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Some 1911 Help

Anyone here shoot a KIMBER 1911? This is my Old 1911 Kimber .45 I like the Bowling Pin Shoots at 25' this clears the table quickly. Anyone here shoot pins?
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Congrats on your wife’s new job and signing bonus. I think y’all have picked out two fine pistols. As much as like .45 I enjoy shooting and training with a 9mm mainly for cost. I’ll still shoot .45 because I carry a .45 at times but it’s fun and easier to shoot more 9mm.
 
Well guys n gals... I bit the bullet, no pun intended.
It ain’t the greatest 1911...and ain’t the greatest Springer either... but it’s MINE !!!!!!
btw - got mine in .45....photo prob looks a bit grungy; I haven’t cleaned manufac grease off yet..one thing right off: I LOVE the deep serrations!!!
It came with one mag as expected, but turns out its MEC-GAR, and I happen to have a few of those already. So that worked out well.
No hard case, but truth is I don’t think much of those WalMart-ish ones like came with my RIA. This came with a rather nice nylon padded soft case that has an interior pouch for extra mags (2 maybe?) or needle oil bottle or whatev...
Will try to get to the range this holiday weekend.
 
Anyone here shoot a KIMBER 1911? This is my Old 1911 Kimber .45 I like the Bowling Pin Shoots at 25' this clears the table quickly. Anyone here shoot pins?
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Don't own a kimber or any other 1911, but the kimber ice in a 10mm is very tempting just like the sig10mm sao! I just can't get passed the 8 round capacity! Give me at least 12, double stack preferably!
 
Preference and budget will usually determine purchase.

I started with Loaded Model. It was intended to be a fun gun, a gun for shooting the heck outta cans and other stuff between trout bites. That gun is amazingly accurate and reliable.

Long story short: I have a TRP .45 for wilderness protection. I use 230 Fed HST LE +P rounds in it while fishing where bears live. That gun has moved in and took over. It has replaced my Loaded Model as a fun gun. My kid can put hundreds of rounds through it between trout bites. When she's done, I'll load her up with my mean critter medicine and she's right back to primary duty: mean critter defense. I cannot emphasize how reliable that gun is.

I love my TRP so much, and I am so impressed with its accuracy and reliability that I've yet to shoot my Professional Model.

For urban self defense, I use an EMP 3 9MM. Outdoor self-defense, even in griz country, it's my TRP.

My advice is to think about a TRP. A TRP will let you do it all with one exceptional handgun.
 
Don't own a kimber or any other 1911, but the kimber ice in a 10mm is very tempting just like the sig10mm sao! I just can't get passed the 8 round capacity! Give me at least 12, double stack preferably!

Happy Memorial Day TEXASforLIFE,

If you hand load, you'd be surprised at the insignificant differential between the 10MM and .40 S&W. I can hand load 200 grain .40 S&W rounds darn close to 1100 FPS.

Many years ago, I had a very fleeting 10MM thought. It's a high pressure cartridge. The .45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge. If you hand load, you can get 1000 FPS with 230 grain .45 Auto bullets, although I'm not convinced that that velocity increase would matter in actual performance. With slight modification, one could convert a good-quality 1911-A1 to a .45 Super; again, I'm not convinced of the alleged superior efficacy of the .45 Super vis-a-vis the .45 Auto. I have no desire to convert any of my 1911-A1's to .45 Super.

Colonel Jeff Cooper was mostly to credit for bringing the 10MM to factory production. After his flirtation with the 10MM, he returned home to his beloved 1911-A1 .45 ACP.

The 10MM is an excellent cartridge. But my opinion is the advantage goes to the .45 Auto...for many reasons.

There is no doubt in my mind that the .45 Auto will remain among the best if not the best defensive handgun cartridge for centuries to come. There is considerable speculation that the 10MM will continue to lose shooters' interest. Ammo cost and availability have to be major causes of lost interest. Another factor is that actual velocities don't match advertised velocities.

Now if one doesn't hand load, the 10MM might make sense; however, two factors must be considered: either its impressive ballistics were inflated, or ammo manufacturers have reduced its maximum loads. I know I can get a nominal velocity of 1000 FPS with .40 S&W 180 grain Fed HST LE rounds out of a Sig P229 with a 4" barrel. I've chrono'd it. I've read of complaints that 10MM ammo does not chrono as advertised out of 5" barrels. Because the 10MM is a high pressure round, ammo manufacturers might be worried about pressure spikes, thus adjusting to prevent worst case scenarios. In contrast, the .45 Auto is close to perfect within its low pressure range.

