[NavySEAL]

Hey guys! I am a new Taurus PT 1911 owner, and was searching for a good forum to gain some knowledge from knowledgable people, and after reading through this site , I found what I was looking for! Anyway, I love the gun, but I am not a fan of the grips if came with. I also want to refinish the frame and slide after some time, and drop in some Wilson combat parts; such as a bullet-proof firing pin and extractor, and a tactical ambi-safety. My question is, how easy is it to do these mods, like any particular machining or fitting, and any other brand of these parts that are better quality/more reliable? Thank you.

 

[NavySEAL]

Well, after some range time, and one kB!, I can safely say that this is one tough gun! I put 200 Winchester FMJ, then proceeded to put 400 more LRN reloads though it. With 5 minutes until closing, 3 rounds into last magazine, and casing failed at the web. Blew magzine apart, and broke platic grips into 5 pieces, but after clearing jam and wiping off blood from my face, I put two test rounds of Hornady +p JHP through it. It worked beautifully! Very surprised. Nothing broken but grips and magazine, and I had already ordered a set of Hogue wrap-arounds earlier that day, so just a spring and base pad should fix the mag right up. Trouble is, I cannot find any mag parts anywhere. Can anyone give me an idea of where to look? Thanks.

 

[NavySEAL]

Well, thank you for the welcome! It is just a nickname, though I have always wanted to join the service, I have been having knee ligament problems since HS. This has always kept me out of consideration, though it is well enough for running and training, never good enough for the Navy. Anyway, I have put about 2000 rounds through the gun in 2 weekends, and no breakages after that brass failure. The rounds were severely overloaded during that failure, they were loaded with max charge and magnum primer. When I looked at brass, they were literally dozens of cases that were bulged at the web, I guess that last one was just too weak to handle it. Anyway, the last range visit I put many rounds through it again, and aside from one squib that lodged the ledge a few inches into the barrel, nothing else went wrong. I put a set of Hogue rubber grips on it, and I love them. IMO, much better feeling than the stock plastic grips. So, after the last range visit, the trigger got really sludged up. I didn't de-grease the thing after I purchased it, and after 2k rounds the internals were all gummed up with powder and grease. The internals were stuck together with grease, but after a whole bottle of Hoppes #9, and some elbow grease, the whole gun frame and each individual part was shiny clean. I then Flitzed every single piece of the thing, and put it back together. I really like the shine that the flitz brought out in the gun. Also, I could tell the wear points on the internals were the finish was rubbed off during operation, and shined them up to a mirror finish. Overall, I really like this gun. I was thinking about put a Group Gripper kit from WC in it. Do you think it would produce anything noticeable, as far accuracy?