I have to agree with our friend Rob Pincus. Rob is one of the most active trainers in the Gun World. He’s always on a range. And he’s describing exactly what I’ve been seeing as well.
I’ve only had and seen good results with small 1911’s from two sources. SIG and Detonics. None of the others have run properly. I don’t know exactly why that is as I am not a Mechanical Engineer. I’m a Low Brow Knuckle Dragging Gunslinger… I know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve seen more failure to function with 1911’s than any other handgun type. In fact, I’ve only seen one 1911 run through a course without a failure. That was an STI in 9mm run by our friend Larry Correia. His “Cheater Heater”. Anyways, back to the caution on these Ultra Compacts. Be careful with them. Find loads that run in your pistol. Lubricate them with Slipstream Weapon Lubricant. Find how many rounds you can go through before the gun starts acting up and needs to be cleaned again. If your gun is not reliable – then for the love of all that is good in the world… Don’t use it for defense. Just Don’t. To do so would be to make a Jump with a Chute packed by the kid that takes out the trash at Wendy’s. Not Bright. If you have an Ultra and you like it… and it isn’t quite reliable. Have a Gunsmith go through it and tune it up.
i had always wondered about these since they have become so popular and expensive. i remember back in the early 80″s when combat shooting was getting started some gun smiths started chopping down 1911’s. the problem was that they could not get the recoil spring right and the guns were not reliable. looks like they have not solved that problem yet. i think i will just continue to pocket carry my lcr.
Small 45s can be made that are reliable. Maybe not small 1911 45s, but small 45s. Such as the Kahr CW45. After the break-in period (which I think they recommend for all their CW-series pistols, being their lowest-priced guns that aren’t perhaps as well-fitted out of the factory), my CW45 and my CW9 have been as reliable as any of my other handguns.
WOW, that’s interesting. I trust Pincus, and I have a few buds with that exact or variants on that exact handgun.
Too bad. Bet I would not be crying about my XD40, or having those issues. Wonder what the new XDS would do in those situations?
Anybody with feedback on this please chirp up.
XD’s have done well in the courses I’ve taught and attended. However I did see one XDM with a major issue. A broken trigger return spring. It was an easy enough fix, but still. One out of how many? No, your XD isn’t going to give you any more problems than most any of the upper quality service autos.