1911’s in general, 9mm versions specifically

Took the dive into 1911s a month ago with a Tisas 1911a1 9mm Tank Commander.

160742__13020.jpg

For shits and giggles I decided to have a gunsmith buddy at my church turn it into a ripoff of the Wilson ACP Commander. Since it's a government model, I needed the slide cut for the Novak style sights. He's a 1911 nerd so I figured I'd have him toss in all my parts and see if it needed any tweaks. Here's the parts and work breakdown.

Base Gun: Tisas 1911a1 Tank Commander 9mm: $499
Extractor: Wilson Combat Bullet Proof Series 70 1911 9mm, 38 Super, Blue: $32.95
Barrel Bushing: Wilson Combat Government Blue: $20.95
Rear Sight: Dawson Precision Novak Cut Low Mount 1911: $39.95
Front Sight: Dawson Precision Sight for Colt 1911 Defender, Fiber Optic Front: $39.00
Trigger Kit: KC Customs TAC-II: $192.50
Trigger: Wilson Combat 1911 Ultralight Match Trigger, Medium Pad: $35.95
Thumb Safety: Wilson Single Side Tactical Lever, Blue: $32.95
Grip Safety: Wilson Beavertail Drop-in Commander, Blue: $37.95
Fitting Jig for Grip Safety: Wilson: $25.95
Magwell: Wilson One-Piece Checkered, Bullet Proof, Full-Size, Blue: $175.95
Labor: 6 hours @ $50 per hour: $300
Total: $1,433.10 plus some shipping

Left To-Do (eventually):
Checker front strap
Undercut trigger guard
Serrate front of slide
Refinish (parkerize)

The buddy and I were very impressed overall with the Tisas in stock form. No burrs or significant cleanup work required, functioned fine with 200rd of cheap ammo. The stock barrel bushing was a bit loose, (he said something about 10 thou on either side vs 2 thou on the new bushing?) and the government profile sights were not great. The trigger was pretty great from the factory, but the trigger pad was a bit thin and I'm a 6'6" slenderman kinda guy so I went with the medium trigger for more reach and the KC Customs hammer and sear/disconnector because I'm a little gay for Form.

Results:

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IMG_20260301_130309789_HDR.jpg

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Aggressively lubed her up with CherryBalmz and took her out on the first date. So much nicer to shoot without the GI grip safety. No issues so far with one Wilson and 2 MecGar mags. Was shooting about 8.5" low at 20m so I'll be getting a shorter front sight but that was expected. Once I get the new sight dialed in I'll shoot a few FBI bullseye drill and post results. In factory configuration I was getting 238-242s. (edited from 138-142)

Was it silly to do this with a Tisas vs just getting a Colt and cleaning it up? Maybe, but I like this one pretty good now.
 
Hypernatremia said:
Took the dive into 1911s a month ago with a Tisas 1911a1 9mm Tank Commander.

View attachment 1029856

For shits and giggles I decided to have a gunsmith buddy at my church turn it into a ripoff of the Wilson ACP Commander. Since it's a government model, I needed the slide cut for the Novak style sights. He's a 1911 nerd so I figured I'd have him toss in all my parts and see if it needed any tweaks. Here's the parts and work breakdown.

Base Gun: Tisas 1911a1 Tank Commander 9mm: $499
Extractor: Wilson Combat Bullet Proof Series 70 1911 9mm, 38 Super, Blue: $32.95
Barrel Bushing: Wilson Combat Government Blue: $20.95
Rear Sight: Dawson Precision Novak Cut Low Mount 1911: $39.95
Front Sight: Dawson Precision Sight for Colt 1911 Defender, Fiber Optic Front: $39.00
Trigger Kit: KC Customs TAC-II: $192.50
Trigger: Wilson Combat 1911 Ultralight Match Trigger, Medium Pad: $35.95
Thumb Safety: Wilson Single Side Tactical Lever, Blue: $32.95
Grip Safety: Wilson Beavertail Drop-in Commander, Blue: $37.95
Fitting Jig for Grip Safety: Wilson: $25.95
Magwell: Wilson One-Piece Checkered, Bullet Proof, Full-Size, Blue: $175.95
Labor: 6 hours @ $50 per hour: $300
Total: $1,433.10 plus some shipping

Left To-Do (eventually):
Checker front strap
Undercut trigger guard
Serrate front of slide
Refinish (parkerize)

The buddy and I were very impressed overall with the Tisas in stock form. No burrs or significant cleanup work required, functioned fine with 200rd of cheap ammo. The stock barrel bushing was a bit loose, (he said something about 10 thou on either side vs 2 thou on the new bushing?) and the government profile sights were not great. The trigger was pretty great from the factory, but the trigger pad was a bit thin and I'm a 6'6" slenderman kinda guy so I went with the medium trigger for more reach and the KC Customs hammer and sear/disconnector because I'm a little gay for Form.

