S&W 1911 E Series Round Butt

[Tam 212]

CF,

Thanks for the response. I have not calipered the chamber dimensions but rounds drop into the chamber throat readily with the barrel out of the gun... what should the chamber dimensions be?

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Don't know -- I exceeded my knowledge three off-ramps ago.  However, I did read the Kimber chamber meme from several gunsmiths/ sources. And the intrawebs is never wrong, right?    

Send it back to Kimber or to a good 1911 'smith? The SIS is said to be a great gun.  Hope it works out for you.  

Luck.  

[NS2]

My SIS Custom RL has worked since round one.

My SIS Pro has worked since round one.

If you're having those kind of issues, send it back to Kimber and have them make it right.

[Tam 212]

Thanks CF and NS2. Roger that.

[NS2]

I was able to take both the standard 5” and the Rail version of the “E” Series guns out last weekend for a very nice few days of shooting.

The Gov model ate everything I fed it without issue and I ended up firing an additional 500 rounds of 230gr Ball.  It is without a doubt one of the nicest factory triggers I have ever felt.  I experienced no issues with either magazines or springs.  The gun even ate up the 185gr Hi-Shok ammunition which is much shorter than the standard ball round which reinforced my belief that the 5” guns tend to be less ammo finicky.  Since this model is an all stainless gun it was a pleasure to shoot and it made the +P loads completely manageable.  Since there were no issues with this gun, I didn’t bother to shoot the control gun. The only nits that I really have are with the sights and the grip panels.  Both of which will be remedied very soon.  Otherwise I’ll make my standard changes and shoot the gun again to see if it makes any difference.

The TA, or “Tactical” version, I guess because it has a rail it is now “tactical” had no trouble with the 230gr ball or the 230gr Winchester Bonded loads.  Feeding and function were flawless.  This particular gun had problems with the shorter 200gr and 185gr ammunition; mostly with the factory magazines.  The CMC and WC mags worked perfectly, but the others ended up being tossed to the side to preserve my sanity.  The last 100 round of the CorBon and the last 120 rounds of the Federal fed reliably with the higher quality mags.  This gun, like the other two, has a much rougher feed ramp than I would like to see including a few tool marks.  There is a polishing in the future for all three guns.  It is possible that the Nighthawk and S&W mags just don’t present the round at the proper angle to facilitate feeding, but that is my WAG.  As I expected, the SIS had no issues at all with any of the ammunition from any of the magazines.  There may be something to this thing about beating the gun into submission before you can trust it…

I can say that I have been having a few fits here and there when it comes to the actual trigger.  I mean the part itself.  It seems that the factory trigger bow is longer than that of the aftermarket short triggers and this presents a problem with the connector geometry.  Essentially, the shorter bow length changes the angle of the connector just enough to cause a binding of the connector as it passes through the frame.  I have not found a solution for this yet.  What I can tell you is that I tried to fit 10-8 short triggers for these guns and they all bound up the connectors.  When I replaced the factory trigger they all work perfectly.  The only difference I can see is that the bow length is longer on the factory triggers.  The rest of the dims and angles are the same.  One of the local 1911 molesters tells me it is because manufacturers are now making their parts slightly different than those of the originals.  Conspiracy theorists please feel free to run with that one in a new thread…

Overall, these are great guns out of the box.  Broken connector aside, there really are no issues that would prevent them from being an excellent choice if you’re in the market for a 1911.  There are some magazine sensitivities, but in my experience this is the norm with nearly all 1911 pistols.

I have replaced the trigger mechanism on the 4.25” gun with a Nowlin Pro Match Drop In Trigger Kit (http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=9578/Product/1911_AUTO_DROP_IN_TRIGGER_JOB) because of the issue with the connector.  It solved the connector problem and is a bit of an upgrade as well.  I’ll be tossing the FL guide rods, grips, thumb-safeties and plunger spring assemblies on all three guns in favor of some VZ Grips (http://vzgrips.com/gun-grips/1911-pistol-grips-1)  and Gunsite Low Thumb Safety (http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=6677/Product/1911_AUTO_LOW_MOUNT_THUMB_SAFETY).  I’ll post some pics when I get them all done.  These changes are for me and have nothing to do with the reliability of functionality of the guns.  Noted issue aside, these guns worked great as they come out of the box with 230gr ammunition.  The key part of that phrase being they, THEY WORK.”

