvinc78]

I shot a friends stroked Akai limited gun and was pretty impressed with the softness of the gun

[busdriver02]

Having built a commander 1911, that reduced rearward travel and lighter slide makes them finicky (at more so than a 5" gun) feeders. If Dawson came up with it for a short open gun, I would suspect it was to improve feeding with light recoil springs. The extra travel means the slide can get more of a running start before it contacts the top round in the magazine. It also gives the magazine more time to push the column of rounds up into position.

Interesting article about recoil springs and recoil timing: http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/recoil-spring-rate-affects-timing/

But what do I know, I just maul perfectly good 1911 parts for fun.

Edited November 10, 2015 by busdriver02

[caspian guy]

Having built a commander 1911, that reduced rearward travel and lighter slide makes them finicky (at more so than a 5" gun) feeders. If Dawson came up with it for a short open gun, I would suspect it was to improve feeding with light recoil springs. The extra travel means the slide can get more of a running start before it contacts the top round in the magazine. It also gives the magazine more time to push the column of rounds up into position.

Interesting article about recoil springs and recoil timing: http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/recoil-spring-rate-affects-timing/

But what do I know, I just maul perfectly good 1911 parts for fun.

I seem to recall those being the answers that Dawson gave for that back when he was selling the stroked shorty openguns.