Re: 1911 in 9mm
I've been pistolsmithing 1911's since 1988. I'm a competitive bullseye shooter (2650 High Master), former AMU & All Reserve Pistol Team member with National Championship wins and national records. If there is something I know about its 1911's. Regardless of caliber if the pistol isn't built right, it's not going to function. Properly built 9mm's are getting 1" groups at 50 yards from a Ransom rest. Yes that's correct 1" groups. Typically will shoot better than .45's, but that's another story. I've recently worked on 2 Les Baer pistols. He's supposed to be one of the best! Wrong, quality control sucks. With today's CNC machining perfection, anyone can assemble a 1911 that looks good, but it takes a MASTER to properly fit a barrel. In my experience all the big name smiths that mass produce 1911's cannot properly fit a barrel. A smith who is classically trained in fitting barrels one at a time can build awesome shooting 1911's in any caliber. Proper tuning to include mainspring, recoil spring, extractor tension, magazine, etc is a must, but it'll never shoot worth a damn if the barrel isn't fit right. I'm not talking about locking up like a vault either, that's nice for a competition firearm, but there are factors that contribute to proper function for the tactical weapon as well. I would never personally buy a mass produced 1911. I'd find a pistolsmith who does it one at a time, and obviously knows how to do it right. It's worth the money.
