My Range Officer 9MM

[ilintner]

I went with the .180" tall x .125" wide version to match up with their rear sight.

 

[ilintner]

Well... I took it to the range twice on Sunday... Not terribly impressed.

I had already broken down, cleaned and lubed the pistol, loaded up some (Magtech 115GR 9MM which goes bang in everything that I own).

In the first mag less that half of the rounds lit off on the first hammer strike, some wouldn't go off in spite of my manually recocking the hammer sometimes 3-4 times an dropping it on the same round. 2nd mag, same thing, all very very light primer strikes, some barely visible.

I removed the firing pin / spring thinking maybe something was obstructing it or there was something wrong with the firing pin, all looked ok to me. Put it back together (with some amount of difficulty because of how stiff the firing pin spring is) and had the same problem with the next magazine. Spent the rest of that range session shooting my glock 17 and sig 226.

When I got home I took it down again, blew out the firing pin channel, checked that the firing pin wasn't bent, had no burrs on it, and didn't bind on anything. Removed the mainspring housing, not sure if it is normal for this with the lock system, but the spring was not retained within the housing, all seemed fine there too.

When inserting a pencil into the barrel and dropping the hammer, the firing pin would barely make the pencil jump. For comparison, I tried a few other 1911's which launched the pencil across the workshop with authority. So I started swapping parts, swapped the mainspring housing for a non lock housing with a 23 pound spring in it and that gave it a bit more oomph, but still not nearly what the others had, pulled the firing pin and spring out and swapped the spring for the one that is in my Springfield GI and it then launched the pencil.

I ran back over to the range with the borrowed mainspring housing, mainspring and firing pin spring, and it was flawless through 5 magazines.

I thought about calling springfield and having them take the gun back, but I didn't like the idea of waiting a couple weeks, shipping back and forth etc so I just ordered a few things from Brownells.

Since I was replacing the mainspring housing with the magwell unit anyway, I ordered the same rebuild kit that is in the MSH that it ran with. I also ordered an Ed Brown steel firing pin, Ed Brown firing pin return spring, Wilson Combat firing pin return spring, that way I have a couple of different spring options. While I was at it, I ordered a C&S thumb safety, as I really don't like the wide thumb safety that comes on it from the factory.


So I am fairly annoyed, pretty disappointed, but after I get the replacement parts, I think that it will run just fine. Maybe after I get the new parts I can actually check to see how well it shoots :wacko:

One thing I am unsure of is swapping out to a heavier firing, and a lighter spring and the risks in terms of drop safety, since it is a series 70 pistol... any worries there?

 

[joe]

I have read about the stupid lock in the mainspring housing causing problems in the 9mm before seems they would fix it or take out.

Hopefully you will not have anymore issues.

 

[ilintner]

I have read about the stupid lock in the mainspring housing causing problems in the 9mm before seems they would fix it or take out.

Hopefully you will not have anymore issues.

I read the same, but swapping the MSH alone didn't launch the pencil, I think the culprit is the firing pin return spring being too stiff, or maybe a combination of the two.

 

[Dan1612]

I would've sent it back.
I did have one of the grip screw bushings come out WITH the screw. Then I messed up the threads on the bushing getting the screw out. Put in a replacement, but it won't go all the way in. Maybe 1/32 of an inch to go. No big deal.
I did bend the middle finger forward for a firmer reset. Feels GREAT now. Will re-test on Thursday.
Ill still send it back for a new factory bushing to be reinstalled. Rather fix it on their dime. Putting too much cash into it defeats the purpose of a cheap and cheerful peashooter IMO.

Id love to run it in IDPA, it could be a very speedy rig with some practice.

 

[ilintner]

I would've sent it back.
I did have one of the grip screw bushings come out WITH the screw. Then I messed up the threads on the bushing getting the screw out. Put in a replacement, but it won't go all the way in. Maybe 1/32 of an inch to go. No big deal.
I did bend the middle finger forward for a firmer reset. Feels GREAT now. Will re-test on Thursday.
Ill still send it back for a new factory bushing to be reinstalled. Rather fix it on their dime. Putting too much cash into it defeats the purpose of a cheap and cheerful peashooter IMO.

Id love to run it in IDPA, it could be a very speedy rig with some practice.

I hear ya on sending it back, the parts that I think it needed cost about $15 bucks, so no big deal there. After googling the light primer strike issue, I found that even after sending their pistols back, a couple of guys were still having issues. Its worth the $15 to me for immediate resolution of the problem. In this case my impatience outweighs the principal of them sending them back a faulty pistol.

