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SW1911 5" Pro Series SKU# 178011

3K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Mike_Fontenot 
#1 ·
Hey guys - First time post, hope everything shows up okay:

Just picked up my first 1911 - And I am in love.



First group @ 10 yards


Second group @ 10 yards (all head shots)


Not my best groups, however they got tighter the more I shot. Fiber optic Novak front and rear sights line up so naturally... Dead on from the factory, no adjustment needed. Such a smooth action, very tight slide/frame fit, incredibly crisp trigger pull... I might just have to sell all my polymer framed guns.....
 
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#4 · (Edited)
And can you shoot 45 Super in it?
If this is your way of asking if the gun has a Scandium frame, the answer is no. All steel framed 1911's including this one can shoot .45 Super ammunition with minimal alterations. As a matter of fact, Dean Grennell's original concept for the .45 Super was for a number of these rounds to be able to be fired in an unmodified 1911 without damage because the exterior dimensions are identical to the .45 ACP. A mixup in ammo would then not cause a catastrophic failure or damage to the gun.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...75658_757896_757896_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

Bruce
 
#5 ·
If this is your way of asking if the gun has a Scandium frame, the answer is no. All steel framed 1911's including this one can shoot .45 Super ammunition with minimal alterations.
[...]
No, I knew that model was all-steel. And Underwood has told me that to avoid accelerated battering, I only need to use a 22-lb recoil spring and a shok-buf. The gun already has (I believe) a barrel-mounted feed-ramp, which is one of the other mods that Underwood says need to be made on some 1911's before shooting .45-Supers.

What I really want to be sure of is that shooting .45-Supers doesn't void S&W's warranty. I asked S&W (via their "contact option on their webpage) the same question that I posted here, and received an automatic "ticket number", but they have been slow in responding ... seems like it should be a quick and easy answer for them.

I also want to get a confirmation that that model DOES have the Swartz grip-lever-controlled firing-pin-safety.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Shooting any reload will void the warranty whether it be .45 ACP or .45 Super. Firing any ammo in a gun not specifically chambered for it will also void the warranty. My Springlield Armory V16 Longslide has paperwork from the factory, was marketed by SA and advertised by them as being a .45 ACP/.45 Super gun. It came from SA with a recoil spring intended for use with .45 Super ammo. My E-Series SW1911 has none of this so I don't know how it or any other SW1911 .45 cound be construed as being chambered for .45 Super. This also applies to firing .40 S&W ammo from a 10mm autoloader, etc..

Bruce
 
#8 · (Edited)
Wonder why they stopped ... low demand, maybe?
Not too hard to figure out or understand. Ace Custom .45, Inc.(now defunct), the late Ace Hindman and the Hindman family in general handled the whole .45 Super episode poorly. They made the term ".45 Super" and other aspects of the round their intellectual property and came down hard on anybody trying to use it without a licensing agreement with them. This included Triton Cartridge Company and, I believe, Springfield Armory. The net result of this was lack of promotion of the round at a critical time in it's life. Both SA and Triton refused to pay the tarriff and discontinued their products. Starline Brass and couple of botique ammunition companies produce what I believe are licensed product but that couldn't save the Ace Custom business.

Bruce
 
#9 ·
Not too hard to figure out or understand. Ace Custom .45, Inc.(now defunct), the late Ace Hindman and the Hindman family in general handled the whole .45 Super episode poorly. They made the term ".45 Super" and other aspects of the round their intellectual property and came down hard on anybody trying to use it without a licensing agreement with them. This included Triton Cartridge Company and, I believe, Springfield Armory. The net result of this was lack of promotion of the round at a critical time in it's life. Both SA and Triton refused to pay the tarriff and discontinued their products. Starline and couple of botique ammunition companies produce what I believe are licensed product but that couldn't save the Ace Custom business.

Bruce
Thanks for that info.
 
#10 ·
I'll bet it is nice. I have the newer SKU 170343 with the ports which is based off the E Series so it does not have the mechanical firing pin safety.



To see if any of these has the mechanical firing pin safety lock the slide back, turn the pistol over, and look for a plunger. Below from left to right is a pre Series 80 Colt with no mechanical firing pin safety. Next a Series 80 Colt. Then a Kimber with a Swartz like safety based on the grip safety. Finally on the right a S&W which has a mechanical firing pin safety based on the grip safety but not related to the Swartz in mechanical function so much.



And the tops of the frames in the same order. You can see the S&W uses a lever to push up the plunger and free the firing pin and the Kimber in true Colt Swartz fashion uses a pin.

 
#11 ·
An update:

I bought one, even though I was surprised that it DOESN'T have a barrel-mounted feedramp. The S&W webpage says that the Pro model has had the "barrel feedramp" polished, but they apparently are just referring to the beveled lower portion of the end of the chamber ... there's no steel beyond the outer barrel radius, or aft of the rear of the chamber . I called Underwood from the gun store before I bought it, and they said that this model should still be OK shooting 45Super, with only a heavier spring required. I've shot three types of Underwood 45Super in it, first with a 22lb recoil spring, and then with a 24lb spring. No cycling problems. I can see some mild smiles with the two Underwood's that are nickel-plated, but no visible ones with the Underwood that has a plain brass case. Everyone I've shown or described the smiles to have told me they aren't big enough to worry about it, but they wouldn't reload those cases. I couldn't see any difference in the smiles with the 24lb spring compared with the 22lb spring. Also, the exposure of the bottom-rear of the brass due to the beveling is only about half the size of the smiles, which seems to suggest that the barrel may be unlocking early. A very heavy mainspring (hammer spring) might fix that (together with a flat-bottomed firing-pin stop), but I don't want to increase my hammer spring above the 19lb one I've got, because it will make the trigger heavier than I like. I HAVE installed a flat-bottomed firing-pin stop, though ... haven't shot it since that change, so I don't know if that will reduce the smiles any or not. Either way, I'm not going to worry about them.
 
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