kart XACT Fit 1911 Barrels

[wolf1389]

im looking to improve the accuracy of my 1911 STI Trojan 9mm, i tested it on a ransom rest at 25 yards with zero 125gr HP (4gr titegroup, cci primers) and it grouped around 5 inches.

 

i dont have the money or the patience to send it to the U.S because im in Canada and it would be a pain in the ass to do that. I was looking at the Kart xact fit ( formerly ez-fit) barrels and ive seen lots of good reviews so far. Has anyone here fitted one themselves with the tool kit they provide and what kind of accuracy improvements did you get? My STI has a W/N ramp cut so ideally if anyone has fitted a kart xact fit W/N ramped 9mm 5inch barrel i would like to hear your opinion on them.

 

Thanks!

[mach1soldier]

I bought and fit one in .40 caliber. It was looser on the hood width and length then I would have preferred. I like .001 on the hood or less for the length on accuracy builds. 

 

Also the barrel lower lugs weren’t ideal for my gun. A little loose on lockup but close enough. The gun with those issues would still easily do 2.5 inch groups standing at 25 yards. So they are good barrels. Just not ideal if building a bullseye gun. Buy the gunsmith fit barrels if you want extreme accuracy

Edited July 26, 2018 by mach1soldier

[Distant Thunder]

3 hours ago, wolf1389 said:

im looking to improve the accuracy of my 1911 STI Trojan 9mm, i tested it on a ransom rest at 25 yards with zero 125gr HP (4gr titegroup, cci primers) and it grouped around 5 inches.

 

i dont have the money or the patience to send it to the U.S because im in Canada and it would be a pain in the ass to do that. I was looking at the Kart xact fit ( formerly ez-fit) barrels and ive seen lots of good reviews so far. Has anyone here fitted one themselves with the tool kit they provide and what kind of accuracy improvements did you get? My STI has a W/N ramp cut so ideally if anyone has fitted a kart xact fit W/N ramped 9mm 5inch barrel i would like to hear your opinion on them.

 

Thanks!

 

Have you tested the gun with other ammo? My Trojan loves the Hornady 125 gr. HAP bullet. It's a laser with the Wilson load.

[dhdeal]

Not apples to apples, but a month or so back I fitted one to a SA Loaded 45 (not ramped of course). In my case it had plenty of meat everywhere so quite a bit of fitting was done. Well, in truth I took it slow and only removed small amounts at a time. As I became more comfortable I began to take more each time. It still locks up like a well made vault and the accuracy improvement was obvious. It was a 3"-4" gun with many types of ammo and now can make a 1.5" hole @ 25 yards (10 shot groups). The new front sight (Novak .125" thick blade) is thicker than I'm used to. I can hold much better with a .100" Dawson FO front. I suspect I'll get better groups when I put the Dawson on. Regardless, the Kart was a big improvement and I learned I don't like fitting barrels.....

Edited July 26, 2018 by dhdeal
Correction

[wolf1389]

9 hours ago, Distant Thunder said:

 

Have you tested the gun with other ammo? My Trojan loves the Hornady 125 gr. HAP bullet. It's a laser with the Wilson load.

 

ive tested with frontier 124gr plated and the match grade, also with campro plated and blue bullets ( the plated and blues are even worse then the zeroes), hornady HAP projectiles cost about 220$CAD/1000 so those are too expensive for my taste. ( this is a uspsa/IPSC pistol) , i did some measuring last night and while pushing the barrel down into the slide the barrel can move forward about 0.0030, when i push down and forward i can see a tiny sliver of light between the breech face and the barrel hood. this sti is factory brand new barrel wise ive probably put about 20-30,000 rounds thru it. 

[RePete]

On 7/25/2018 at 7:34 PM, wolf1389 said:

im looking to improve the accuracy of my 1911 STI Trojan 9mm, i tested it on a ransom rest at 25 yards with zero 125gr HP (4gr titegroup, cci primers) and it grouped around 5 inches.

