All posts tagged Colt Commander

The AWB is over, so buy Factory Mags

When I stopped and thought about writing this, I couldn’t believe how many years it has been since the AWB has expired.  It feels like it was just yesterday that I could get Glock or Sig Sauer magazines without having to spend $60-$90 for them.   Factory magazines are still more expensive than some of the other magazines out there, but they are always the best option for handguns.   There are plenty of decent manufacturers for AK or AR15 rifles, and most problems I have seen with AK mags can be fixed with a simple file to the tab on the mag wells.    I recently picked up a couple Glocks and XD handguns because I wanted to bring something to the next class I teach that wasn’t a Beretta, Sig Sauer or 1911.   Some people just have issues shooting 45acp and I didn’t own anything other than a Sig 220 and a 1911.

I have found the Springfield Armory XD 45acp to be the most comfortable 45acp gun to shoot that was not a steel gun.  I find the Glock 21 to be too bulky especially for my female students.   The factory gun magazines for my Glocks are less expensive than  Sig Factory magazines, but I have never had to replace anything on my Sigs other the springs.   Wolff Gun springs work very well in all of my rifle and pistols and I have stockpiles of them so that if I notice any slowness in cycling, I can just swap them out.   Rotating your gun magazines is a good way of making sure you don’t wear out the same magazine, because it’s a pain in the neck when you are trying to determine if the magazine is bad or if a shooter is limp wristing a firearm during a training session.

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1911 magazines wearing out too fast?

I’ve owned more than a few 45acp guns, basically for tests and evaluations, but I still love my 1911 handguns.  I have to admit that it still shocks me to see the number of gun malfuntions on firing ranges due to bad magazines or shooters not disengaging the thumb safeties during competitions.  In my humble opinion this should be a big warning to anyone that is carrying a 1911 style handgun, that they really need to do some research into the right type of 1911 magzines they should be using.   Although I would never feel out gunned  with a 1911, I stopped carrying them due to too many times I have missed the thumb safety during practice that I felt it wasn’t worth the time to keep practicing it when I could easily just switch to another type of gun.   I’m still not on the Springfield XD bandwagon, but many of my friends have jumped on that.  I do not think it’s a wise thing to carry a 1911 around without the safety engaged, but I would say that although the 1911 is a great competition and military gun, it has it’s place in the handgun community as much as a j-frame 38 special does.

There are many gun forums and places you can research 1911 gun magazines, the 1911 forum was where I first learned about swapping out various parts on my Colt 1991A1, and I have improved my shooting and reliability dramatically.   Wilson Combat magazines are my favorite, but Chip McCormick magazines seem to look more traditional and also have a very good reputation.   I have not had good experiences with GI magazines holding up for very long, and I also highly recommend paying attention to round counts in your magazines and recoil springs. Out of all of the guns I have owned, the Colts and Springfields I own do start to choke up after about 6000rds and become less tolerant of even just plain FMJ rounds.   If I had a round count like that using defensive HP ammo, I would expect problems much sooner.

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And I didn’t have issues with my 1911 anymore

After a few range sessions, I didn’t have a single malfuntion and I though it was time to test out some hollow point defensive ammo.   I loaded up the 2 Colt Magazines I had and the 2 Wilson mags and started blasting.    I had an malfuntions with the Colt magazines and none with the Wilson.    I wasn’t too sure of the technical reasons why this was occuring, but after signing  up a popular gun forum known as the www.TheFiringLine.com  I found out why.   Wilson Combat did a great job in designing their plastic followers to hold up better than the majority of the metal magazines you’ll find for a 1911.   The followers and magazine body are aligned properly for better feeding into the barrel and will increase ammo tolerance.

My First 191Wilson Combat Magazines1 was a Colt 1991A1 and It came with 2 Colt 7rd magazines.   I shot about about 500rds through it and I had an occasional malfunction.   The problem I kept having was the slide would close on an empty chamber.   I did some reading and found that it was most likely the magazine slide stop tab was bending and wasn’t full engaging the slide stop.    A pair of needle nose plyers fixed that for a few hundred rounds more then the problem came back.     I found out about Wilson Combat Magazines and picked up a few mags.   The magazines weren’t flush with the bottom of the gun, but I got use to them pretty quick.

 

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Increase reliability of the old dog

Wilson Combat MagazinesWe’ve all  heard about how the 1911 isn’t as reliable as a Glock, but firearm reliability has increased for just about every semi-auto that is in production these days.    Guns that were made 50-80yrs ago are manufactured better, magazines have become more reliable and ammunition is far more reliable now than it was even 30yrs ago.    When using a semi-auto, we have to think about the purpose for it and what we think we need in a certain situation.   I love the people that think they are going to fight off 50 bad guys with there Glock, but the reality is that if you think you are going into that bad of a situation, bring a rifle.

I consider myself a 1911 enthusiast, but I’d take an M4 over any handgun, any day.   A 5 shot snub nose is good enough for most white colar environments, but if you think you can carry a full size auto, 7 or 8 shots of 45acp is plenty.   1911s are not out dated, but they are also not modern weapons and are being beat out by some of the firearms coming out now, so is the DI M16 by the way.   If you own or know anyone that owns a 1911, you absolutely will increase the reliability of the gun by using Wilson Combat magazines.

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