When analyzed in its totality, the advantage seems to go with the .45 Auto.

I'll close with my personal experience. I've fished and hunted all over the Eastern Sierra and Rockies. I've wilderness camped where griz lived. When I was young and not long on comprehensive analysis (research motivated unless professionally required) I picked up a brand new 6" 629. I called it a one and done gun. I'd pay to watch anyone rapid fire with accuracy a 6" 629 loaded with 240 grain mag rounds. Rapid firing a .44 Mag with mag rounds is urban legend. I've never seen anyone able to do it. Five .44 Mag rounds that miss their target are useless. It was a heavy and bulky gun. It was glacier slow to battery. It was inconvenient to carry in the field. I sold it with no seller's remorse. I was glad to see it go. For a while I used a 4" 586 .357 Mag revolver loaded with 180 hard cast bullets. The .357 Mag is an excellent wilderness handgun cartridge. But my 586 was also heavy and bulky. It wasn't much faster to battery than my 629. It held only six rounds. It took at least 5 seconds to reload it using a speed loader. Worse, I had to take my eyes off a threat to reload it. Taking your eyes off a threat is a massive and potentially fatal tactical disadvantage. But with 180 grain hard cast or Partitions, which have stellar sectional density which usually translates to penetration and bone breaking ability, the .357 Mag is a formidable mean critter handgun cartrdge.

I paid UPS shipping costs to send my 586 to my friend's FFL. I gave it to him. He was a good friend who moved to the Midwest. He'd often work his fields until darkness. He told me that tweakers had invaded his rural community and were setting up meth labs. He was in the market for a .357 Mag for tweaker protection and mean critter protection. I told him I had what he wanted. He was a devout Christian and a very good friend. So I gave him my 586, and I paid all costs to get it to his FFL. Within 6 months, God took him home. He had contracted very rapidly metastasizing cancer.

For one fishing season in the Eastern Sierra, I took my P229 loaded with 13 180 Grain Fed HST LE .40 S&W rounds and a spare 12 round mag. I never felt vulnerable. The rumor is there are more black bears in the Eastern Sierra than trout. The reality is I've seen huge black bears in the Eastern Sierra. They grow huge due to endless food supply (and negligent campers who foolishly feed them), and they seem to have lost their fear of humans, which is ominous.

Since I've mystically acquired wisdom, I've researched a lot of wilderness defense handgun cartridges and handguns. There are many good ones. The .41 Rem Mag is an excellent wilderness handgun cartridge But its recoil reduces its appeal. For me, revolvers don't carry anywhere near as easily as a full-size (5") 1911-A1.

I now use a Springfield Armory TRP with no rail and fixed sights. It's chambered for .45 Auto. Keeping in mind my previous attempts at finding the perfect wilderness handgun, I found the perfect combo in the 1911-A1 TRP and .45 Auto. The TRP in a good quality Askins holster on a good quality gun belt is a breeze to carry all day long. I can forget I have in on my strong side. It is lightning fast to battery (getting muzzle pointed at threat), much faster than any revolver I've tried. It'll hold 8 (9 rounds with Wilson mags) of very powerful 230 grain +P ammo, I carry two spare mags. I can reload it while its muzzle remains pointed at a threat, I do not have to take my eyes from a threat while reloading, it has never failed to do anything but feed and fire (it's as close to 100% reliable as an mechanical device can get), recoil does not take its muzzle off of sight picture (reacquiring sight picture due to excessive recoil is a huge tactical disadvantage), it's one of the most accurate handguns I've ever fired, a full-size TRP has a divine natural point as though it aims itself, and the .45 Auto is a low pressure round.

If a wilderness handgun isn't 100% reliable, it's useless. My Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto is 100% reliable.

The way I see it, the Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto is the best wilderness handgun and cartridge combo on God's Earth. I'd much rather have it on my side than a .44 Rem Mag revolver. But that's just me. I'm sure others have stronger convictions about the 10MM.

My ranking of wilderness handguns based upon my experience, and handguns I'd take into griz country:

1. Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto
2. Sig P229 .40 S&W
3. A "K" Frame or similar revolver with a barrel length of no greater that 3" loaded with 180 grain .357 Mag hard cast rounds.

