Interarms is an interesting company. They've been around since the 1950s, they had manufacturing plants in the USA (Midland, Virginia and Huntsville, AL; not sure if they still manufacture there), and they were at least tangentially related to the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s (caution: link is to Washington Post, so be as cautious as if you were reading Wikipedia). They sell inexpensive 1911 model pistols, and people seem happy with them.
It's interesting shooting it, too. It has the normal 1911 heft; it points like any other 1911; it's accurate like other 1911s. The trigger is great - no creep (take up), good surprise break. The sights are as good as my old eyes can expect to see these days, short of a Glock.
My 50 rounds at 10 yards. The flyers in the 7 and 8 rings are my fault - I got distracted, and that's what made this gun interesting. Between #2 son and me (100 rounds), we had at least a dozen failure-to-eject incidents (you can see the spent shell in the ejector port in the picture below).
We'd have to stop (duh!), drop the magazine, pull the slide back, and shake the round out. Distracting. We also had a bunch of failure-to-feed situations. Click instead of bang is distracting, too.#2 son really likes shooting the 1911 - big gun, big bullet, big grin. However, he thought differently today:
#2 son: Dad, if we were in a gun fight, I'd want a 38 special.Can't really argue with that.
Me: Why? I thought you liked the 1911.
#2 son: If we were in a gun fight, we'd be dead now.
Now, in fairness to the pistol, it seems that this was an unusual situation. I was talking to the Range Dude when we were done, and mentioned the failure-to-ejects. Range Dude said that they were greasing the slides, and ran out of their regular grease; instead, they used Lithium Grease. Seems that this is stickier, and that the slide doesn't work as fast as normal, which would explain both the failure-to-eject and the failure-to-feed episodes.
So we'll try it again. The 1911 is a great gun, and it's a ton of fun to shoot. Quite frankly, I should do better under distraction, anyway. #2 son had fun, too, as you can see. Not bad for 12 years old.
6 comments:
Good Lord!
What sort of maroon would use GREASE in an auto pistol???
I mean, ok in a pinch, but then wipe it off.
I gotta question the gun smahts of your range operators lad...
DOOD!!!
I have two different Colts you could shoot - a 1991A1 and a Gold Cup National Match!
Sheesh!
;)
http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/02/lubricating-handguns.html
Found the article I mentioned at my place. Lithium grease BAD! Modern Grease in small doses GOOD. Tho I got by fine when I just used a few drops of oil on the rails. The grease works good too.
I gots my Pair of S&W 1911s, you guys are welcome to them too whenever.
Also, one thing that also came to mind is that that gun has a standard GI ejection port. Seems that EVERY 1911 maker who isn't trying to make a Government Issue-Clone flares and lowers the ejection port.
I'd say the Lithium grease was the culprit tho.
I won't lie to you, as much of a 1911 fanboy as I am, I really can't get into GI Spec 1911s. I like my light triggers, Undercut trigger guards, flared ejection port, Wilson Mags, Loop Trigger, Beavertail with speed-bump, extended safety, and I rather like external extractors.
Weer'd,
You and I should get together at my club and invite Ted to shoot our 1911s...
Wouldn't THAT be a hoot?
(Side note: we could also make our trade then, too...)
Party at Jay's (range)!
;-)
I'm way behind in my RSS reader. Sorry for the comment on an old post.
"We'd have to stop (duh!), drop the magazine, pull the slide back, and shake the round out. "
There's a much faster way to do this. It also solves your click instead of bang problem. It's called a Tap-Rack (or in some circles, Tap-Rack-Bang). Tap the magazine firmly into the magwell, and rack the slide vigorously. I've trained it with as Tap-Roll-Rack, but the roll part is optional. Basically, you turn the gun on its side with the ejection port down while racking the slide, making it easier for the brass to fall out.
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