This is my Springfield Armory mil-spec 1911-A1 .45 as it came from the factory. I’ve been avoiding getting a 1911 as long as possible but couldn’t hold off any longer. I don’t plan on making this into a full race pistol (yet!) and just have plans to replace the grips with some fancy wooden ones, the iron sights with some self luminous ones, and possibly change the thumb safety. But like I said, it’s not going to be a race gun. I bought the pistol as a project, something to cut my 1911 teeth on and learn it’s operation much like I did with the AR-15 series of rifles.
I’ve run 75 rounds though this beast without a failure yet. The recoil is pretty impressive with 230 grain bullets. I’ve found that the gun fails to feed the 230 gn. JHP rounds so I’ve gone back to FMJ rounds.
I’ve added Ahrends Zebrawood grips and Wilson Combat stainless hex screws. Inside I’ve replaced the recoil spring with a 19.5 pound one. I’ve got the Wilson Combat trigger and mainspring to still install at this point.
Here’s the Wilson Combat trigger installed. Basically you have to strip the pistol completely down to get to the trigger. It wasn’t difficult following some provided instructions (thanks Steve). The weight trigger doesn’t mean a lighter pull but less moving mass. It has a nice grooved non-slip surface. The trigger pull measures 4.25 pounds which is fine for a combat pistol. There is very little take up and no creep with the stock sear and hammer. The trigger is adjustable for overtravel.
