Sometimes, I just have to wonder....
by Charles, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 20:40 (4275 days ago)
how this stuff gets started? It has become an accepted fact that a flat mainspring housing (a la 1911) is the nee plus ultra. I have always preferred, hands down, the arched mainspring housing. Back in the day, I changed out 1911 and Colt Gold Cup flat housings to arched versions.
Why? For the same reason they went to the arched housing in the first place. I find the flat housing causes me to shoot low when point shooting and I have to cock my wrist up and an uncomfortable angle when shooting slow fire. I find the arched housing far more nature for me to point and shoot. That is why they went to it in the first place.
I realize full well this is personal preference, but just about everybody who makes these things, thinks the flat housing is the way to put them together. Sorta irritates me at times.
I'm so easy...
by rob , Thursday, March 14, 2013, 20:50 (4275 days ago) @ Charles
I can't decide which I prefer. They both point natural for me if I stick with one only for a short time. However, if I ever get another 1911 I think it will be a Springer Mil-spec with arched MSH, short trigger, parkerized...and it will probably stay stock except for the non fitted/drop-in style Colt beavertail grip safety simply for the safety of the web of my hand. That is the version I prefer the most.
I know this is probably sacrilegious but...
by rob , Thursday, March 14, 2013, 21:04 (4275 days ago) @ rob
But I've just about decided the Sig P220 and P226 are the last word in the evolution of the 1911 and Hi-Power. Or put another way the 1911 and Hi-Power are poor substitutes for the Sigs:) I know no handgun collection is complete without the two classics but I just don't know what I have to gain with either of the Browning guns. I love both the 1911 and Hi-Power and have had several of each but I find the two Sigs solve all the problems I've had with both the classics.
IMO, one area in which 1911s beat the 'stuffing' out of SIGs
by FOG, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 21:30 (4275 days ago) @ rob
edited by FOG, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 21:34
(SPG Edit)
Is what you might call the 'seal' between the bottom and top end when it comes to . . . CRUD!
I've owned a P220, and compared to the 1911, it was a virtual dust mop: Any and every little bit of crud that could went and done did it: It got 'stuck' in the bottom end of the P220 as if it had grown there.
SIGs are, by far, not the only ones with this problem: The so-called 'engineers' who design most of today's firearms evidently never cleaned one.
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Being a gear head for a living...
by rob , Thursday, March 14, 2013, 21:39 (4275 days ago) @ FOG
I just take an air compressor to my guns every two or three days and blow the dust bunnies out. Glocks are the worst about it since you can pretty much look through the gun between the slide and frame.
dust bunnies!
by bj , Thursday, March 14, 2013, 22:25 (4275 days ago) @ rob
I've heard that SIGS can jam from minor dust bunnies, I don't know how much more the Glock can tolerate but I would think that it can tolerate significantly more.
As for SIG vs 1911- The biggest complaint that old time combat shooters (Cooper) had about the SIG is the different trigger pull between first shot and following shots. I guess I'm not a combat shooter because I don't think it would bother me that much. I do know that the SIG's are very accurate. I also have observed that at least the older SIGS have relatively small sights by today's standards. The SIG grip, P220 single stack at least, feels pretty good to me.
Dust bunnies are one thing
by FOG, Friday, March 15, 2013, 12:27 (4274 days ago) @ rob
The residue leftover from firing the pistol is something else entirely.
I used to clean my GLOCKs in the sink, but I wouldn't try that with many other guns.
Not even a SIG.
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PFFFT... useless DA first shot double action trigger
by Rob Leahy , Prescott, Arizona, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 22:58 (4275 days ago) @ rob
a solution to a problem no one ever asked.m To Quote Col Cooper.
What ever else those two pistols bring to the table the transition from the all important first shot to the second has yet to be improved. the DAK versions are worse.
I'll keep stocking up on 1911s and spare mags and parts, but to each his own.Not to be harsh, but, Found any spare mags yet
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Of the Troops & For the Troops
My P220ST is just like my CZ75 Shadow.
by cas, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 23:31 (4275 days ago) @ Rob Leahy
When I shoot them in matches I don't notice any difference between the first and second shot.
A combination of action work and a good deal of double action revolver. ;)
I practiced DA/SA transition for so long..
by rob , Friday, March 15, 2013, 00:11 (4275 days ago) @ cas
With the Beretta 92's I had it became second nature and the Sigs I have have a very smooth DA pull that breaks clean. Doesn't bother me a bit.
I only had my P220 a few years
by FOG, Friday, March 15, 2013, 11:55 (4274 days ago) @ rob
But I never found the DA/SA transition difficult with that pistol. In fact, it was so easy, I started thinking the whole issue might be a bit overblown.
Perhaps it's a different story with a Walther, but I frankly don't remember. I had a wartime PP in .22 LR for a few months back in '76, but the only detail I can recall is that it shot VERY low for me (as in feet, not inches). That one's still a headscratcher, but the DA/SA transition doesn't stand out in memory.
I can see how some might not like it, but the good news is, it's no problem at all with a Government Model.
PS: The thing that put me off the SIG was the fact that the top round in a full factory magazine − Federal 230-gr HydraShok − once took a nosedive into the feedramp and got good and stuck there. Sorry to say, but that event pretty much shattered my confidence in the gun.
