1911Tuner
18th November 2005, 10:54
And a bit of history and trivia to boot. Mods...If this doesn't qualify for the gunsmith board, feel free to shift it to where it oughta go.
Many new students of the 1911 aren't aware that the gun and the .45 ACP cartridge were designed together. Now, before anybody jumps in with the fact that the cartridge was there a few years prior to the appearance of the 1911 pistol as we know it...I'm aware of that...but John Browning didn't just sit down at the kitchen table, whip up the blueprints, and run over to Colt
to produce the first guns. The development for the 1911 began over a decade earlier...and the end result is what we have come to know and love.
The early cartridge was also a little different. It began life with a 200-grain jacketed round nose bullet with an initial nominal velocity of 900 fps. The U.S. government wanted a heavier bullet...and the rest is history.
Now...on to the technical part.
The gun...in its present form...and the cartridge were closely matched for functional reliability, since that was a high consideration for what it was being designed for. Not only was the mechanical timing of the pistol carefully
considered, but also the internal ballistics of the cartridge itself. In other words...the cartridge was co-developed to match the functional design of the gun, since they were to be a system. Powder burn rates and timing of the peak pressures...Area under the curve...were all as important to proper functioning of the pistol as the bullet mass and muzzle velocity. A balance was achieved, and in that balance emerged one of the most functionall reliable and enduring sidearms to ever come down the pike. Don't believe the myths about the 1911 being inherently unreliable. It's pure bunk. Find a good
1911 and use the right ammo...FMJ not required as long as the internal ballistics are right...and your sore, aching hands will give up long before the gun does, assuming that proper magazines are used for the feeding chores.
The problems began in large part when the latter-day engineers and ballisticians discovered how forgiving the pistol is in terms of ammunition requirements...and they started tinkering around with the internal ballistics
of the round. They used light bullets and high pressures. They used slower powder burn rates to up the performance of a cartridge that really didn't need much improvement. And in so doing, they changed the way the pistol functions...and that's not usually a good thing. That it does as well as it does is a tribute to the design...but it still doesn't mean that it's functioning
>>correctly<<...and when it's not functioning correctly, it causes problems
sooner or later. Moreover, the more the tinkerers push the envelope, the more problems they cause. The gun is forgiving and tolerant of incorrect function...but it's not without limits. When the guns...whether short or standard-length...start to exhibit functional issues that can't be resolved with a little attention to detail and proper magazines...it's telling you that its limit has been reached.
The gun...The magazine...and the ammunition are all part of a carefully matched system. Vary from the guidelines very far, and it will present you with your just desserts.
Emiddio! Ready...Set...GO!
Many new students of the 1911 aren't aware that the gun and the .45 ACP cartridge were designed together. Now, before anybody jumps in with the fact that the cartridge was there a few years prior to the appearance of the 1911 pistol as we know it...I'm aware of that...but John Browning didn't just sit down at the kitchen table, whip up the blueprints, and run over to Colt
to produce the first guns. The development for the 1911 began over a decade earlier...and the end result is what we have come to know and love.
The early cartridge was also a little different. It began life with a 200-grain jacketed round nose bullet with an initial nominal velocity of 900 fps. The U.S. government wanted a heavier bullet...and the rest is history.
Now...on to the technical part.
The gun...in its present form...and the cartridge were closely matched for functional reliability, since that was a high consideration for what it was being designed for. Not only was the mechanical timing of the pistol carefully
considered, but also the internal ballistics of the cartridge itself. In other words...the cartridge was co-developed to match the functional design of the gun, since they were to be a system. Powder burn rates and timing of the peak pressures...Area under the curve...were all as important to proper functioning of the pistol as the bullet mass and muzzle velocity. A balance was achieved, and in that balance emerged one of the most functionall reliable and enduring sidearms to ever come down the pike. Don't believe the myths about the 1911 being inherently unreliable. It's pure bunk. Find a good
1911 and use the right ammo...FMJ not required as long as the internal ballistics are right...and your sore, aching hands will give up long before the gun does, assuming that proper magazines are used for the feeding chores.
The problems began in large part when the latter-day engineers and ballisticians discovered how forgiving the pistol is in terms of ammunition requirements...and they started tinkering around with the internal ballistics
of the round. They used light bullets and high pressures. They used slower powder burn rates to up the performance of a cartridge that really didn't need much improvement. And in so doing, they changed the way the pistol functions...and that's not usually a good thing. That it does as well as it does is a tribute to the design...but it still doesn't mean that it's functioning
>>correctly<<...and when it's not functioning correctly, it causes problems
sooner or later. Moreover, the more the tinkerers push the envelope, the more problems they cause. The gun is forgiving and tolerant of incorrect function...but it's not without limits. When the guns...whether short or standard-length...start to exhibit functional issues that can't be resolved with a little attention to detail and proper magazines...it's telling you that its limit has been reached.
The gun...The magazine...and the ammunition are all part of a carefully matched system. Vary from the guidelines very far, and it will present you with your just desserts.
Emiddio! Ready...Set...GO!