Range Report Guncrafters Industry No Name Government.

[Guest TresOsos]

Range Report Guncrafters Industry No Name Government.
 Flush Cut / Deep Crowned Barrel.
Flush Cut Slide Stop / Chamfer Frame.
Round Butt Frame
Melonite Finish
Standard GI Night Sights
Thin Alumagrips
Curved Slide Stop Lever

Ammunition used.
2 – 100 round bulk packs from Wal-Mart Winchester 230grn FMJ (WWB)
1- 100 round bulk pack from Wal-Mart Remington 230grn JHP
1-25 round box Remington 230 grn Golden Sabre
503 rounds reloads, mixed brass, 200grn LSWC 5.3 grn W231.

 

First let me say that I am not a small group shooter, I shoot a lot, 500 to 1000rnds a month if I can.  I’m a draw and fire shooter and shoot a lot of drills and steel plates. What I look for in a 1911 is reliability, compatibility with my equipment (magazines, etc), good handling characteristics and above average accuracy.

 

I started out Friday morning with coffee and a quick breakfast, loaded up the gear in the truck. Loaded up some bottled water in the cooler, hit the market for a bag of ice and headed out to my property. It’s an hour and a half drive so I hit a McDonalds on the way for a bathroom break and a senior cup of coffee. I got to my place about 10:30, loaded up the stands and steel plates in the truck bed and headed to the shooting spot.
Setup took about half an hour so I was ready to start shooting at about 11:15.

 

First up was 2-8 round mags of WWB from the 2 Wilson Mags supplied with the gun.
On round 6 of the first mag I had a jam, slide failed to return all the way to battery.
I had to remove the mag to get the slide to rack. I placed the round back in the mag and finished that mag without issue.
I do not know what happened but I was not really concerned as having broken in several Baers, this type of failure is not unheard of.
Second Wilson mag ran fine no issues.

 

16 rounds.

 

Next two mags were a CMC Power Mag  and a CMC Power Mag Plus, each loaded with 8 rounds of WWB.  No Issues.

 

16 rounds.

 

Next I loaded up 4 CMC Power Mags and 4 CMC Power Mag Plus for 64 rounds.
On the 7 round of the 6th mag in this group I had the slide lock back prematurely.
It happen on one of the CMC Power Mag Plus mags.  I did not notice that it had happened as when the slide locked back I reloaded and continued my coarse of fire. I noticed the round left in the mag when I picked it up, I just moved this round to the mag in the gun and set the PM+ aside. The rest of the mags were finished up with no problems.

 

64 rounds.

 

That completed the first 96 rounds.

Next I loaded 8 rounds in the Wilson Mag that jammed and fired a group off on the hood of my truck at about 15 yards, Measured about 1.5” x 2” again I’m not a group shooter. No issues with this 8.

 

8 rounds.

 

Next I loaded up 12 mags, 6 CMC Power Mags and 6 CMC Power Mag pluses.
They were loaded alternating 230grn FMJ and 230grn Remington JHPs.
On the 4th Mag of this series on round 7 had another premature slide lock.
Again this was with a PM+ but a different one.

After 7 mags I stopped, field stripped the pistol and removed the 17lb recoil spring and shok-buff (factory GI configuration) and installed a Wilson 18.5 lb recoil spring and did not reinstall a the shok buff, and re-lubed the gun. ( I will not use a shok buff in a carry gun period.)

I then fired the last 5 mags with no issues, loaded the 2 Rem JHPs left in the first tray and fired them off.

 

98 rounds total.

 

I then loaded 3 mags, 1 Wilson, 1 Power Mag and 1 Power Mag Plus with 8 rounds each of Remington Golden Sabre, Fired all
3 mags No Issues.

 

24 rounds.

 

Next I opened a batch of 503 of my reloads, got out my 18 CMC Shooting Star Mags( range mags, I try not to over use my carry mags)and continued to shoot drills. 62 mag loads of 8 rounds and 1 mag of 7 rounds for a total of 503 with no issues.

 

503 rounds.

 

After this I then loaded 3 mags, 1 Wilson, 1 CMC Power Mag and 1 Power Mag Plus with alternating load of Winchester 230grn FMJ and Remington JHP.
Fired off all 3 mags no issues.

 

24 rounds.

753 round total with 3 malfunctions.
No Malfuctions after about round 135.

Over all impressions.

I have been shooting Les Baer pistols for years and my break in procedure for this gun pretty much mimicked the way I break in a Baer. The pistol was tight out of the box, fit and finish was excellent. The gun handles well and definitely feels different in the hand than a Baer. It points and balances nicely and the sights were regulated dead on, normally I have to adjust my Baer rear sights because they tend to shoot left.

Accuracy was very good, I would say that it is not any more accurate than a 3” Les Baer but it is definitely not less accurate than a standard 3” Baer. In the hands of a good bench shooter or in a ransom rest I’m sure it could give a one ragged hole group, I’m just not the guy to do that.

Now drawing and firing, shooting double taps and hammers and shooting steel plates, it  holds it own with any 1911 I’ve shot. It handles extremely well and reloads seemed to go very smoothly with this pistol even though it doesn’t have a mag well. It really seemed easier and quicker to get a magazine inserted during a speed reload than with my Baers. The GI sights were much easier to pick up than the standard Baer fixed or adjustable sights. The only thing that really through me was the thumb safety, it felt fine swiping it off. But it felt loose when flicking back up to engage it, I stopped and inspected it a couple of times. It’s function was fine, it must be that I am so use to Baer’s, they will cause a raw and bleeding thumb they are so hard to engage. It will just take a little getting use to.

 

The No Name smoothed out excellently during this range trip. It was tight and a little tough to rack and felt a little rough when I first got it. It now feels tight but very smooth to rack with none of the roughness. I did not notice any loosening of the slide to frame fit, just a smoother more polished feel.

 

I spent the time and ammo trying to get to know the gun the way I practice and it left me wanting to put another one in the stable soon. I will spend another range day with this one and then will probably start carrying it, the Baer SS Custom Carry I normally carry October thru March just may ride this fall and winter out in the safe. I really like this GI No Name its feels and handles like its all business.

 

After Action Report:

 

I took the No Name home and detail stripped it and cleaned it thoroughly and lubed it well. I am impressed as much by what this gun is made of as to how it performed on the range. The internal parts of this pistol look to be very well built, finished and of high quality materials. It came apart and went back together easily, the assembly notch in the slide stop made it a breeze to get it back in without the worry of the “idiot scratch”. Just wait though, this idiot will find a way to do it if it can be done. All in all I’m very pleased with this pistol and as stated earlier, I want to get another one in the safe. A friend asked me if any 1911 was really worth that kind of money, my answer to him was yes, yes some are worth “that” kind of money.

 

My Bad Group (I feel its an injustice to GI but it is what it is).

 

Drill Setup 1

 

Drill Setup 2

 

A pile of Brass

 

Clean and wearing  new shoes after detail strip and clean.
VZ Slim Line Steel Gray Slants.

 

Edited September 23, 2013 by TresOsos