PART IV

Well, I just could not wait for the extra ammunition to arrive.  

Friends who know me would just state I can't leave something well enough alone...
Friends?  Meh!  Who needs 'em!  

So I decided to shine up my $290 ATI “Philimmander.”

Besides, I had already proven 100% reliability at the range with both the 230 grain HST and 185 Golden Saber rounds fed through the ubiquitous 8 round Wilson Combat's 47D.

I felt it was time for some elbow grease!



I picked up fine sandpaper (800 grit), I had a free sample of Flitz polishing compound laying about, and some Q-tips.  

This work was done strictly “on the cheap” without the use of a dremel.  No high end stuff here!

Just a brief trip to Lowes for $8.00 worth of materials (sand paper).  I used scissors to cut the pieces of sandpaper and used Gorilla Tape to hold it in place on the Sharpie pen, to use as the tool to work the ramps.

Here is what I was facing:

The Wall:



The Speed bump:



Now, in all fairness, they both looked good to the naked eye, and felt smooth to my touch (though after examining these photos they look rougher than I thought).

The 800 grit is fine-and wears out after several strokes (I’d still be cautious here-the idea is to smooth metal-not remove it; further, if you screw up your piece, or blow your warranty-again, you are on your own my friends).

After a few strokes I began to see this:



And after a bit more work, I began to see this:



The Flitz really just lightly polishes, and removes very little to almost nothing (it may not even be necessary if you have 1000 grit sand paper).  

It really did not take long before it was a pretty fine looking mirror like polish:



A little dab of the Flitz white paste on the Q-tip, and some rubbing would eventually turn the white head a darker shade; a sign that is was certainly doing something.
Now to the barrel, using the same sandpaper/Sharpie technique:





Not satisfied, I decided to push my luck (note friends reading this and their lack of surprise).  

I do not recommend this to y'all yet, since there could be repercussions to the disconnector over time-and who knows what might happen if not done correctly.
If the gun one day becomes a runaway-please remember I told you NOT to do this.

The bottom portion of the slide, when trying to strip a fresh round, slows down quite a bit when it hits the disconnector speed bump-quite literally- this little guy:



And this is where the little guy hits:



I decided to gently improve the angle here, this time using some 320 fine sandpaper, and then Flitz.

After:


I did not want to shave too much off, just round it a bit, making sure it was as even as my eyes could determine (I will observe the disconnector to make sure it does not show signs of tweaking after some rounds).  I may also go back and work on it some more though.

After that, I Flitz'ed the breech face, just trying to smooth it up gently to facilitate the cartridge case rim when sliding up under the extractor during the 1911 loading procedure.

How does it feel after less than 45 minutes of work?  

Great!
Hand cycling rounds feels definitely a bit smoother.  Also fed the last 8 Golden Sabers I have with no problem, even from and old battered 7 round magazine.  I know improvements have definitely been made, so the only test now will be to see if the original factory magazine will feed 8 hollow points flawlessly (remember I had jams previously with it and the hollow points) at the range.  

Flawless feeding with the HPs from that factory magazine under fire will prove my handiwork and if I have improved the overall reliability of the gun.

$290 Philimmander
$27 magazine
$4 in sandpaper
= $321 (not including shipping & FFL fees)

For $321 bucks I have a 'slick as snot 1911 "Commander" that will soon be feeding anything I can stuff it with.  And I am going to test it further

BTW, here is what the ‘Mander looks like with a proper 7 round flush magazine (esthetically, I think this looks much better, accentuates the gun's "pug" lines, and reduces the carry size a bit):





I KNOW this thing is more reliable now; but how reliable?

I guess that is for Part V...

You carry a folding machete?

Yes I do  It's the only way to keep my cuticles and teeth clean

Using a dremel tool on a firearm is the same as using a flare gun in SD on humans, the ATF has declared that it converts it into a DD and, as such, requires registration as a 'Destructive Device' and the appropriate $200 tax stamp.
Just trying to warn you to not to invite TEH MAN into your life.

I could be wrong but I think he was going to use the dremel to POLISH with.

There are about 50++ videos on YouTube showing gunsmiths using dremels on their guns to clean & tune them up, as well as the slide modification to increase reliability.
I am NOT modifying the disconnector, NOT modifying the trigger, and NOT modifying the hammer group.

I feel like you may need to reference your actual information, because I can't find anything that remotely exists to where polishing feed ramps with a dremel (which again, still did not do) can cause a problem with the BATF, and how that falls to their legal purview.  

I am in no way modifying the guns mechanical internals, nor building this gun for sale.

Please let's take this offline if you wish, since this thread is not about that, and I do not want it to go off track.

Thank you,

T.T.

Check sarcasm, and/or idiot meter.

If you polish the top of the disconector and the flat area on the slide that it rides on it should smooth out even more. I did that to my sig 1911 along with polishing the areas you already did and the difference was huge. I'm pretty sure I just hit it with 320 grit and called it good.

Thank you, but I don't want to mess with the disconnector, but I may play with the slide a bit more.  

As it stands with what I have done to the slide, it is significantly more smooth cycling than before.  

Nice! Time for some VZ grips and call it a day

Nope my man, no sexy high speed low drag grips here strictly a meat and potatoes kind of gun
If they were plastic, I'd find some cheapo woodies.  However, these are wood grips, and after a lot of firing, they are tearing my hand up.
To that I say "Good!"  That shows they have purchase, and whether the trenches of a war-struck world or the Starbucks drive thru, and the sweat, blood, and tears-you need a solid purchase on your handgun.  These grips as standard seem to do a dang decent job.

FWIW, I know Wilson has a flush 7-rounder that I would prefer esthetically, not tactically, and will look for that later, but with the performance of the the 47D 8 rounder is so above what I have seen; we'll I guess we will all see soon for ourselves.

Until Part V...

Understood! Good luck with it!

Dang Decoy!

I just googled those grips and my wallet is shaking

PART V is UP

PART V

They are sweet!