Review: 1911 Mods

[Dirty Dog]

I'm a tinkerer. One of my firmly held opinions is "stock sucks."
So naturally, I modify guns, just like I do cars or pretty much anything I own.

The two guns pictured are my Para-Ordnance P14-45 and my SigSauer 1911 Target. Both have been modified somewhat.

The P14-45 is one of the earliest double-stack 1911 models, and it had a nasty habit of biting the shooter. So it's had an extended beaver tail added. This required about 30 minutes of file and fit, as is typical of most 1911 mods. It functions flawlessly and has completely resolved the biting issue.
It's also been given a two tone finish and the engravings colorized. And, finally, I installed a set of Wicked Grips aluminum grips. I worried a bit that the smooth aluminum grips might make follow up shots more difficult, but I've had no issues whatsoever. Fit and finish are excellent.

The Sig has been modified with a full length guide rod and ambidextrous safety from Wilson Combat. This also required a little file and fit, but works exactly as expected. The safety is slightly larger than stock, as well as being ambi, and provides a more comfortable thumb rest.

It also has an extended slide release and a hammer system from BHSpringSolutions that allows the gun to be carried in a hammer down configuration. It's still cocked and locked, however. As designed, you load the gun normally, then push the hammer forward with your thumb. This engages the safety, while the hammer stays down. When you draw the pistol and disengage the safety, the hammer springs back to it's normal position.

This system has been problematic. The components are drop in (unusual in the 1911 world) and worked perfectly until I added the ambi safety. With the ambi safety installed, pushing the hammer forward does not engage the safety. You can, however, manually engage the safety and then push the hammer forward. Disengaging the safety does cause the hammer to spring back. The folks at BH Springs have not been able to offer me any suggestions on how to fix this issue. So my choices are to return to the stock safety or accept one more step if I want to carry hammer down.
The grips I installed on this gun are buffalo horn with an ivory inlay. I also used a set of grip screws with inlaid rubies. In this case, the grips are not purely cosmetic. The stock Sig grips lack compatibility with an ambidextrous safety. So my excuse for buying them is that I didn't want to spend 3 minutes working on the stock grips with a Dremel.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

"The P14-45 is one of the earliest double-stack 1911 models, and it had a nasty habit of biting the shooter. So it's had an extended beaver tail added. This required about 30 minutes of file and fit, as is typical of most 1911 mods. It functions flawlessly and has completely resolved the biting issue."

I did not understand any part of that sentence. But then, I'm probably not the target demographic for a review like this

 

[Dirty Dog]

"The P14-45 is one of the earliest double-stack 1911 models, and it had a nasty habit of biting the shooter. So it's had an extended beaver tail added. This required about 30 minutes of file and fit, as is typical of most 1911 mods. It functions flawlessly and has completely resolved the biting issue."

I did not understand any part of that sentence. But then, I'm probably not the target demographic for a review like this

P14-45 is the model. It indicates a gun with a capacity of 14 rounds in the magazine, and that it is chambered in .45 ACP. Double stack magazines mean that the rounds are offset, allows more rounds in the magazine, but also means the magazine (and the grip of the gun) will be thicker. Smaller hands won't like double stacks.

The beavertail is the curved piece of the grip safety that comes up behind the hammer. Para-Ordnance used a short one when they first produced this gun. As a result, when you fired the gun, the slide coming back to eject the empty casing would "bite" the shooter in the webbing between their thumb and index finger. By extending the beaver tail, you prevent this from happening.
1911 parts are almost always "file to fit" rather than just dropping in. You see where there's interference, file and bit, test it, file a bit more, test it, lather rinse and repeat.

 

[CB Jones]

Nice. Love the 1911s

 

[Dirty Dog]

Nice. Love the 1911s

I enjoy them, but don't often carry them. My EDC is a Glock 19. If I carry the Sig, it's heavy and I give up a LOT of capacity (8 round mags vs 15). If I carry the P14-45, I only give up one round per mag, but it's really heavy.
I do like the .45 ACP for my bedside gun, though. Because it's sub-sonic by design, and my bedside gun is suppressed.

 

[Danny T]

I enjoy them, but don't often carry them. My EDC is a Glock 19. If I carry the Sig, it's heavy and I give up a LOT of capacity (8 round mags vs 15). If I carry the P14-45, I only give up one round per mag, but it's really heavy.
I do like the .45 ACP for my bedside gun, though. Because it's sub-sonic by design, and my bedside gun is suppressed.

Like you l have a great affinity for my 1911 yet carry a glock. Weight and my wife carries a glock as well so redundancies and if she or I had to pick up the other’s weapon in a high stress situation other than the grips being somewhat different they being the same are a plus.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Like you l have a great affinity for my 1911 yet carry a glock. Weight and my wife carries a glock as well so redundancies and if she or I had to pick up the other’s weapon in a high stress situation other than the grips being somewhat different they being the same are a plus.

My wife typically carries a Glock 26.
My son and one daughter carry a Taurus PT111 G2.
Another son carries a Glock 17 at work (he’s a cop) and a 26 off duty.
Another daughter carries a Glock 42.
As you can maybe see, she has small hands.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I rather miss my 1911. I had an officer's model variant for a while as my primary carry gun. I made the mistake of buying one that was ported - didn't care for how that changed the feel of shooting it. I really liked that gun in my hand and was somehow more comfortable for carry, but it just never shot as naturally for me as a Glock, so I traded it to another gun owner for my present Glock .40cal. If I was still carrying, I'd probably still want a 1911 like that one, but not ported.

I've never gotten into mods, neither my own nor by a smith. I've yet to find anything in a stock gun that is more limiting than my own proficiency. But I love reading and hearing about mods from folks who put thought into them.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I've never gotten into mods, neither my own nor by a smith. I've yet to find anything in a stock gun that is more limiting than my own proficiency. But I love reading and hearing about mods from folks who put thought into them.

I don't think anything I've done with impact the performance of the guns in any way. The mods are either cosmetic (grips) or convenience. For example, the full length guide rod. No impact on function at all. But I have a habit of removing the slide without first removing the spring. With the GI guide rod, this can get messy.
I have done mods to other guns that do affect performance. My glocks, for example, have all been given new triggers. The carry guns are 4lb pull, and the bedside gun is 2lb. That lighter pull makes follow up shots quicker. 2lbs is, I think, too light for a carry gun. But the stock Glock 6-8lbs is too heavy.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I don't think anything I've done with impact the performance of the guns in any way. The mods are either cosmetic (grips) or convenience. For example, the full length guide rod. No impact on function at all. But I have a habit of removing the slide without first removing the spring. With the GI guide rod, this can get messy.
I have done mods to other guns that do affect performance. My glocks, for example, have all been given new triggers. The carry guns are 4lb pull, and the bedside gun is 2lb. That lighter pull makes follow up shots quicker. 2lbs is, I think, too light for a carry gun. But the stock Glock 6-8lbs is too heavy.

The cosmetic mods I've never found a desire for. Not because there's anything wrong with them - I just LOVE the look of a matte-black (I guess that's still blueing?) 1911 with walnut grips, which was pretty easy to find. I can see the point of the convenience ones, but I don't think I pay enough attention to what's available to know what I'm dealing with isn't convenient enough. The one exception would have been a captured spring on the guide rod for my first Glock (first-gen 17, I think). I never got around to getting one, though.