All we need now is for some good 10-8 sights!

Ask away, I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.

[NS2]

Here are the pics after the "adjustments" to meet my personal desires...




All three had the FL guide rod assemblies have been replaced with GI rods and plugs.  I'm running 17# springs on the 5" guns and 18# on the CDR gun.  The plunger spring and detent pins, thumb safeties, grips, mag releases and grip screws are all aftermarket parts.  The mainspring housings on the 5" guns have been replaced with Ed Brown units and the mag wells fitted should I ever choose to go that route.  The CDR gun has a Nowlin trigger package.  I'm looking forward to the new sights when they become available.

I fired an additional 500 rounds through each gun this afternoon evenly mixing 230gr ball and 230gr Winchester Ranger Bonded using Wilson Combat magazines only.  I had 3 incidents with the CDR gun failing to go into battery, but I'm not certain that wasn't my thumb causing the issue.  The Rail tested me with a FTE/Double Feed at round 403.  I'm pretty certain that was due to the high amounts of filth in the chamber.  A quick disassembly and a few turns of the chamber brush solved that problem.  In fairness to the gun, it was the end of the day and I was rushing to get off the range.  What I'm trying to say is that the gun was FREAKIN' HOT and heavily fouled due to my neglect with the oil.  I needed gloves to take it apart.  SO...Take it with a grain of salt.  That problem was most likely caused by the thing in-between the grips and the ground.

The grips on the round butt CDR gun are from VZ and fitted by me using a standard set.  VZ hasn't made a set yet, but I suspect they will soon enough.   It took about 10 minutes with a sander and some hand sanding up to 600grit paper. 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

  
Great review, Scott.

I see one of your guns has the Black Melonite finish. I'm no fan of the polished SS, usually preferring matte SS finish. The Melonite looks interesting, but any idea how would it stand up to the holster wear from competition use (SASS Wild Bunch?)  

[NS2]

   
Great review, Scott.

I see one of your guns has the Black Melonite finish. I'm no fan of the polished SS, usually preferring matte SS finish. The Melonite looks interesting, but any idea how would it stand up to the holster wear from competition use (SASS Wild Bunch?) 

That finish on my older S&W did not hold up well to my leather holsters.  It had a very nice patina until I had it redone with a Armor Tuff and Hard Chrome combo.

I doubt it will take the constant abuse of competition shooting.  I have not used this one enough to have an answer yet.  New job limits my carry guns to a specific brand so it's hard to put this one to work.  Sorry.

[Devereaux]

Some FL guide rods use a different bushing, which basically won't allow a simple replacement with a plug and GI type spring guide. ?I am presuming these Smiths aren't in that category, and only needed springs, new spring guides, and plugs.

[NS2]

Some FL guide rods use a different bushing, which basically won't allow a simple replacement with a plug and GI type spring guide. ?I am presuming these Smiths aren't in that category, and only needed springs, new spring guides, and plugs.

Yes. GI rods and plugs only.  It was a simple replacement.  I changed the springs so I could have a confirmed starting point.

[NS2]

Hilton's latest,

Check out the 10-8 Blog for the whole thing...

Here's an excerpt:

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=8mdo79bab&v=001MLAw4fjEPpUZCNZL8x2zK4kcKldGIR1OS2XW5cuU2Q182-qbSFdGaikLHBFPPqC2hxQDpCIJfLuUnaMANqTsK6kNLxdyoTbTCqJOc5xuwoM%3D

My gun now has a total of 1685 rounds through it, with zero malfunctions in the last 875 rounds.  Readers will recall a variety of spring related issues in the first 810 rounds, which I resolved by upgrading to Wolff springs.  The factory has been examining the production changes that I suggested, and I received a sample of a new recoil spring which significantly improves over the original version.  I do not wish to speak out of turn in regards to any other proposed changes, but will provide updates as they are appropriate.

The gun he is running,


His stuff is definitely worth reading!  Follow the link and check out his blog.