Of the aforementioned three, my Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto, by a substantial margin, is my best wilderness defense cartride and handgun combo. God forbid, were I to drop it a foot deep in lake shore mud, I could field strip in within seconds, completely clean it with a rag and sturdy branch (remove mud from barrel), and be back in business. In an extreme case of muddy mess, I could open her completely up with aid of a Leatherman tool. I do keep a tiny tube of fishing reel oil in my fishing vest that I could use to lubricate its rails. I would never attempt to disassemble a revolver in the field. As long as I didn't have to open up her double action assembly, my P229 is easy to field strip.

An anecdote based upon empirical evidence: good quality semis are more reliable than revolvers.

After all that, if you have a 10MM itch you gotta scratch, believe me, I know the routine. I've had many itches that demanded scratching. If you do go with a 10MM, my advice would be to go with a TRP, assuming Springfield Armory chambers its TRP for 10MM. Also, if you go with a 10MM, I'd suggest hand loading to assure you're getting advertised velocity.

The 10MM is an excellent cartridge. However, after a lot of research, I'm not convinced it offers anything that the .45 Auto doesn't.
 
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Happy Memorial Day TEXASforLIFE,

If you hand load, you'd be surprised at the insignificant differential between the 10MM and .40 S&W. I can hand load 200 grain .40 S&W rounds darn close to 1100 FPS.

Many years ago, I had a very fleeting 10MM thought. It's a high pressure cartridge. The .45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge. If you hand load, you can get 1000 FPS with 230 grain .45 Auto bullets, although I'm not convinced that that velocity increase would matter in actual performance. With slight modification, one could convert a good-quality 1911-A1 to a .45 Super; again, I'm not convinced of the alleged superior efficacy of the .45 Super vis-a-vis the .45 Auto. I have no desire to convert any of my 1911-A1's to .45 Super.

Colonel Jeff Cooper was mostly to credit for bringing the 10MM to factory production. After his flirtation with the 10MM, he returned home to his beloved 1911-A1 .45 ACP.

The 10MM is an excellent cartridge. But my opinion is the advantage goes to the .45 Auto...for many reasons.

There is no doubt in my mind that the .45 Auto will remain among the best if not the best defensive handgun cartridge for centuries to come. There is considerable speculation that the 10MM will continue to lose shooters' interest. Ammo cost and availability have to be major causes of lost interest. Another factor is that actual velocities don't match advertised velocities.

Now if one doesn't hand load, the 10MM might make sense; however, two factors must be considered: either its impressive ballistics were inflated, or ammo manufacturers have reduced its maximum loads. I know I can get a nominal velocity of 1000 FPS with .40 S&W 180 grain Fed HST LE rounds out of a Sig P229 with a 4" barrel. I've chrono'd it. I've read of complaints that 10MM ammo does not chrono as advertised out of 5" barrels. Because the 10MM is a high pressure round, ammo manufacturers might be worried about pressure spikes, thus adjusting to prevent worst case scenarios. In contrast, the .45 Auto is close to perfect within its low pressure range.

When analyzed in its totality, the advantage seems to go with the .45 Auto.

I'll close with my personal experience. I've fished and hunted all over the Eastern Sierra and Rockies. I've wilderness camped where griz lived. When I was young and not long on comprehensive analysis (research motivated unless professionally required) I picked up a brand new 6" 629. I called it a one and done gun. I'd pay to watch anyone rapid fire with accuracy a 6" 629 loaded with 240 grain mag rounds. Rapid firing a .44 Mag with mag rounds is urban legend. I've never seen anyone able to do it. Five .44 Mag rounds that miss their target are useless. It was a heavy and bulky gun. It was glacier slow to battery. It was inconvenient to carry in the field. I sold it with no seller's remorse. I was glad to see it go. For a while I used a 4" 586 .357 Mag revolver loaded with 180 hard cast bullets. The .357 Mag is an excellent wilderness handgun cartridge. But my 586 was also heavy and bulky. It wasn't much faster to battery than my 629. It held only six rounds. It took at least 5 seconds to reload it using a speed loader. Worse, I had to take my eyes off a threat to reload it. Taking your eyes off a threat is a massive and potentially fatal tactical disadvantage. But with 180 grain hard cast or Partitions, which have stellar sectional density which usually translates to penetration and bone breaking ability, the .357 Mag is a formidable mean critter handgun cartrdge.

