This is my Springfield Armory GI 1911. I’ve had this gun for some years now, kept it and enjoyed it as stock, refusing to modify it or change it in any way. Well, two things happened to while I was in Jacksonville, NC. The GI style wood grips cracked on me, and before I really “Discovered” Fireclean, it suffered form a corrosion attack on the slide. So I had to scrub the corrosion off it, and change the grips.
Well, once I had gone and done all that keeping it “stock” just isn’t the same anymore.
The gun shoots remarkable well for an old warhorse. I love the fact that even with the old nubbin sights, it’s still an accurate shooter. I fired 100 rounds of standard Winchester White Box 230 grains, and 50 rounds of Hornady JHP’s without a single failure. The gun got hot. So hot that it was really difficult to rack the slide… but it kept shooting as long as the mag had ammo in it. It showed no signs of slowing down either. That was probably due to the Slipstream lubrication, and a good old GI style 1911 working together in harmony.
Here’s the one problem I had though. Hammer Bite. Not bad enough to be painful, but it was irritating and distracting. So to solve that problem, I went ahead and ordered some parts from Brownells. A new Commander style Hammer, sear to match that, and a Commander style drop in beavertail safety. Wilson Combat parts of course. They should be here in 4 to 5 days. Can’t wait. Once those parts are in, my GI will no longer be a GI. This saddens me a bit.
It’ll be fine. The classic look of a GI 1911 is really cool, but less than optimal for shooting using the ‘modern technique’.
My Colt Series 70 reproduction now wears a Commander hammer and S&A grip safety. I also updated the sights with a brass bead front and Harrison Retro rear. All in all it still has a classic look but is much nicer to shoot.
Your manual safety more than likely won’t work with the new hammer & sear as your safety was fit for the original parts. You’re also going to need to fit the sear to the hammer for proper & safe operation…don’t know if you did one of those operations before. Lastly IMO those “drop in” beavertail safeties look like crap mainly due to the big gaps around the tang which might pinch some skin.
I did this exact thing to a Springfield before and it only took some minor tweaking to get to work right. And the beavertail safety actually fit fine. I like the result. No big gaps.
How do I get one of those 150 round magazines? I’ll bet it extends from the grip a wee bit. ☺
I wouldn’t contribute a stock GI 1911 running to a modern lubricant. Those old things will run when they are dry. They were built with the right tolerances to allow it. 1911’s didn’t get the reputation for being unreliable until everyone starting tightening them up to make them more accurate and loading wide HP ammo they weren’t built to accept.
I predict you will see the same phenomenon in Glocks fairly soon. Lots of folks want a match barrel and match slide on a defense gun. Bad idea.
Years ago, I bought a Colt 1991A1. It was billed as being as close to an original 1911A1 as Colt could get. They even advertised that the serial numbers started where the 1911A1s left off. First came the hammer bite, which actually drew blood. Then the front sight ejected after about 250 rounds. That’s when I decided that we’d gotten smarter since 1911. It now sports tritium sights and the front sight is dovetailed. I also has a collection of very functional mods that make it a much better battle gun than the base pistol ever was.
When I read that title I thought you no longer had the gun.
Whew!
You’re just changing it. Making it more Ogre usable.
Just took my first step down that same road, but all I changed out was the sights. So far . . .
I’ve been wanting to make the same upgrades to my Mil-Spec springer. I’d love to know what parts you used.
We will see how it goes before I post the part numbers.
Please keep us posted. I have always wanted to do this. Thanks.
Springer GI was my first gun. It’s still gets carried often. I changed the arched MS housing for a flat, and after some hammer bite installed a beaver tail. It’s been that way for years now I’d not want to go back.
I kinda dig the rounded MSH. But that’s just me.
I had the hammer bite problem with my Springfield Armory GI 1911. Solved it with a wide grip safety, part C45079, from e-sarcoinc.com. Looks almost original, dropped right in, no more bite.