 

i dont have the money or the patience to send it to the U.S because im in Canada and it would be a pain in the ass to do that. I was looking at the Kart xact fit ( formerly ez-fit) barrels and ive seen lots of good reviews so far. Has anyone here fitted one themselves with the tool kit they provide and what kind of accuracy improvements did you get? My STI has a W/N ramp cut so ideally if anyone has fitted a kart xact fit W/N ramped 9mm 5inch barrel i would like to hear your opinion on them.

 

Thanks!

 

You could get Joe Dlask, Roger Katanko or Jason Spencer fit a barrel for you correctly.  All in Canada.

[zzt]

If you take your time an X-act fit barrel is easy to fit.  The bottom lugs are finished and linked.  If you frame is in spec you should have no trouble.  You wiil only be fitting the hood and the upper locking lugs.  I fit one and it was bullseye accurate.

[rowdyb]

Might as well fit a new bushing while you are at it.

[zzt]

11 hours ago, rowdyb said:

Might as well fit a new bushing while you are at it.

 

No choice.  It comes with a match bushing that must be fit to the slide.

[rowdyb]

Shows what I know haha. I just typed w out looking as my brain said new barrel equals new bushing.

[Joedirt199]

I have fit 2 kart 9mm ramped gunsmith fit barrels in my 1911s. One was an sti/fusion home build to replace the kkm barrel I had a gunsmith finish ream, which to him meant a 1/4" leade. I fixed that by turning it into a 9x23mm chamber. Wife wanted her 1911 back so I fitted a kart instead of kkm as the rifling twist is better. I had the kart barrel fitting kit and some building manuals that take you step by step on how to do it. Chambers were hand reamed with manson reamers.

 

Fit the other barrel in my buddy's Springfield loaded 9mm. He was not happy with the accuracy of the stock parts and sent it back to springfield to fix. They told him it was fine and sent it back. I got the gun and the barrel and bushing were way too loose. Got him an oversized bushing from egw and kart barrel. Cut his groups in half and he is much happier with the performance. Used hand tools and emory cloth to fit the barrels and bushings. If you are handy and patient it can be done at home.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Joedirt199
Proof reading

[pjb45]

Sorry to hear about your Trojan.  Mine had <1.5 inch groups new.  It is still very accurate.  But I hear things have changed at STI.

 

I have a Kart .40 in one of my SS.  Could not be happier.  Very accurate.  I was not sure about Kart when I was looking at my new build.  I had heard the AMU Bulleye guys used Kart.  I talked with Virgil Tripp and he liked them for my build.

[ltdmstr]

Just a few comments worth considering:

 

1.  If the chamber and/or bottom lugs are already cut, chances are the fit will be less than optimal.  Excess headspace, insufficient link-up and issues with link down, are all undesirable.

 

2.  If you have to remove a fair amount of material from the sides and/or rear of the hood, the likelihood of keeping those surfaces straight and not undersizing them is pretty slimn.  Filing metal parts straight and accurate may seem like an easy task, but it absolutely is not.  That doesn't mean you can't do it, but there's a very good possibility that you'll be unhappy with the results.

 

[38super]

http://www.blindhogg.com/gunsmith/barrel.html

[ltdmstr]

Well, someone else on here decided to give this a try and wasn't thrilled with the results.  So now he has to buy a new barrel or have someone TiG weld the hood for him so he can start over.  If you're confi dent you can do better, have a go at it.  If not, maybe take it to a gunsmith.

 

 

 

 

[wolf1389]

im looking at some local gunsmiths to try and find out how well they are fitting bushing barrels.

[wanttolearn]

I've fit several Kart barrels over the year and have always been impressed with the quality of fit i was able to accomplish.  I have not used their fit kit and as such ca not comment on the quality. I do however use fine files and stones, readily available at Brownells.

 

That said, depending upon which aspects or dimensions of your present barrel to slide fit....sometimes just fitting an EGW angle bore bushing can make a significant improvement if the barrel/breach/hood/lug dimensions are satisfactorily related.

 

It's very gratifying to fit a barrel and a great learning experience. Prepare, measure, go slow. It's worth the effort in my opinion.