1911 technique

A

aligtr

Inactive
I'm a relative newbie to shooting..about 6 months(100 rnds a week). I've been through a local CCW 10hr course taught by a certified NRA instructor. I have a few questions that
some of you more experience guys probably have opinions on:
On drawing from stong side holster:
1) Which hand do you release the thumb safety with? I find it easier to use the my right thumb even though it thows my grip off for a
second. I find myself missing the release every now and then when I use my left hand, although it is a lot smoother..no readjusting grip.
2) On a reload do most of you just thumb the
slide release. or do you rack the slide??
I've had trouble with feeding the first round
when I just thumb the release..but I find it alot easier.

Just want to get a feel for what others do.
Please don't respond with get more training. I plan on it but advanced courses don't happen every weekend.
 
Hello Aligtr-Sounds like you are doing the right thing -practice.
Assuming you are right handed, you should sweep the safety off with your right thumb. If you are having trouble hitting it consistently, maybe you could consider an extended safety. But get one of the "tactical" ones, as they make some that are designed for competition, and are entirely too large for carry. I have an Ed Brown tactical on my Commander, and it has been very satisfactory. You shouldn't have to change your grip to hit the safety.What type of 1911 do you have? Do you have small hands?
As far as the reload, this is very debatable. I prefer to use the slide release, but this is personal preferance. But if your gun jams when you thumb the slide release, there is a problem with the gun or magazine, and you should have it taken care of.
Hope this helps....best of luck.

[This message has been edited by lowrider (edited January 07, 2000).]
 
I trip the thumb safety with my strong (right) hand thumb as a natural part of the draw, tripping it just as I get on target.

If your 1911 doesn't have a tactical style extended thumb safety you might want to get one. I actually fire the gun with my right thumb riding on the safety lever. The standard government model thumb safety is way too short for CCW use.

I trip the slide release with my weak (left) hand thumb. I never rack the slide except to load or clear a malfunction. In my normal shooting grip I have both thumbs pointing toward the target on the left side of the gun. Once this grip is committed to memory, it serves quite well in low light conditions - point thumbs at target and press.

Mikey
 
Hi, Aligtr,

This should start some discussion. I release the safety with the right thumb because I don't always use a two-hand hold and I don't want to get grooved into one. I release slide with slide stop for the same reason. Some folks say that doing the latter increases wear on the stop and the slide, but that should not be a problem if both are properly hardened, not always the case with some clones.

(I am not going to get into WHEN I release the safety or put my finger in the trigger guard; let's just say I have been shooting a long time and still have all my toes.)

Jim
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to stick with the right hand release of the safety. and left thumb for the slide release.
I do have smallish hands... the gun is a Wilson Service Grade Protector so the FtF when I just thumb the release is rather frustrating seeing as I paid ALOT for this gun. I had been useing Winchester 230gr FMJ
for practice. I had better luck with CCI Blazer 230gr the last time out(only 1 FtF on reload).
And no problem with Federal 230g Hydro-Shoks(I usually only run 1 maybe 2 mags of these though). So could this be a ammo problem?
By the way I really like this gun as compared
to some other guns I've shot(briefly). Can't exactly quantify what(probably because I don't know), but it feels right.
 
Aligtr
These guys gave you some real good advice but I`m still puzzled by one thing. In your first post you said the gun failed to feed when you hit the release. How many magazines are you using? Does this problem happen with every mag if you`re using more than one? Shooting for 6 months at 100 rounds a week is about 2400 rounds so far using the new math. Heh. The gun should be breaking in nicely and I think any bugs due to stiffness should be out. I`m thinking maybe a problem with the ramp or maybe just a faulty mag. For what I`m guessing you paid that gun should get a job and feed itself! Anyone else got an opinion on this?
 
With that many rounds you may need to replace the recoil spring - a new Wilson or Wolff 18 1/2 pounder might just cure the problem.

I change mine about every 1000 rounds.

Mikey
 
If your hands are small, you might also look into some slim grip panels. Look in the Brownell's catalog, I think they have them. These may help you get to the thumb safety.
 
sorry ... didn't mean to imply I had been shooting This gun for 6 months. I only have about 300 .45 rounds through the wilson .45. and No it doesn't jam on EVERY reload...but I really expected it to NEVER jam .. am I being to hard here??
I also have the .22 conversion kit wich I put 700 rounds through before ever letting "the big dog eat" ...just to get the hang of a 1911. I really like shooting the .22..not just because it's so cheap but because I feel more relaxed with it and can really concentrate on things like focusing on the front site, and trigger control etc etc.

My first gun however was/is a Colt Pocket Nine...a gun you can both hate and love at the same time. hate the trigger, love the concealability/size/looks. It did persuade me to get a single action .45 though.
Yea I'm wondering if maybe a stronger recoil spring will help this ... but I'm going to try some different ammo and see what gives.
 
My hands are real small, also. Got a set of slim-tec rosewood grips on my Ultra Elite and Chip McCormicks rosewood slim grips on my ltwt. officer(tossup on preference). Put a short STI carbonfiber trigger in both. That really helps with not having to change the grip to thumb the safety. I had similar problems with ftf, but solved the problem by switching the mags to shooting star mags and wilson. The funny thing was that my failures to feed seemed to only be with the factory supplied 6 rnd mags from colt. Seemed to happen on the last round or two. Since switching to the 7 and 8 rnd aftermarket mags, I have had no problems. Of course I assume wilson's supplied the mags for your pistol. You might give them a call. They would probably helpful in solving your problem, as they seem to stand behind their products very well from what I understand.

[This message has been edited by ak9 (edited January 08, 2000).]
 
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