Just picked up a govenment model. What is the quality of these?

[Jim Watson]

What was doctrine with an M14? It has a detachable magazine but also a clip guide.

[grayman]

Bought mine about 26 years ago and yeah she's a Hurley girl a Z-51 PitBull, surprisingly accurate just shoots a bit low.PitBull.jpg

[Hawkmoon]

What was doctrine with an M14? It has a detachable magazine but also a clip guide.

I went through Army Basic Training and AIT with the M14 in 1966. We used the detachable magazines. There was no mention of a clip guide.

[Spyros]

Some FN FAL rifles famously had guides for stripper clips, to go with their detachable mags, because someone (in Canada) thought that they would be quicker to reload this way, when no more full mags were available. The idea was that ammunition would be packaged and supplied to troops in (IIRC) 10-round stripper clips, so when your 5-6 issued magazines were empty in an extended firefight, you could just lock back the bolt and load the magazine already in the gun, from above.

While it made some sense in theory, it also meant that the ejection port on these guns had to be HUGE, to be open on top, making the frames weaker. And in practice, when the fertilizer hit the impeller everyone wanted extra loaded mags, not loose rounds in WWI era-like clips.

[tpelle]

Back to the original question, my Worcester G.I. model has been 100% reliable except for a some LRN reloads that I made that wouldn't chamber reliably. They would run through my Colt 1991, but were just a hair long for the AO. Another trip through the seating die and they ran perfectly as well. Mine is my favorite 1911, and sees a lot of duty in a Summer Special IWB holster under a tee-shirt.

[RitaR]

I purchased a Commander shortly after Kahr took over the company. The gun indicated it was made in Ma, not NY. Some might say the gun was junk, but they are being too kind. I don't want to list all the problems with the gun, it would take too long. Returning the gun to Kahr did not help. I am obviously nuts and spent way to much money with well know gunsmiths correcting its many problems. One of the things that had to be corrected was a faulty extractor. I purchased one from a well known maker that would not fit. The extractor hole in the back of the slide was way to small for the extractor to fit.

I wrote to one of the big shots at Kahr in 2013 asking what type of extractor the pistol takes. This is his reply (he had to ask his engineering department):

"Here is the reply from our engineering dept: I believe these guns were made from parts inventory received from the old Auto Ordnance. Based on their (Numrich- Auto Ordnance) original parts list the Commander size 1911 which was called the General used the same ejector as the regular 1911."

I guess you never know what you get. Anyway the gun shoots fine now, but I've got so much money in it that I could have purchase a nice Kimber and likely still and money left over.

[Ibmikey]

Well a bit late but I have the GI model bought four years ago, put side by side with my DCM Colt ( era 1963) and a 1911a1 Colt given to me last week it is hard to determine which is which. I have shot about 500 rounds through the Kahr made AO which gobbled everything with boring regularity until a box of semi wad lead reloads....did not like them but neither did the 1944 Colt. I then shot some truncated cone 200 grain rounds and we were back to flawless feeding. The pistol has a FP block but other than that is like GI...I changed the hammer to a wide spur I had and the trigger to a milled Colt piece along with repro walnut checkered grips, I feel this pistol will give years of trouble free fun...what more can I ask.

[tpelle]

Some FN FAL rifles famously had guides for stripper clips, to go with their detachable mags, because someone (in Canada) thought that they would be quicker to reload this way, when no more full mags were available. The idea was that ammunition would be packaged and supplied to troops in (IIRC) 10-round stripper clips, so when your 5-6 issued magazines were empty in an extended firefight, you could just lock back the bolt and load the magazine already in the gun, from above.

While it made some sense in theory, it also meant that the ejection port on these guns had to be HUGE, to be open on top, making the frames weaker. And in practice, when the fertilizer hit the impeller everyone wanted extra loaded mags, not loose rounds in WWI era-like clips.

Spyros, your comment about the ability to load an FN-FAL from stripper clips and the enlargement of the ejector port weakening the frame is incorrect. The top of the FN-FAL is enclosed by a stamped and formed sheet metal cover which slides on to the upper receiver from the rear. This sheet metal cover has no bearing on the strength of either the lower receiver or the upper receiver of the FN-FAL. You can cut as big a hole in it as you want.

[LHS905]

How about......

A magazine has a spring, a clip does not.

LHS

[Rick McC.]

And in case someone thought this wasn't enough pedantry, there's yet another category of magazine-fed guns, whose magazine is removable but YOU ARE NOT TO REMOVE IT PRIVATE!

I don't suppose we have any Brits here..?

.303 Lee-Enfield MK IV SMLE perhaps?