Marko has a good post up discussing why reliability is the most important criteria for a carry gun. I would like to take this opportunity to expand on that a little bit.
All my .45 ACP 1911-type carry guns are absolutely reliable with Wilson 47D magazines. They will all feed 230gr ball, 200gr SWC from Georgia Arms, and 230gr Remington Golden Sabers with one hundred percent reliability.
"But, Tam," you say, "How do you know they're reliable? Will they feed Aguila IQ? Will they feed X-treemShok from 10-round PowerMags? Will they feed Nytrillium hollowpoints from Chinese knockoff GI magazines?"
I don't know.
Nor am I likely to ever find out.
Because I don't put that crap in my guns.
Look, the odds of me standing over some dead zombie terrorist in the jungles of Zimbabwe, forced to use his ammo since I'm out, and him being coincidentally armed with a 1911 which I apparently can't use because I shot him right in the gun, and it turns out that Dr. Evil has armed his zombie terrorist henchmen with surplus Colt mags full of Glaser Safety Slugs that won't feed in my gun, are... well... "ludicrous" doesn't begin to cover it.
I buy my own mags and ammunition. I buy the same kinds of mags and ammunition every time. I buy them in bulk. I buy them because I know they work in my gun, not because they had a cool ad with rapelling ninjas in Guns & Ammo this month or because they have a 98.6% "One Shot Stop" rating or because SquEAL Team Six uses them or whatever.
I have yet to be convinced that this is an unsound practice to follow...
and if someone CAN convince you that it is an unsafe practice you NEED to hire them as a salesperson.
ReplyDeleteAfter the second time my wee wifey checked the werewolf movie Dog Soldiers out of the library I gave a moment's thought to the issue of reliable feed of home-cast silver reloads. I decided that as long as I'm living in the city it really isn't my worry.
ReplyDeleteNext time you change the followers and springs in your 47Ds, try using the ones from Tripp Research.
ReplyDeleteIn my line of work one never needs to reinvent the wheel, although people attempt to, daily.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a problem in retaining that which works, discarding that which does not, and codifying it as a standard procedure for your environment.
Works the same for lifesaving equipment as well as data preservation.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Divorced from The Powers That Be, I can now carry what I want, and that has become a 1911PD.
ReplyDeleteI have a Simple Rule: Other than too-small-to-use-backup-guns, whatever earns daily carry status must survive, without maintenance, 300 rounds of whatever I routinely use, plus an IPSC match and an IDPA match with no hiccups, burps, hesitations or other than perfectly acceptable behavior.
My USP did that, all on 12 round factory mags, and it earned a prominent place under my left arm for years. My PD did that a while back, and it's lived on my hip ever since. Like Tam, the PD gets Wilson mags because I have a pile of them. I'm not really concerned that it does, or does not, feed S&B through WWII surplus GI mags because that combination is so unlikely to occur it's not worth considering.
True, if the zombies attack after the apocalypse, which happens to coincide with the melting of the polar icecaps and the arrival of man-eating aliens from Zoltar, maybe I'll regret not having tried those surplus mags. Until then, though, it's Wilson and Cor-Bon all the way.
Marko hits it on the head - whether it's a tiny Kel-Tec or a Wildey, if you're attaching it to your butt with the idea of saving said butt, it has to work. Every time. Without exception.
I am constantly amazed by my fellow IPSC shooters who invest tons of bucks in race guns from the Smith du Jour and, match after match, struggle with score-killing FTEs, FTFs and loosening screws. My $300 Limited Class 20-year-old Springer never misses a beat, and if it did it would find itself in a dumpster. Always makes me curious what their carry guns, if any, are like.
Having been deep in the Racing Game, I understand how the real go-fast hardware can be damn fussy. But, we never lost sight of the fact that prize money is awarded on the results of the last lap, not how much noise you make for the preceding 50 laps.
Homer, that's ben true for the last, um, 30 years by my clock. Good gun, bad ammo or ipso facto, some folks just don't learn. Al T.
ReplyDeleteI am sure than my pistol in .45ACP will chamber and fire any kind of .45ACP known to man. It will also fire .45GAP without a hiccup.
ReplyDeleteMy .45ACP pistol is a Smith and Wesson revolver.
Course I have to keep plenty of those darn moon clips handy, but they are reusable.
Hey now, go easy on those ninjas. It isn't easy rappelling down a building just to get plugged by the good guy just as you raise your trusty throwing star! and as for Zombies see
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/4/18/153047/155
"Next time you change the followers and springs in your 47Ds, try using the ones from Tripp Research."
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I am referring to.
All the 1911 buffs on the boards are saying great things about these Tripp followers. If I was having reliability issues with my 1911, I would certainly give these a whirl, and expect that they'd probably fix things.
But since I'm not having reliability issues with the 47D's, why would I change them?
Why would I fix what isn't broken?
Isn't that the whole marketing game in a nutshell? "Create a demand".. :) Al T.
ReplyDeleteMy .45ACP pistol is a Smith and Wesson revolver.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
If I'm gonna have a lifesaver on my hip it's going to be a wheelie....a big bore wheelie.
The only automatic I have ever seen that is as trustworthy is my Makarov and my son's Glock. Even so...
Agree. Moon clips rule.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to see my Moonclipped Super Red Hawk have a FTF.
Heh.
I have the same problems, Tam, with the anti-tilt followers in the AR/M-16 mags. I used mags of various makers in the 80's ( USMC )and never had any issues that were attributed to the followers. I had one mag dented, one that had Camp Swampy sand in it that had to be torn apart - I had no other issues! Most of my mags at the house have the black followers in them and they made it thru a 2-day tactical rifle class without hiccups - including the Singapore steel mags! Maybe if they start showing signs of breaking down I'll replace with Magpuls but I won't pull them out because this is the better parts to use.
ReplyDeleteJoe R. ( If it works, don't fvck with it!)