Results:

View attachment 1029904
View attachment 1029903
View attachment 1029890
View attachment 1029891

View attachment 1029894
View attachment 1029896
View attachment 1029899
View attachment 1029900
View attachment 1029901

Aggressively lubed her up with CherryBalmz and took her out on the first date. So much nicer to shoot without the GI grip safety. No issues so far with one Wilson and 2 MecGar mags. Was shooting about 8.5" low at 20m so I'll be getting a shorter front sight but that was expected. Once I get the new sight dialed in I'll shoot a few FBI bullseye drill and post results. In factory configuration I was getting 138-142s.

Was it silly to do this with a Tisas vs just getting a Colt and cleaning it up? Maybe, but I like this one pretty good now.
Click to expand...

That looks solid. Be interested in how it shoots.
 
Formidilosus said:
That looks solid. Be interested in how it shoots.
Click to expand...
I fat fingered my initial post, my best FBI Instructor drill with it in stock configuration was 242. Best I've ever done with a 22lr is 280 so I was pretty happy with it.

What are your thoughts on an adjustable rear sight for a gun that's getting carried? I have a USPSA and Steel Challenge range near me that I plan to be shooting at as well, so the fine tuning could be nice.
 
I just picked up a new SA TRP 9mm. Seems OK, but I haven't shot it yet.

Sent from my Pixel 8a using Tapatalk
 
Hypernatremia said:
I fat fingered my initial post, my best FBI Instructor drill with it in stock configuration was 242. Best I've ever done with a 22lr is 280 so I was pretty happy with it.

What are your thoughts on an adjustable rear sight for a gun that's getting carried? I have a USPSA and Steel Challenge range near me that I plan to be shooting at as well, so the fine tuning could be nice.
Click to expand...

Good adjustable rears hold up just fine to rough use.
 
I've read through this thread, and I've decided to dive head first into the club. I've got a milestone coming up and my wife said to do something special, so I think I'm going to put an order in for an Alchemy Custom Weaponry Prime Carry in 9mm. As I'm starting to look over the build options, I thought I'd reach out to this thread for some feedback.

I'm struggling on which sights to go with. The Prime Carry comes standard with ACW's fixed rear sight. It is u-shaped which I've read a few comments suggesting to stay clear of. Are ACW's fixed gtg? They will install Novak style sights (I'd prefer Dawson). Are adjustable preferrable? I'm leaning toward fiber optic front, but the gold is tempting... Make a choice for me! :)
 
mills0713 said:
I've read through this thread, and I've decided to dive head first into the club. I've got a milestone coming up and my wife said to do something special, so I think I'm going to put an order in for an Alchemy Custom Weaponry Prime Carry in 9mm. As I'm starting to look over the build options, I thought I'd reach out to this thread for some feedback.

I'm struggling on which sights to go with. The Prime Carry comes standard with ACW's fixed rear sight. It is u-shaped which I've read a few comments suggesting to stay clear of. Are ACW's fixed gtg? They will install Novak style sights (I'd prefer Dawson). Are adjustable preferrable? I'm leaning toward fiber optic front, but the gold is tempting... Make a choice for me! :)
Click to expand...

You might take a look at Guncrafter as well...I found a deal on one and am super impressed. Just as a good as a Nighthawk I have that was twice as much $$...
 
Formidilosus said:
I didn’t know what to title this, but it’s about the why/how to get 1911’s that work without fuss. @Colby @PNWGATOR @mtnwrunner @ztc92 @Dioni A @Tommyhaak


I’ve gotten a bunch of questions about pistols, specifically 1911’s and 2011’s- how they work, are they reliable, etc. Quite a few have ansked about options for starting out that aren’t $2,000 plus. Most of my experience with 9mm versions has been guns that start at mid $2,000 and go up from there- in those I have a lot of experience.


Why 1911/2011’s?

Shootability. That’s pretty much it. Properly built 1911’s are the most shootable pistols on the planet when accuracy and speed are measured. That shootability combined with their relative thinness makes for an excellent combination of shooting and ease of carry. Right behind 1911’s are 2011’s.
The shootability isn’t primarily due to the trigger as pretty much every person believes- it’s due to the grip. The specific shape and size of the 1911 grip aids greatly in a proper consistent grip, and control during shooting.



