Posted: 8/22/2011 12:05:59 PM EDT
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I was looking at the Dan Wesson Guardian and I have fallen in love with it, and find myself wanting one more and more. I want to get it in 9mm though, not 45 ACP.
I am not here to start a "45 vs 9mm" debate, so please don't make any of those comments. My question though is, is there any issues with feeding / reliability with 9mm in general in this platform? I have heard / read that because of the tapered case / rim, that there was an inherent issue. Is there any truth to this? If anybody could shine some light on it, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks |
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i dont own a dan wesson, but my RIA 9mm won't feed hollow points when my mags (OEM checkmate and metalforms i bought separately) have more the 6 cartridges in them. i'm thinking it's a gun and/or mag issue. runs like a top with fmj bullets though.
ETA supposedly RIA's US distributor in charge of warranty work will do an action job for a nominal fee which lets it run hollow points. |
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I dont consider myself an expert on the subject.....but, I built two frame up 9mm 1911's and converted a Springer 45 acp to 9mm..........IMHO if you are going with a 9mm 1911 THE only way to go is with a ramped barrel...........I had all three of the aforementioned pistols up and running with non-ramped barrels and came to this conclusion.
With non-ramped barrels they all ran fine with ball ammo......I ran into some issues with bullets of different configurations other than ball......E.G. Hollowpoints........Again, IMHO ramped is the only way to go......All of the higher end 1911 9mm's sport ramped barrels and their is a reason for it...........With that being said.......they are way fun to shoot and cheap to reload.................. |
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From what I can find on the gun, the barrel on the D.W. Guardian 9mm is a fully ramped match barrel.
I found a really good write up on the gun HERE |
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I had 3 1911's in 9mm so far:
Kimber pro: all kinds of problems. Failure to eject, failure to feed, failure to extract, excessive wear on the aluminum frame, slide locking back with mag still full, just to mention a few of the problems. RIA tactical: Ugly but reliable. Never jammed, and it worked with all hollow points I have tried. Colt new agent Talo: It seems to not like 147 grain ammo, but other than that is very reliable. |
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Quoted:
i dont own a dan wesson, but my RIA 9mm won't feed hollow points when my mags (OEM checkmate and metalforms i bought separately) have more the 6 cartridges in them. i'm thinking it's a gun and/or mag issue. runs like a top with fmj bullets though. ETA supposedly RIA's US distributor in charge of warranty work will do an action job for a nominal fee which lets it run hollow points. Mine is running with hollow points. Try a Wilson mag to see if your works better. The mag that came with mine wasn't very good. |
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I have an RIA tactical in 9mm and it runs very well with hollow points or FMJ. If it messes up, it is usually me.
The first 1,000 rounds there were some issues, but it keeps getting better all the time. Some of these really have to be broken in. RIA has super service from everything I have read. I have not had to use them. 
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| Colt series 70 in 9mm. I have zero complaints. Mags were a bit pricy but I found a vendor at a show [done a lot of business with him in the past] and I bought 20 or so MecGars for $9 apiece.[no they were not .38 supers, they were the correct 9mm mags with the spacer in the rear of it.] |
| I have two Colts in 9mm, a Series 70 government and a pre series 70 commander and both seem to function fine with the factory mags and metalforms. I have not run them hard or a wide variety of ammo but I would say no more or less reliable than any other 1911 I own. |
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I use a stock RIA 9mm TAC in IDPA, Steel Challenge, and for plinking. It does not have a ramped barrel and I only shoot ball reloads through it. It has had 3 malfunctions in 1000+ rounds. 2 were because I did not get the mag fully seated. I have no idea what caused the 3rd and it ran another 50ish right after that with no issue.
I think the 1911 in 9mm is no better or worse than the 45 for reliability. If the gun is made right and no parts are worn-out, it will run. |
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There are quite a few good 9mm 1911 pistols that are running great.