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That is one benefit to the 1911...
by rob , Friday, March 15, 2013, 00:05 (4275 days ago) @ Rob Leahy
Parts are plentiful! However, its a rare few 1911's that were 'right' right out of the box. Some 1911's I've had have used well over 1000 rounds of ammo each trying to diagnose and fix problems they shouldn't have and the Kimber I had last with the false slide lock issue I never could fix and I tried every trick in the book including lightly dimpling the Ed Brown slide lock. If I ever buy another, unless its a Les Baer, Brown, Wilson or Larry Vickers gun it won't be used for daily carry and I can buy 2-5 Sigs for what the custom guns cost. Ammo costs too much and is too rare to have a problem gun eat it just to spite you.
Found 226 mags and ordered one so far...
by rob , Friday, March 15, 2013, 00:14 (4275 days ago) @ Rob Leahy
Saving my money to be sure when the 220 mags ever do get released I can buy several because I may never get another chance:)
+1 (n/t)
by JLF , Friday, March 15, 2013, 11:09 (4274 days ago) @ Rob Leahy
...
I know this is probably sacrilegious but...I agree
by Jeff Taylor , Tampa FL, Friday, March 15, 2013, 09:38 (4274 days ago) @ rob
I have a very nice Ed Brown 5" gun that I love to shoot at the range but don't carry. The 3.5 lb super crisp trigger makes me nervous and I am no novice. I carry a S&W M64 with 2" barrel or a Sig P220 or P229 9mm. I am just more comfortable with a double action trigger and no safety to manipulate. I am actually considering selling the EB since it just sits home and it seems silly for a $2000 gun to sit unused. Dilemmas.
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Colonel, USAF (Ret)
NRA Life Member
exactly!
by cable, Friday, March 15, 2013, 10:20 (4274 days ago) @ rob
I'm a flat MSH guy. USED to be that I had to change them
by Hobie , Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Thursday, March 14, 2013, 22:32 (4275 days ago) @ Charles
all to suit (as if I had money enough to have more than one!). Now I do and they do and they even have lanyard loops...
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Sincerely,
Hobie
I was pretty neutral on arched v/s flat MSH...
by Sarge , Central Misery, Friday, March 15, 2013, 09:44 (4274 days ago) @ Charles
edited by Sarge, Friday, March 15, 2013, 10:00
but an intense 4 days shooting in extreme heat/dust sealed the deal. Arched for me, because when my eyes are full of sweat, I'm shaking etc- I can still put 8 fast rounds in the chest at 15 yards, just by covering it with the slide. With the arched MSH, I can do that at 7-10 yards from the hip. It makes that much difference in natural index for me.
The 22X Sigs are fantastic guns. The 1st shot can be fired quite accurately by gripping hard, blocking the sights and ripping the trigger straight back. Don't screw around about pulling the trigger on a Sig or you'll screw up the shot. It's a short action. Use it to your advantage.
Ernest Langdon competed with DA/SA guns and did quite well.
I have both styles but prefer the arched
by Rob Leahy , Prescott, Arizona, Friday, March 15, 2013, 10:48 (4274 days ago) @ Charles
and the wedge style. as for other actions and styles of guns I'd prefer a bone stock GI surplus 1911a1 to any of the da wonder nines.
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Of the Troops & For the Troops
Upbringing.
by JLF , Friday, March 15, 2013, 11:17 (4274 days ago) @ Charles
My dad was shooting NRA 2400 with a Gold Cup when I was a tadpole. So from my earliest gun memories right into adulthood, all I knew was the flat housing. I eventually tried both, but the die was cast, and the arched never felt right.
JLF
Not to argue, but I prefer flat
by FOG, Friday, March 15, 2013, 12:07 (4274 days ago) @ Charles
And my favorite MSH is actually the old Pachmayr 'rubber' one.
I don't like Pachmayr grips so much, but I do have one of their mainspring housings on my Behlert Government Model.
Pistol: Custom Series 70 Government Model by Austin Behlert (ca. 1980)
Holster: Milt Sparks #1AT (ca. 'Old')
Knife: Randall #1-8 (ca. 1980s)
Spare Magazines: Wilson Combat #47C
It came with the factory arched housing, which I put away in the original Colt box for safekeeping.
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I do prefer a short- to medium-length trigger, though
by FOG, Friday, March 15, 2013, 12:20 (4274 days ago) @ Charles
I have fairly large hands, but I nevertheless have trouble with the 'long' triggers that are now standard equipment on most 1911-type pistols.
I put Berryhill 'short' triggers − which I think are actually more towards 'medium' − on both of mine.
I'd go even shorter, but these triggers are top-notch, and they work fine for me.
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Amen on the short trigger
by Sarge , Central Misery, Friday, March 15, 2013, 14:01 (4274 days ago) @ FOG
I like the old checkered-face GI short triggers, when you can still find them.
I also prefer a standard grip safety
by FOG, Sunday, March 17, 2013, 09:10 (4272 days ago) @ Charles
The beavertail on my Nastoff-built Combat Commander is 'OK': Not TOO wide (not the best angle, either, but the only pic handy at the moment):
Most other beavertails whack the joint at the base of my thumb pretty good, so I'm partial to the standard grip safety.
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