History:

Historically the belief in most of the modern “gun” world has been that 1911’s are outdated, unreliable and expensive. Saying that 1911’s are outdated is weird- pistols aren’t electronics. Hitting things at speed are what duty/carry pistols should be measured by, and for that- nothing so far beats a well built 1911.
The other side is the belief that they are unreliable. Certainly in the past the common production Springfield’s, Kimber’s, RIA’s, etc. were a mixed bag out of the box. However, proper hand built guns were exceedingly reliable- they were just expensive.
But, it wasn’t hard to take most Springfield 45 auto full size 5” guns, tweak an extractor, change a recoil spring, use Trip Cobra mags and have a pistol that worked without fuss for 10,000 plus rounds. Their main issues were sub par MIM parts that would need replacing eventually.
9mm versions were a different matter. Up until recently 9mm 1911’s were more a novelty than a hard use serious pistol option. The know how to make them work reliably just wasn’t there unless you went to a semi custom Wilson, Nighthawk, etc., or a full custom.

However, the last few years has seen that change it seems. In the last couple of years I am aware of 5-6 Turkish 1911’s- specifically Tisas that have worked very well for relatively serious shooters with several thousand rounds a piece on the guns. Of those 5-6, only one needed an extractor adjustment out of the box to work. That they are all 9mm is way more surprising.

Being that I had little to no in depth personal experience with intry level 1911’s, and in the vein of education for others, and learning on my end- I decided to get one and see what it would take to make it a legitimate option.



Girsan MC1911s 9mm- $399
View attachment 883999


It’s a Government sized, 5” barrel 9mm with a rail.

First, this isn’t in any way any type of determination or statement that these guns are good. This is an experiment to see what it takes to get $400 1911’s to work correctly. I was looking for a Tisas 5” 9mm, but there were none in my area. A shop did have this Girsan 9mm, and overall it looked like all the modern Turkish 1911’s- that is the slide to frame fit, barrel lockup, bushing fit, and grip safety timing all seemed solid. So, I bought it.
This will be a rolling log of how the gun does, what I modify, and what I change. I will take it from its stock form, to what I would actually use and carry.



Range:

Dry cycling rounds through it the extractor seemed to have a bit too much tension on it.


First 10 rounds out of the gun at 25 yards.


View attachment 884000


Front sight needed to be filed down, and drifted to bring POI up and right.

Taped up the slide, filed the front down to the white dot, drifted it to the left a smidge.
View attachment 884001


Shot a few more and saw that the rounds land behind the white dot on the front sight. Taped those up, then the next ten rounds from 25 yards-
View attachment 884002


Went to 7 yards. Concealment.





Loaded 7-8 different mags up to check function. With Ed Brown 9 round mags ejection was quite erratic, which means extractor. On the second Ed Brown mag it had its first malfunction- a failure to go into battery. Cleared it, finished the mag, then unloaded and went to the truck.



In taking the pistol apart, the firing pin stop plate wouldn’t budge. I had to use a punch and hammer to get it out. Test fit showed that it was the extractor groove for the plate that was too tight. 20 seconds with a hand file and it fit correctly-
View attachment 884003

View attachment 884004


Standard 1911’s have an internal extractor that is spring steel. It is adjusted for tension by bending it in or out until correct. The extractor tension on this one looked fine, but the extractor groove where the rim slides was a bit shallow. I didn’t adjust yet.

Reassembled and-



The extractor groove issue showed up on the 5th magazine, and again the Ed Brown magazine highlighted another issue on the 7th magazine- the beginning of the chamber caught the case mouth and needed beveling slightly. Back to the truck. Made the extractor groove slightly deeper, and used a hand file to slightly bevel the edge of the chamber.

Here you can see on the left side of the chamber how sharp it is, and the mark left by the case mouths catching it-
View attachment 884005


A couple of swipes with the small file to break the edge-
View attachment 884006



Back together and-


Feeding and ejection were all fine. A sharp edge on the bottom of the thumb safety did start to aggregate my left hand, so taped it up and filed. Just broke the edge with a small file.