No, the gun was not designed for 9mm but they can be made to run well. I think the ones with a shorter slide, like a Commander or the DW Guardian, work better. I have a Springfield Loaded in 9mm and it runs great. My wife and kids shoot it all the time without any issues. I run the factory mags which are Metalforms and come with a spacer welded in. |
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I have a Kimber Pro Carry 9mm. As mentioned, a ramped barrel is important but also , get a good mag. My Kimber came with a Kimber mag which I hear is made by Check mate. The problem with my gun was that the mag follower is junk and many times wont lock the slide back on the last round. THen I have to coerce the magazine to get it out of the gun. I bought a Checkmate hybrid magazine and the follower is much better and works great every time.
So if you get a 9mm, make sure your gun comes with a good mag like the Checkmate Hybrid. |
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Quoted:
All the replies to this are encouraging - taking delivery of a RIA Tac 9mm on Thursday (hopefully..) Any opinions of aftermarket mags? I also have a box with some Mec Gars coming from Midway... good choice? Tripp, Wilson, and metalform all make great 10 round 9mm magazines. SA makes a great 9rd 9mm magazine. |
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due to the much shorter length of the 9mm round it is harder to get them to run right from the gunsmiths perspective. The right mags make a huge difference here- like they do in most guns. Metal form,tripp research, wilson or oem colt are the best.
My series 70 build 9mm has me happy- my fav 1911 |
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I had a custom built 9mm 1911 that I was having a lot of feeding and extraction problems with. Finally had a smith look at it and the barrel link was a bit long. He fixed it and I put about 1200 rounds through it without cleaning without problems. Right now it's my favorite gun to shoot and what I've been using in most matches. Another guy I shoot with just picked up a RIA 9mm. It's a solid gun, although he does need to get the extractor adjusted on it. We've both tried the Metalform, Wilson and Tripp 10-round mags. While all work, the Tripp are my favorite. The Metalform are tough to remove rounds from once they're loaded. The Wilson mags are very nice, but the 10th round is a little tight. If you're trying to load a full mag on a closed slide, it takes a bit of extra effort to get them to seat. I've had no problems with the Tripp mags. They seat easily and run great. Being all similarly priced, I definitely recommend the Tripp mags over the others. |
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Quoted:
I had a custom built 9mm 1911 that I was having a lot of feeding and extraction problems with. Finally had a smith look at it and the barrel link was a bit long. He fixed it and I put about 1200 rounds through it without cleaning without problems. Right now it's my favorite gun to shoot and what I've been using in most matches. Another guy I shoot with just picked up a RIA 9mm. It's a solid gun, although he does need to get the extractor adjusted on it. We've both tried the Metalform, Wilson and Tripp 10-round mags. While all work, the Tripp are my favorite. The Metalform are tough to remove rounds from once they're loaded. The Wilson mags are very nice, but the 10th round is a little tight. If you're trying to load a full mag on a closed slide, it takes a bit of extra effort to get them to seat. I've had no problems with the Tripp mags. They seat easily and run great. Being all similarly priced, I definitely recommend the Tripp mags over the others. I find the trigger to be the best tool for removing 9mm ammo from those metalform 10rd magazines. |
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Quoted:
I use a stock RIA 9mm TAC in IDPA, Steel Challenge, and for plinking. It does not have a ramped barrel and I only shoot ball reloads through it. It has had 3 malfunctions in 1000+ rounds. 2 were because I did not get the mag fully seated. I have no idea what caused the 3rd and it ran another 50ish right after that with no issue. I think the 1911 in 9mm is no better or worse than the 45 for reliability. If the gun is made right and no parts are worn-out, it will run. true............ |
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Quoted:
I assume a raped ape is a good thing...? 
Is a switch from .45 to 9mm (or even 38. super) as easy as simply swapping the barrel/magazine? What would be required? Nope, Ejector must be replaced and only if you got a ramped barrel installed can you swap slides, recoil springs, and magazines. Fedd ramp geo is different for 9mm and 45 acp. |