AridzonaShooter: Ramblings

....or kinda sorta.

Plans had been to leave here to go wheelin' and shooting 'long about 9.00, John showed up at 11.45 or so. In the Jeep, not the Volvo as had been talked about. Boy, howdy, talk about oversleepin'!

Anyway, off to the desert. Close to perfect day, hi-70s to lo-80s, a wisp of cloud, a bit of breeze. Normal AZ weather for this time of year.

Took a few toys to futz with, but the day was mainly to test the "new" Springfield Armory. This started life as a 4" Mil-Spec gun. A Combat Commander (steel frame, 4.25" Bbl), but it's not a Commander because it isn't a Colt, and it's a 4" Bbl. But...

SA's "Mil-Spec" line of 1911A1s are pretty much that: crummy sights, no enhancements. They're available in both 5" and 4" models. Built in Brazil, many of the parts are rumored to be MIM, which in theory should make them bulletproof. OTOH, if the MIM process isn't adhered to properly and the right steel used, a part can be a good candidate for breakage.

The finish is matte black. I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but I believe the black is a "blue" -type finish. Blast it, dunk it, let it drip dry and assemble. IOW, it's supposed to look like it's parkerized, but I don't believe it is.

The first order of bidness was to replace the MIM parts with reputable stuff. Then the frame was cut to accommodate the beavertail grip safety, a requirement to accommodate the "Commander-style" hammer. The slide was cut for the new sights and Ashley Express night sights were installed.

The trigger group was changed out. I don't have a scale, but I suspect it's about 4#. Take up, creep and over-travel are much, much better than stock, but not quite as good as I'd expect from custom work, I was hoping for a Kimber-like trigger. I suspect the parts were slapped in, they functioned and the smith was satisfied. In comparison, the Kimber has a much sweeter trigger, but, hey, this is intended as a carry gun, I can live very happily with it.

Anyway, on to the function test. It did. 100%. I ran 250 rounds of ball through it, it ate 'em, spit out the empties, went bang each and every time, locked the slide back on an empty mag. Just like it's supposed to.

I didn't have a sufficient quantity of evil hollow points for a test, that will have to come next session; along with accuracy testing. Accuracy testing today consisted of shooting at small objects imbedded in the dirt bank about 25 yards away. I didn't see anything that would lead me to believe anything is amiss, but I do want to put holes in paper to determine exactly what poa/poi is. Are. Something.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the gun. I'm optimistic that HPs will test out, and this will go on to be my go-to self-defense carry and bedside gun.

Oh, yeah. If it turns out to work well with the HPs, I'll clean it and add some lube. I'm running the top completely dry, just outta curiosity to see what happens or if I can induce some failures.