Springfield Ultra Compact .45

C

Cornhusker77

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Grabbed one at a gun show last weekend.
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Congratulations!

Although I must admit, I am a bit disappointed as I thought that the thread title indicated that Springfield Armory was coming out with a new version of the Hellcat chambered in .45 ACP.
 
Seedy Character said:
Need a range report

I have considered one. Should be a great piece, if reliable.
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On the first or second mag I shot, the last round went nose up before going into the chamber, kind of stovepiped. may have been the one mag, I'm not sure yet.
Other than that, it's been reliable.
It throws good groups, but they are a bit to the left and a little high. Not sure if it's me or the sights but I need to shoot it more before I start banging on the sights.
 
Forte S+W said:
Congratulations!

Although I must admit, I am a bit disappointed as I thought that the thread title indicated that Springfield Armory was coming out with a new version of the Hellcat chambered in .45 ACP.
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They'd be back up to the 3.3 inch barrel, which seems to be as short as they've been able to make a reliable .45. It'd be pretty darn chubby in the grip, too, I don't think they'd be able to play the same optimizing games with .45 to get much improved capacity that wasn't really fat in the grip.
 
Looks like a nice clean gun, I had the V10 stainless model and sold it because I never carried it due to its weight. My Kimber Pro Carry 2 had more ammo capacity and was lighter so I sent my Springfield down the road to someone else. I hope you get your few stovepipes worked out, I liked using the Wilson mags in mine.
 
Cornhusker77 said:
. . .the last round went nose up before going into the chamber, kind of stovepiped.
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I assume this is a used pistol given the Pachmayr grips. What follows is just a heads-up for a possible cause of the malfunction and something to keep tucked away in your memory.

Live round stovepipes are often associated with bolt-over-base malfunctions where the cartridge is pinched vertically between the slide and the barrel hood.

This malfunction is caused by a mismatch between the strength of the magazine spring and the strength of the recoil spring. What happens is the magazine spring can't push the cartridge up against the feed lips in time to be engaged by the slide as it comes forward. Instead, the slide contacts the cartridge ahead of the rim and pushes the cartridge forward. When the rim clears the magazine the base of the cartridge goes down, the nose goes up, and the malfunction occurs.

The cure is a stronger magazine spring, a lighter recoil spring, a flat bottom firing pin stop, and/or a heavier mainspring (hammer spring). The reason for the stronger magazine spring is obvious. The other things are meant to slow the forward velocity of the slide to give the magazine spring more time to push the cartridges up into solid contact with the underside of the feed lips.
 
That makes sense.
The recoil spring on this thing seems very heavy. I don't know if that's just nature of the beast or if someone was trying to tame the recoil.
 
Cornhusker77 said:
The recoil spring on this thing seems very heavy.
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I'm afraid it's just the nature of the beast.

Factory standard recoil spring for a Springfield Ultra Compact .45 is 24lbs compared to a Colt Officers which is 22lbs, a Commander which is 18lbs, and a Government which is 16lbs. You can use a lighter recoil spring by using other means to slow the rearward velocity of the slide (heavier mainspring, flat bottom firing pin stop).

The annoying thing about shorter than 5" 1911s is that they eat up recoil springs quicker. The shorter the slide the faster the recoil springs wear out. If you get to the point where you get tired of swapping out recoil springs every 500 rounds, you might want to consider buying a flat wire recoil spring kit like the one offered by EGW. The flat wire springs last a very long time (50,000+ cycles).

Edited to add the following

I just realized the Springer Ultra has a 3.5" barrel just like a Colt Officers. I don't know why Wolff specifies a different spring for them. The Springer must have less internal room for the spring to compress.

If you do want an EGW flat wire spring kit, first call EGW and ask them which one is best for the Ultra. They are extremely customer friendly and knowledgeable.
 
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Very nice pistol. I picked up a used Kimber Ultra CDP II about a year ago. Happy as a clam with it. Utterly reliable. I had one issue where it would NOT chamber the first round on a fresh mag in the one magazine, so I bought a new kimber factory magazine. Issue gone. Looking for those mags that have that sprung finger under the top round to prevent nosedives. Still have yet to find one or more. I think they are "Gun-Pro" or something along those lines.

Since, it has been 100%, and slams tight groups dead on POA. I think you will be very happy with that pistol. Also, awesome range pictures. Jealous.
 
lee n. field said:
They'd be back up to the 3.3 inch barrel, which seems to be as short as they've been able to make a reliable .45. It'd be pretty darn chubby in the grip, too, I don't think they'd be able to play the same optimizing games with .45 to get much improved capacity that wasn't really fat in the grip.
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Perhaps not, but I'd still like to see someone try.

I mean, would you have ever thought that there could be a single stack with a grip as thin as the M&P45 Shield? Heck, would you have believed that the P365 could have a grip as thin as it does for a double stack 9mm?

At the very least, I'll bet that they can make a .45 with a thinner grip than most other double stack .45s currently on the market, which would have obvious appeal towards those who carry .45s to begin with.
 
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