I paid UPS shipping costs to send my 586 to my friend's FFL. I gave it to him. He was a good friend who moved to the Midwest. He'd often work his fields until darkness. He told me that tweakers had invaded his rural community and were setting up meth labs. He was in the market for a .357 Mag for tweaker protection and mean critter protection. I told him I had what he wanted. He was a devout Christian and a very good friend. So I gave him my 586, and I paid all costs to get it to his FFL. Within 6 months, God took him home. He had contracted very rapidly metastasizing cancer.

For one fishing season in the Eastern Sierra, I took my P229 loaded with 13 180 Grain Fed HST LE .40 S&W rounds and a spare 12 round mag. I never felt vulnerable. The rumor is there are more black bears in the Eastern Sierra than trout. The reality is I've seen huge black bears in the Eastern Sierra. They grow huge due to endless food supply (and negligent campers who foolishly feed them), and they seem to have lost their fear of humans, which is ominous.

Since I've mystically acquired wisdom, I've researched a lot of wilderness defense handgun cartridges and handguns. There are many good ones. The .41 Rem Mag is an excellent wilderness handgun cartridge But its recoil reduces its appeal. For me, revolvers don't carry anywhere near as easily as a full-size (5") 1911-A1.

I now use a Springfield Armory TRP with no rail and fixed sights. It's chambered for .45 Auto. Keeping in mind my previous attempts at finding the perfect wilderness handgun, I found the perfect combo in the 1911-A1 TRP and .45 Auto. The TRP in a good quality Askins holster on a good quality gun belt is a breeze to carry all day long. I can forget I have in on my strong side. It is lightning fast to battery (getting muzzle pointed at threat), much faster than any revolver I've tried. It'll hold 8 (9 rounds with Wilson mags) of very powerful 230 grain +P ammo, I carry two spare mags. I can reload it while its muzzle remains pointed at a threat, I do not have to take my eyes from a threat while reloading, it has never failed to do anything but feed and fire (it's as close to 100% reliable as an mechanical device can get), recoil does not take its muzzle off of sight picture (reacquiring sight picture due to excessive recoil is a huge tactical disadvantage), it's one of the most accurate handguns I've ever fired, a full-size TRP has a divine natural point as though it aims itself, and the .45 Auto is a low pressure round.

If a wilderness handgun isn't 100% reliable, it's useless. My Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto is 100% reliable.

The way I see it, the Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto is the best wilderness handgun and cartridge combo on God's Earth. I'd much rather have it on my side than a .44 Rem Mag revolver. But that's just me. I'm sure others have stronger convictions about the 10MM.

My ranking of wilderness handguns based upon my experience, and handguns I'd take into griz country:

1. Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto
2. Sig P229 .40 S&W
3. A "K" Frame or similar revolver with a barrel length of no greater that 3" loaded with 180 grain .357 Mag hard cast rounds.

Of the aforementioned three, my Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto, by a substantial margin, is my best wilderness defense cartride and handgun combo. God forbid, were I to drop it a foot deep in lake shore mud, I could field strip in within seconds, completely clean it with a rag and sturdy branch (remove mud from barrel), and be back in business. In an extreme case of muddy mess, I could open her completely up with aid of a Leatherman tool. I do keep a tiny tube of fishing reel oil in my fishing vest that I could use to lubricate its rails. I would never attempt to disassemble a revolver in the field. As long as I didn't have to open up her double action assembly, my P229 is easy to field strip.

An anecdote based upon empirical evidence: good quality semis are more reliable than revolvers.

After all that, if you have a 10MM itch you gotta scratch, believe me, I know the routine. I've had many itches that demanded scratching. If you do go with a 10MM, my advice would be to go with a TRP, assuming Springfield Armory chambers its TRP for 10MM. Also, if you go with a 10MM, I'd suggest hand loading to assure you're getting advertised velocity.

The 10MM is an excellent cartridge. However, after a lot of research, I'm not convinced it offers anything that the .45 Auto doesn't.

I mostly agree...but, I do know that in my younger days, I could run full-honk 240gr .44 mags out of my Anaconda with split times of about .3 seconds, good enough to hit a 8” paper plate at 10 yards. I wish I still could, but...RA is a beech, and I’m not talking about trees (and is why I switched to .41 Mag for anything I would've run .44 for).

Also...wondering why JHP’s, and not a hardcast flat nose for bear medicine? I’d worry about lack of penetration with a JHP, myself.
 
