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My 1911’s

TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:37 pm

I had now tested 4 kimbers and 5 Springfields. There was 1 Kimber I had not yet tested, that was the Stainless II I gave to little brother, so I called him and went and picked it up.

About half or the rounds ended up like this or worse:
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The rims weren’t getting behind the extractor, they were getting caught under it.

So now, at this point, my guns still at the manufacturers getting fixed have stared rolling in. The Kimber Stainless II in 10mm arrived first. They again, did not fix the manufacturing blemishes in the slide, they also did not include any documentation as they did the first trip identifying what had actually been done. At this point, there is no indication Kimber did anything to it at all. That gun is currently sitting at the auction house.

The first Springfield Garrison 9mm came back as I expected it would, running great. I ran 4 magazines through it the other day and it’s running smooth.

The last gun still at the manufacturer is the second Springfield Garrison 9mm. It has the better finish of the two. It will end up staying with me and the one I have back already will go to the auction. The Springfield Loaded CA compliant is also there.
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:47 pm

As for the ones so far in this story, I did some customization to them. The Kimber Stainless II’s, I sanded the matte finish off the slides, stuck new main spring housings in them with beveled magwell ports. I really liked the look of the Kimber Rapide so naturally, I made the dull matte stainless guns look like the pretty one. I also installed VZ Fallout grips on them, used a die grinder to contour the sharp edges so they are now as comfy too.

The 3 Springfield Armory 1911’s I took a different route. I thought they looked better the way they were with some pewter grips installed. Here are the 6 I intend to keep (the Garrison 9 will be swapped when it gets home)
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So I took 4 to the auction, I bought 3 to replace them. I ordered a MetroArms 10mm in hard chrome to match the two 45s I have. I ordered a Kimber Raptor 45 in stainless and I ordered another Springfield Loaded in 45, this time, not the CA compliant version. Those should all be here in a few days.
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Last edited by TheBackyardRange on Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:49 pm

Closeup of the Springfield grips
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:57 pm

A better look at the finish I put on the Kimbers (before and after the magwells were installed).
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:14 pm

Hope you guy enjoyed the read. Brothers 10mm is back from Kimber but he is on vacation. I’ll try to get that update and the Garrison 9mm that Springfield has soon.

I have new grips coming for the Metro Arms 1911s but they will have to be customized to fit the guns due to the oversized controls. I’ll post the group pic of those probably this weekend.

When the rest of them show up in the mail, I’ll get a family pic put up of all of them. Remember, March 10, I only had 4 1911s. I will have at least 13 plus any of the 4 that don’t bring enough at auction.
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Hatchdog
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by Hatchdog » Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:39 am

What a shame you had to jump thur all the hoops to get “quality” guns to run correctly. Loved your story about expanding your collection but not so much all the trouble you have been experiencing.

My only 1911 on hand is a Springfield Range Officer in 9mm and thankfully it runs great, never had a hiccup even with my hand loads.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by BrokenolMarine » Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:51 am

I love 1911s, but sadly most of mine were sold off over the years. I should sell off most of the Glocks I accumulated over my career teaching LE firearms, keeping a couple special ones, then buy a couple special 1911s for the safe. :D

I'd love to find a Stainless National Match series 70 Gold Cup. It's been on my bucket list ever since I borrowed one while my match gun was being built. The owner's son and I won the team matches all that month, and I beat the son in the Service Auto matches with his Dad's gun all month. :D

I tried to buy it. But the dad cocked his chin at the son. "Nope, goes to David, when I'm dead." :lol: "He'll have to pry it... "

David and I finished that statement.
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markiver54
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by markiver54 » Wed Jun 22, 2022 11:47 am

That's some real expensive aggravation.
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:59 am

Updates...

I am still awaiting the second 9mm Springfield Garrison. I ended up taking the one I already had to the auction because I had to go pick up 3 more 1911's today. The other one is expected to be delivered tomorrow.