My 10 round mags showed up today, and I should have my grips, rear sight and magwell tomorrow, so all I will need after that is the replacement firing pin, and springs to go give it another go.

I forgot to mention that putting the new fiber optic front sight from Harrison Design on was a breeze, the old sight came out easy and with some minor fitting the new one went in nice and snug, I didn't have to beat the hell out of it or anything .

 

[Gene]

Mine will be here thurs at tgd I'll pick it up on my way home from work. Good info Dan and Ian ill know what I need to check before taking it to the range this weekend.

 

[Dan1612]

That's great, Gene. Honestly, for the price, you can't beat it.
The nice folks at Springfield are sending me a new bushing. It should be fine and a common occurrence with 1911 style guns.

 

[Snow Bird]

Ian,Just an old farts .02. that firing pin return spring shouldn't be hard to put in. Sounds like the recoil spring and firing pin return spring were a REAL bad miss match.

 

[ilintner]

Ian,Just an old farts .02. that firing pin return spring shouldn't be hard to put in. Sounds like the recoil spring and firing pin return spring were a REAL bad miss match.

Yeah, I've never had a 1911 that I have really had to fight to get that sucker in, but with this one I did. I agree with your prognosis sir.

 

[Gene]

Picked mine up from David at TGD yesterday. Going to go through it tonight and hopefully take it to the range tomorrow!

 

[Gene]

Wow is all I can say about the RO. Took it to the range today shot 50 rounds federal, 50 rounds of winchester, 75 rounds of aluminum cased ammo, 20 rounds of federal hydro shock and not 1 ftf or FTE! Had an issue with it not locking back on the last round of 1 magazine, after the 3rd time I replaced the Wilson extended slide stop I had put in with the stock one and it locked back every time after. Groups were tight though I did have a few flyers. Just used to the 45acp or just too much coffee this morning. Overall very pleased with the RO! I will probably have Ron at TGD smooth the trigger a bit and replace the front sight with the Harris's tritium one.

 

[Dan1612]

I'd bet your flyers had more to do with the grittiness in the trigger, unless you have a bad flinch. Which if you do, the 9mm is a great way to get rid of it.
The stock trigger is pretty bad, almost Colt bad, I had Ron do my trigger, and it's much better now. Though I did bend the middle finger forward for a harder reset, even though it added some weight, just personal preference, but Ron made it very smooth for me.

 

[Gene]

I usually don't have those flyers when shooting my other 1911s in 45. Though all but my ruger and trp still have their stock triggers. Orders a couple of Wilson mags and the Harris front sight. Probably should not have shot black targets with the black target sights! But yeah definitely a keeper!

 

[ilintner]

I'm glad that yours worked well for you out of the box!

I ran another few mags through mine this past weekend with the new goodies on it and had no feeding or extraction issues, although I did have a couple of pieces of brass come back hit me in the noggin which is less than ideal.

I finally remembered to take a picture of it:

 

[donr101395]

Front strap checkering is really great at helping control recoil, and I'm a huge fan. I had a Springfield Operator that also lacked it, and I did miss it, so I added the Pearce finger groove inserts and they worked great at providing extra traction. With this one, I figured I'd have to add the same or the ghetto insert from you link, but after shooting it, it became clear that there is no need for any such thing on a 9mm since there's no recoil from the tiny rounds on such a large steel gun. YMMV.

I'm not a huge fan of front strap checkering or finger groove grips; so I use skateboard tape on the front strap on my guns without checkering.

 

[ilintner]

I'm not a huge fan of front strap checkering or finger groove grips; so I use skateboard tape on the front strap on my guns without checkering.

That would probably look better than that abomination that I have on the front strap of mine right now...

 

[Dan1612]

That would probably look better than that abomination that I have on the front strap of mine right now...

True. I can't believe they sell that. Either way, on a 9, it's kinda like a compensator on a 22. It's not like it's a 500 S&W. Lol.

 

[ilintner]

True. I can't believe they sell that. Either way, on a 9, it's kinda like a compensator on a 22. It's not like it's a 500 S&W. Lol.

Speaking of S&W 500's, you and I are going to need to sit down some time so that you can explain to me why in the f$(*$ you want to shoot those things... I put ~5 rounds through it and my desire to own one was immediately gone.

 

[Gene]

Ian which grips did you put on yours they look great. I ordered some tactical magwell grips from Raasco grips. They are red and black. My Smith checked my trigger and it was at 6.5 lbs so it was a bit heavy gonna wait and shoot some more before I get the trigger done