The 1911 thread

[cduarte]

I found out a little more about the Argentine made 1911 my friends dad has f/s

I was thinking it was a Ballester Molina which really only shares the mags and (I think) the barrel with the 1911. It also lacks the grip safety.

This gun has the grip safety and is identical with the colt made 1911. It's apparently in good shape with rose wood grips and has had a trigger job.

Anything I should look for when I go look at it?  Keep in mind this is my first pistol. He wants $400 for it.

that's a sistema, they are very nice. Buy it and post pics.

[VisceralReaction]

Well this is reloading info for the 1911.
My buddy got me a set of mould blocks and dies for the 45 for Christmas.
So i cast around a hundred bullets last friday. 250 grain RN microgroove.
We loaded up half the cases with 4.3 grains of Titegroup and a CCI large pistol primer.
the other half we boosted the powder charge to 4.5 grains.
Both loads feed and cycle reliably. Glad to finally be able to shoot my two 1911's
for about 4 cents a round.
The only issue is to shoot lead you need to remove any copper fouling prior to shooting lead.
I have no leading issues at all. I load my wifes 44 mag the same method at about 6-7 cents per round.
higher cost due to more powder in the case of course.

[Kopfjäger]

Well this is reloading info for the 1911.
My buddy got me a set of mould blocks and dies for the 45 for Christmas.
So i cast around a hundred bullets last friday. 250 grain RN microgroove.
We loaded up half the cases with 4.3 grains of Titegroup and a CCI large pistol primer.
the other half we boosted the powder charge to 4.5 grains.
Both loads feed and cycle reliably. Glad to finally be able to shoot my two 1911's
for about 4 cents a round.
The only issue is to shoot lead you need to remove any copper fouling prior to shooting lead.
I have no leading issues at all. I load my wifes 44 mag the same method at about 6-7 cents per round.
higher cost due to more powder in the case of course.

So, What's your issue?

[Monsterlover]

that's a sistema, they are very nice. Buy it and post pics.

So I went and checked these out last night.  They're pretty cool, been reading up on the history this morning.

This gun was Army issue and looks to me to be in decent shape.  Some wear marks but it seems tight.

The owner has 4 of these Sistema's and he showed me how to break one down on the bench which let me look at all the guts.  They all seemed to be in good shape as well.

I'm wavering on the $400 price.  On one hand this is a nice little piece and the frame, barrel and slide all numbers match.  On the other I'm finding pricing on line more towards the $300 price point.

Im gonna stop at the local gun shop and talk to those guys and see what they think, as well as check out other makes to be sure the 1911 fits me.

Are there any other pistols in the $300-$400 range you guys think I should also look at?

[ducatiz]

Are there any other pistols in the $300-$400 range you guys think I should also look at?

1911 style or just pistols in general?

That's going pretty cheap on a pistol these days.  Look on gunbroker.com to see what other 1911 style guns go for, 500-600 is the low range.  There is a decent model made by SAM of Phillipines (sometimes called PAC) which Century is selling that is going for around $450, and I think that's the cheapest one on the market.  I have one and it is very good -- it's not a tack driver, but it goes bang every time.  Just have a smith look at it to be sure, mine had a defective part, but once replaced, it has functioned flawlessly.

here is one:
http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=149568709

SAM is the #1 government arms maker for the military in Phillipines.

Charles Daly used to resell the SAM 1911s years ago, and they have very good reputations.  When they stopped selling them, no one picked them up for a long while until recently.  Century Arms (CAI) has a spotty reputation for guns they make, but they don't touch this one, they just roll mark it with their name and put it back in the box.

[cduarte]

the sistemas were made on colt tooling by colt trained workers and are the same quality as pre-ww2 colts for a fraction of the price. You will not get a better pistol in that price range. Other than those, the only ones I can personally recommend are the norincos, which are well made from extremely high quality steel. All things considered though, I'd go for the sistema as they are a nice piece of history as well.

[ducatiz]

the sistemas were made on colt tooling by colt trained workers and are the same quality as pre-ww2 colts for a fraction of the price. You will not get a better pistol in that price range. Other than those, the only ones I can personally recommend are the norincos, which are well made from extremely high quality steel. All things considered though, I'd go for the sistema as they are a nice piece of history as well.

i have a NIB norinco, whatcha offer me for it?  i took it out only to clean off the pigfat and coated it with eezox, inside and out..

[Monsterlover]

1911 style or just pistols in general?

Pistols in general (semi-auto)

the sistemas were made on colt tooling by colt trained workers and are the same quality as pre-ww2 colts for a fraction of the price. You will not get a better pistol in that price range. Other than those, the only ones I can personally recommend are the norincos, which are well made from extremely high quality steel. All things considered though, I'd go for the sistema as they are a nice piece of history as well.

I know what you mean.  The particular sistema i picked out had a 75xxx series number which puts it in the late 50's for manufacture.

Kinda cool

[cduarte]

i have a NIB norinco, whatcha offer me for it?  i took it out only to clean off the pigfat and coated it with eezox, inside and out..

$200...

[ducatiz]

$200...

rofl.. they sell for around $500 used..  of course, if you can get ATF approval to import one, you can order a brand new one from Marstar in Canada for like $100.. 

[cduarte]

rofl.. they sell for around $500 used..  of course, if you can get ATF approval to import one, you can order a brand new one from Marstar in Canada for like $100.. 

I know, I already have too many 1911s as it is, don't really need another.

[Monsterlover]

What's the ticket for inexpensive .45 ammo?  $22 for a box of 50 seems to be about the average.

Is this one of those things that will snowball and I'll end up with my own reloading equipment?

That being said, does the quality of the reloading setup affect the quality of the reload?

Damn. The snowball just got bigger...

[cduarte]

reloading is another hobby unto itself. While I don't have one, you can get a lee progressive which will work quite well for loading .45 and you'll be able to load for a fraction of what commercial ammo costs.

[Monsterlover]

Welp,

I bought it  

I stopped back last night and put 14 rounds through it Jim's (guns owner) basement (he has a nifty bullet trap)  I need practice to be more accurate, but the consistency is there.

Gonna get it registered to me either today or monday.

Heading to a gun show now because I'm definitely into the reloading thing.  Want to see if I can score any deals.

I talked with Jim for about 4 hours last night about reloading.  He told me he's never bought factory loads in his life (and he's 80)  He has a bunch of spare reloading presses and other things so he's going to set me up and show me the ropes.

I'll need to get a set of .45 dies and a powder measurer but the rest he has.

Will post pics once I get it home

[ducatiz]

I highly recommend a Dillon progressive press. They are awesome.  If you have the coin, get a full monty setup with all the add ons.  you can pump out literally dozens of rounds in a minute..