To add to the frustration, I ordered 1 Metro Arms American Classic in 10mm, 1 Kimber Stainless Raptor II, both of these were in last week waiting on the third. The third was yet another Springfield Loaded which was used. Fedex had no idea where it was and was just adding stuff to the packages whereabouts (I am not even joking). Package mailed out Thurs as 2nd day air. Sat it apparently landed in a sorting hub in Berkely, MO, where it was still showing on as of Tuesday morning. No expected delivery date. I told the FFL on Monday, the last time I saw that, they lost the package. Sure enough, Tuesday morning, its still showing in Berkely, MO, no anticipated delivery date. Miraculously, it appeared in Indianapolis and hour later with an expected delivery date of Wednesday. An hour later it was in a delivery truck on its way to be delivered but again, had the expected delivery date removed. Half hour later, it arrived at the FFL (which would have been a 6 hour drive from Indianapolis). They had no idea where it was, in fact, the sorting facility completely disappeared from its travel history.

Now that the good stuff is out of the way, I grabbed the 9mm Garrison, removed my new grips so I had them for the one coming tomorrow and headed off to the FFL (which is an auction house). The Springfield was a bit rough. You could definitely tell it spent a good deal of time in a kydex holster. I will never understand why people do that to their guns but nonetheless, I left it at the auction house to be sold off with the rest.

The Kimber, Wow that’s a nice gun. I’ve handled on in the gun shop before but not to the extent I did today. This one was used, however, not by much. It did have a hairline idiot scratch which probably won’t even show in the pics. Has two hairline scratches in the slide which are very light, all 3 were due to improper handling of the slide stop during takedown and reassembly. It’s otherwise immaculate.
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While I did not get to take the very first shots, I can say with complete confidence, the mag I just ran through it wasn’t far from the first. The feed ramp hadn’t even been scuffed yet. 230gr PPU range line ammo ran perfectly. The fit and finish are perfect. Trigger is light and crisp. In fact, the only downside to this gun that I can tell is the plastic main spring housing, which is a $35 fix off eBay.

The proprietary scale serrations on the slide and front strap are surprisingly very crisp and give you a very good grasp. That’s good because drawing the slide on this one is probably the heaviest draw of any 1911 I own, but it’s smooth. The scaled top of the slide is a nice touch. Does look cool.

The final note on the finish, no paint! That puts it at least 1 tier above the Rapide. Yeah, the Rapide has cool slide cutouts, colored barrels and flared magwell, but it’s 50% painted with Kimber’s Kimpro finish. It will fail at some point. The Raptor appears to be all stainless (except the MSH).

In my opinion, this is the nicest of the 11 1911’s reviewed so far. I just wish Kimber had a warranty service that matched it.
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TheBackyardRange
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Re: My 1911’s

Post by TheBackyardRange » Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:05 am

The Metro Arms American Classic II, 10mm, in hard chrome. I tested 3 Kimber Stainless II’s in 10mm throughout this thread. None I would consider were “ready to go out of the box”. One needed, and still is in, an extended breakin. By extended, I mean beyond 100 rounds. It is around 250 now and appears to be coming out of the breakin nicely.

Two went back to Kimber for failures to chamber. One went back twice, however, both needed a second trip had I not taken care of the slide stop myself. The American Classic II needed nothing but fed. No oil, no cleaning, just fed.

Now, this gun was new in box today, just as everything else except the Raptor. I already had a set of grips ready and waiting for it when it arrived. The group pictures so not give the gun’s finish it’s due credit.

The magazine that came with this gun left something to be desired, however, it did work when tested. No failures of any kind using the same S&B 180gr FMJ ammo tested in all 3 of the Kimber 10mm Stainless II’s.

Finish was very nicely done. Even the matte areas in person are so smooth that it almost looks painted on, but it’s not. It’s entirely hard chromed. No play whatsoever in the slide fitment, smooth action. The trigger does have a tiny bit of creep at the wall but it is very little and is as light and smooth as anything else I tested in this thread.
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This is it with the pair of 45s
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