Before-
View attachment 884007


After-
View attachment 884008




After the last adjustment to the extractor and chamber, 350 rounds were fired from Ed Brown, Tripps Research, Wilson, Mecgar 9 rounds, and Mecgar 10 round mags with no further malfunctions.
Click to expand...
Buy a Colt. In 1991 I bought a pair of 1991A1 Colt 45ACP pistols(model 80). Both still shoot great, never had a jam from either. They are plain Jane but didn’t cost much and they are Colts. I shoot mine as good or better out to 50 and sometimes 100 yards than guys that own Wilson, Nighthawk, Brown, Les Baer. They were $600 a piece brand new back then. Maybe a little more. I’m happy with them and both were a lot less than one $2000 1911. I even rigged a shoulder harness holster to carry both on each side of me. Took off the ammo pouch on a Galco and added another gun holder. It’s a cool double rig and not too cumbersome or heavy and conceals well. No need to spend lots of money to get the job done.
 
mills0713 said:
I've read through this thread, and I've decided to dive head first into the club. I've got a milestone coming up and my wife said to do something special, so I think I'm going to put an order in for an Alchemy Custom Weaponry Prime Carry in 9mm. As I'm starting to look over the build options, I thought I'd reach out to this thread for some feedback.

I'm struggling on which sights to go with. The Prime Carry comes standard with ACW's fixed rear sight. It is u-shaped which I've read a few comments suggesting to stay clear of. Are ACW's fixed gtg? They will install Novak style sights (I'd prefer Dawson). Are adjustable preferrable? I'm leaning toward fiber optic front, but the gold is tempting... Make a choice for me! :)
Click to expand...

Those are some beautiful 1911s.

How much - in all honesty - are you planning on shooting this gun per month/year?
 
Davidsons Gallery of Guns has Kimber 1911 DS Warrior 9mm Hi Cap in stock. It says 6 Of them in stock, after I ordered one just now.

If you haven't used Davidsons before, they are a huge wholesaler. They have local dealers set up all over. You just pick the gun shop you want to use and put 25% down. Firearm is shipped (quickly) to the store you selected, and you pay them the remaining balance. Also they have a lifetime replacement program on all guns sold- you return it to the retailer, and Davidsons sends a new gun.
 
mills0713 said:
Kids are young (keep me busy). I live next to a range. If I commit, I could realistically put in 100-200 rnds/month.
Click to expand...

Getting a genuinely custom 1911 like what Alchemy does is a special thing. Get it exactly how you want it. At this price-point, the extra money for the sights you prefer should be irrelevant. Especially as, eventually, you'll likely wish you'd have done it how you'd wanted it initially.

My personal preference of the options given would be adjustable Novaks with tritium inserts. They're surprisingly helpful in finding the gun on a nightstand, in addition to their intended use, and I wouldn't be without them if they're an option - especially on an old-school gun with no optic and no light. Bear in mind, the tritium inserts need to be replaced about once every 10 years.

Those are very fine guns. A word of caution though - know your intended use. If this is a recreational gun, beautiful. Without wanting to throw cold water on the purchase though, I personally believe it important to also share that this model wouldn't be my first choice for a fighting/defensive/CCW handgun. Almost entirely because of the lack of a light rail and optic - those two items offer too many advantages to be without. But if neither of those things are an issue for you, given your intended use, this is definitely a gun to be proud of, and one of the best you can get made today. If you do get it, follow up here and share photos and experiences, I know I'd enjoy seeing them.
 
mills0713 said:
I've read through this thread, and I've decided to dive head first into the club. I've got a milestone coming up and my wife said to do something special, so I think I'm going to put an order in for an Alchemy Custom Weaponry Prime Carry in 9mm. As I'm starting to look over the build options, I thought I'd reach out to this thread for some feedback.
Click to expand...

An excellent option for a carry pistol.

What is your use for it?


mills0713 said:
I'm struggling on which sights to go with. The Prime Carry comes standard with ACW's fixed rear sight. It is u-shaped which I've read a few comments suggesting to stay clear of. Are ACW's fixed gtg? They will install Novak style sights (I'd prefer Dawson). Are adjustable preferrable? I'm leaning toward fiber optic front, but the gold is tempting... Make a choice for me! :)
Click to expand...

Fiber optic front if performance is the goal. As for rear… ehh. Sights can be changed easily. ACW’s fixed rear you may like- I do not prefer U shape rear sights. For you, I would probably try it and see.
 
Anyone have experience with k/rmsc to Acro adapter plates? Got this Viridian one and it’s BARELY too thin to clear the top of the slide on this 2011 and my Tisas night stalker. There’s also a plate made by Atibal but not sure if it’s any thicker and they’re back ordered. Considering just taking a dremel to the bottom of the acro because it’s so close…

Edit: after looking into the Atibal more it does seem like it is a bit taller and should work.
c6f0ac259b4faf27d22473c0c6da0fac.jpg
 
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