I am 1911 shopping and would like your input as to what is good about Thompson.

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True gun controll means two hands!

Cheap, but then so is a Springfield G.I. WW II and the Springfield has better slides and frames. Sorry, but I still hear complaints about Auto Ord's quality and I think they still have a ways to go before I would consider buying one.

I have several AO's. They are inexpensive and American made. One is a lemon(1911TC). One is a fraud(1927A). and two of them are great pieces. They are accurate, reliable and well made.

I am sure that eventually the folks in Massachusetts will turn the lemon into lemonade.

I have a Colt 1991 GI that is no better than the AO GI....but it does have the cute horsey and vertical slide serrations. The AO also is basic 1911 without the model 80 gizmos which I don't appreciate.

I also own a Springfield lemon (M1) that has made the warranty trip to Geneseo FOUR times.

What about the Springfield slides is better?

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LCPL Smith

M240G
M16
M9
KA-BAR
Fists

Springfield uses forged steel slides, just like Colt, Kimber, and S&W. Even Dan Wesson uses forgings or bar stock slides on most of their 1911's. Auto Ordnance uses castings for slides. Slides are subject to a lot of shock and vibration and the junction of the recoil spring plug tunnel and the body of the slide is an area that can be prone to cracking. Even forged slides can eventually crack, but because of the ductility of forged and bar stock slides they will absorb the impact better than the more brittle castings.

Frames are a different story and a well made cast frame will hold up.

I bought my "GI M1911A1" last spring and have close to 2000 rounds of Wolf(!) through it, and it has been a gem. I recently abused it with some hot hand-me-down handloads and cracked the barrel bushing, but that's being taken care of. Like any auto, it will choke on bad magazines.

I happily recommend the Kahr/Auto-Ordnance pistols.

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[QUOTE=stans]Springfield uses forged steel slides, just like Colt, Kimber, and S&W. Even Dan Wesson uses forgings or bar stock slides on most of their 1911's. Auto Ordnance uses castings for slides.


The Thompson Custom 1911 frame is machined on high precision computerized machinery from a stainless steel investment casting. The slide is machined from a solid stainless steel billet utilizing specialized tooling to reduce set-up and refixturing. The combination of high precision equipment and fewer set-ups result in a higher quality and more consistent final product at a lower price.

According to the Kahr/Thompson website http://www.autoordnance.com/ao_1911tc_f.html

I was just going to mention that I read when Justin Moon acquired Auto Ordinance, he converted the factory so that the slides were machined from a forged billet, while the frames still come from a casting. That's what it says in Patrick Sweeney's book, "The Gun Digest Book of the 1911."

But it looks like hpcc19 beat me to the punch. So does anyone know how to identify a Moon-made pistol with a forged slide from a pre-Moon cast slide? Maybe I can give Kahr/AO a call and find out some serial number info...

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LCPL Smith

M240G
M16
M9
KA-BAR
Fists

Also, I bought an all-stainless Kahr K40 Covert last fall and I am very impressed. It's built like a brick sh&th@#se, and it's as heavy as a brick (the new covert only comes with a poly frame), but I love it. It seems to be very well made and I am happy enough with it to carry it wherever I go (in the state of Pennsylvania). I have heard Justin Moon called a manufacturing genius, and that gives me a lot of faith in his products.

I will definitely be checking out the Moon-made AO 1911 at the show next month.

__________________
LCPL Smith

M240G
M16
M9
KA-BAR
Fists

The best and easiest way that I have found to identify a casting is by visual inspection of the internal surfaces. Castings will often exhibit varying degrees of porosity in the surface of the part, you can often see a pebbly suface on areas that did not require machining and there will sometimes be a visible parting line down the long axis of the part.