Mitch Rapp
Well-Known Fanatic
I have been accused of "overthinking" things, so please forgive me, but here it goes.
I have what I would call a nice 1911, for my purposes. If you haven't seen it in my other threads it a Colt 1991 Commander. I primarily wanted one to carry occasionally, take deer hunting as a secondary, shoot in matches every once in a while, and just be a "working" pistol. The reason I call it a "1911 Trap" is that, like with many things that re easy to customize, there is a draw to try and go crazy changing stuff out to make the gun "better". It seems to me that there is a fine line between some reasonable changes or custom work, and when you start changing it just to change it. I didn't want to bug a gunsmith with "what do you suggest" type phone calls, and having any work done will probably not happen till after the first of the year.
Here is what I think would be practical to change on my 1911. (remember this gun was a gift, so please don't say sell it and buy one that already has the features you want...)
It has a GI style beaver tail, which tends to bite when carrying IWB and isn't the most comfortable in the web of my hand. So I would like to put on a beaver tail, and probably one with a memory pad. I haven't had an issue of not depressing the grip safety, but it seems like a good idea as an ounce of prevention.
Ambi safety. I like the idea of having an ambi safety, so long as the lever on the off side of the gun is fairly low profile.
Maybe swap out the sights. Mine aren't bad, but could be better.
Possibly swap the trigger for a medium or short one, depending on what I decide after shooting it for the next several months.
Undercut the trigger guard. Maybe have it stippled or checkered, but that's a big chunk of $$$.
Bobtail the frame, I like the way it looks, and it seems functional as well for reducing printing, but would be an optional thing based on money.
Obviously after having this work done, the gun would need to be re parked or finished in some way.
So, that is what I would like to do, what I need is help narrowing down what is reasonable, and maybe what work could/should be done to promote reliability. I say "promote" because this gun has been very reliable so far. 1 malfunction with the last round from a sub par magazine. Again, this is also not work I plan to do soon, it would be with a Christmas bonus, or tax return. Until then I plan to spend as much as I can on ammo, nice mags and just running the gun.
I have what I would call a nice 1911, for my purposes. If you haven't seen it in my other threads it a Colt 1991 Commander. I primarily wanted one to carry occasionally, take deer hunting as a secondary, shoot in matches every once in a while, and just be a "working" pistol. The reason I call it a "1911 Trap" is that, like with many things that re easy to customize, there is a draw to try and go crazy changing stuff out to make the gun "better". It seems to me that there is a fine line between some reasonable changes or custom work, and when you start changing it just to change it. I didn't want to bug a gunsmith with "what do you suggest" type phone calls, and having any work done will probably not happen till after the first of the year.
Here is what I think would be practical to change on my 1911. (remember this gun was a gift, so please don't say sell it and buy one that already has the features you want...)
It has a GI style beaver tail, which tends to bite when carrying IWB and isn't the most comfortable in the web of my hand. So I would like to put on a beaver tail, and probably one with a memory pad. I haven't had an issue of not depressing the grip safety, but it seems like a good idea as an ounce of prevention.
Ambi safety. I like the idea of having an ambi safety, so long as the lever on the off side of the gun is fairly low profile.
Maybe swap out the sights. Mine aren't bad, but could be better.
Possibly swap the trigger for a medium or short one, depending on what I decide after shooting it for the next several months.
Undercut the trigger guard. Maybe have it stippled or checkered, but that's a big chunk of $$$.
Bobtail the frame, I like the way it looks, and it seems functional as well for reducing printing, but would be an optional thing based on money.
Obviously after having this work done, the gun would need to be re parked or finished in some way.
So, that is what I would like to do, what I need is help narrowing down what is reasonable, and maybe what work could/should be done to promote reliability. I say "promote" because this gun has been very reliable so far. 1 malfunction with the last round from a sub par magazine. Again, this is also not work I plan to do soon, it would be with a Christmas bonus, or tax return. Until then I plan to spend as much as I can on ammo, nice mags and just running the gun.