I had a smith mod629 8 3/8" with handloads of my own. I loaded mostly 180 and 240hp sierras at max load data and I was fast and accurate(6 shots with 6 hits) at my intended target. I'm not a gunfighter or a quickdraw artist, but I'm good. Now back too the 40 and 10 vs 45. A 40 with max pressure at 35k, 10mm at 37.5k is not much difference and 45acp at 21k vs +p at 23.5k at 15 yards or closer who cares about pressure! It comes down to what works for you and you alone is your choice too make! I shoot a lot and usually out to 100 yards with handguns. My 9mm gets there, but it takes some time and the 45acp takes even more arch. A 45acp is more like a little league pitcher and a 10mm is like a mlb(Randy Johnson) throwing the ball of the same size as the little league pitcher. Same size ball with a whole lot more velocity! There are a lot of diehard 45acp fanatics on this forum and I'm not 1, but do own a g21/41 and have been very accurate and reliable for me!
 
I mostly agree...but, I do know that in my younger days, I could run full-honk 240gr .44 mags out of my Anaconda with split times of about .3 seconds, good enough to hit a 8” paper plate at 10 yards. I wish I still could, but...RA is a beech, and I’m not talking about trees (and is why I switched to .41 Mag for anything I would've run .44 for).

Also...wondering why JHP’s, and not a hardcast flat nose for bear medicine? I’d worry about lack of penetration with a JHP, myself.
I would go hardcast over hp also! I have never shot any hardcast, but it makes more sense than hp.
 
Well guys n gals... I bit the bullet, no pun intended.
It ain’t the greatest 1911...and ain’t the greatest Springer either... but it’s MINE !!!!!!
Broke down my new Ronin to clean it...found this inside slide. I’ve never seen one marked up before, and it has a rough feel of course..
Anybody else seen this before? My RIAs were both smooth there...looks like numbering - 938.... wth ??
 

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I mostly agree...but, I do know that in my younger days, I could run full-honk 240gr .44 mags out of my Anaconda with split times of about .3 seconds, good enough to hit a 8” paper plate at 10 yards. I wish I still could, but...RA is a beech, and I’m not talking about trees (and is why I switched to .41 Mag for anything I would've run .44 for).

Also...wondering why JHP’s, and not a hardcast flat nose for bear medicine? I’d worry about lack of penetration with a JHP, myself.

I'm so sorry to have read about your RA. I hope pharmaceutical companies find a cure for it. I know of the excruciating pain RA causes.

You're right about hard cast for bear defense. However, Fed's HST LE ammo has a rap sheet for bullet integrity. It has either 100% bullet weight retention or darn close to it. I still have a few boxes of it from a former line of work.

The reality is we fish mostly in black bear country of the Eastern Sierra and the Rockies. But it wouldn't be a stretch to see us wet lines in Wyoming and Montana. A woman friend of mine wants to do a road trip to Priest Lake, ID. I hadn't heard of hit. She said it's in Northern Idaho. She said it's gorgeous with excellent fishing. depending upon when she wants to go, she could easily talk me in to going. We're strictly platonic friends.

On the other side of that equation: it's not uncommon to run into 500+ pound black bears in the Eastern Sierra. They raid fish cleaning stations and campgrounds. They have a trout rich diet. And they don't hibernate as long as bears in regions farther north. I've seen a couple that had to go at least 450 pounds, one in a marina parking lot raiding trash cans.

I used to have a friend who was a CA game warden. He's now in Heaven. He told me that San Gabriel Mountains and Eastern Sierra black bears have lost/were losing their fear of humans. He used to kill problem black bears in the San Gabriel Mountains before they could kill and eat people. As a cop, his primary duty was to protect human life.

From memory alone, CA's state record black bear was over 900 pounds. I believe it was killed in LA County, another place of limitless food supplies and very limited hibernation. 900 pounds is big for a grizzly bear.

If I do get a notion, I'll load about a hundred 255 grain hard cast .45 Auto ammo. Buffalo Bore lists 960 FPS with its 255 grain hard cast .45 Auto +P ammo, which would be extremely destructive to any dangerous critter's skeletal system.

I wish you the absolute best with your RA. If I knew of anything that would help, you'd have it. Until then, I'll pray for a cure.
 
Broke down my new Ronin to clean it...found this inside slide. I’ve never seen one marked up before, and it has a rough feel of course..
Anybody else seen this before? My RIAs were both smooth there...looks like numbering - 938.... wth ??
Maybe it’s something to do with keeping it matched to the frame after it’s been fitted, like maybe the last three digits of the serial number.
 
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