Posted: 9/11/2015 5:15:00 PM EDT
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Looking at a full size Colt 1911 9mm.
How is the reliability with these types of guns (compared to .45acp) |
| I've been shooting 9mm 1911s for a few years now and love them, I believe they are the most underrated handguns out there. I want to say a few years ago on a pre-owned Springfield Loaded Target I put 1,500 rounds through it on a single weekend and had no malfunctions. Out of 4 magazines, one will randomly not lock the slide back. My 3'' EMP had some breaking in to do, that one I don't completely trust but between my loaded target and my RIA 2011 A2 I am a happy owner. 5'' and 4'' tend to run better in 1911s anyways. |
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I don't remember them having more issues. There are fewer choices for good mags but almost everyone I know runs Wilsons and has no troubles.
I have wanted a RIA for a while but I will probably get the double stack. 9mm 1911s are some of the softest shooting guns I have experienced. |
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I've owned a lot of them and worked on a lot more. My experience has been that they can be very reliable if they are set up correctly. Unfortunately that is a dice roll out of the box for most brands.
The proper springs (I like a 12lb recoil and 19lb mainspring), good mags (Tripp or Wilson ETM) and a properly dimensioned and tensioned extractor will take care of 90% of most reliability issues. |
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? |
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Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Quoted:
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. |
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Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. Quoted:
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. I do, a bit. It can help avoid first round nosedives. I load 125 or 135 gr LRN out to about 1.125". |
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Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. Quoted:
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. The magazines you use and round OAL go together. I tried Wilson mags and found the longer feed lips required a shorter round to run without jamming every mag. Dawson mags with shorter feed lips and longer OAL rounds seemed to be the best combination. My experience with a few 9mm 1911's is they are less reliable or more finicky than the 45, depending if you know how to make them run or not. |
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I do, a bit. It can help avoid first round nosedives. I load 125 or 135 gr LRN out to about 1.125". Quoted:
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. I do, a bit. It can help avoid first round nosedives. I load 125 or 135 gr LRN out to about 1.125". how much longer is that than factory 9mm? |
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how much longer is that than factory 9mm? Quoted:
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2 things to watch out for when you're running a 9mm 1911: use good mags (I've had great luck with Wilson or Tripp mags) and get a gun with a rampped barrel (SA, S&W, STI Trojan, etc). Properly set up they are awesome. Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. I do, a bit. It can help avoid first round nosedives. I load 125 or 135 gr LRN out to about 1.125". how much longer is that than factory 9mm? Hard to say since I have no factory 9mm on hand, but it's less than the SAAMI recommended COAL of 1.169". |
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I love shooting 9mm 1911s. My STI Trojan hasn't had any gun related malfunctions that I can recall, only ones caused by bad ammo or mag issues (see below). I recently picked up a RIA 9mm 1911; don't have too many rounds through it yet, but it's also run 100% so far. Even though mine have been very reliable I still wouldn't ever carry one, I just don't trust them enough, largely due to how finicky the mags are.
I use mine for USPSA Single Stack minor so run all 10 round mags. I've had by far the best luck with Dawson/Metalform mags. I've got a bunch of them and they all work great. The Dawson mags appear to be the same thing as the Metalform except for Dawson's logo on them, an aluminum basepad, and ~$10 more expensive. I only have one Wilson mag, but it was nearly impossible to seat on a closed slide and would often cause failures to feed trying to chamber the first round. I cut 2 coils off the spring and now it will seat well with the slide closed and haven't had any malfunctions since. Tripp mags work well with round nose bullets, but I couldn't get them to chamber the first round when fully loaded with flat point bullets, they'd always nosedive into the feedramp. With 9 rounds or less in the mag they worked fine. The Dawson/Metalform mags are also a bit easier to seat fully loaded than the Tripp, but the Tripps aren't bad with this. Quoted:
how much longer is that than factory 9mm? Quoted:
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Should you be loading long for the pistols you just listed? Usually when I hear that term it's in regards to 40's for a 1911. The 9mm mags have a spacer in the back so you can stretch them a little but not as much as 40. I am interested if people load long in these guns. I do, a bit. It can help avoid first round nosedives. I load 125 or 135 gr LRN out to about 1.125". how much longer is that than factory 9mm? Only factory FMJs I have on hand are CCI Blazer Brass 115gr and they're 1.155". Those work fine in my 9mm 1911s. I've been loading to 1.135" for my Trojan. |
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Had my new Colt lightweight 9mm Commander at the range and ran ball and Golden Saber HP rounds and was 100% perfectly reliable. Always liked the lightweight commanders. Always hoped a beater would come through the stores I worked at but alas no such luck. |