Should I convert my 1911?

The place for general discussion about guns, gun (and gun parts) technology discussion, gun reviews, and gun specific range reports; and shooting, training, techniques, reviews and reports.
Post Reply

If I convert my 1911 what should the new caliber be?

Poll ended at Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:21 pm

.38 Super
2
10%
9mm
1
5%
10mm
4
20%
.45ACP
7
35%
Some really stupid & esoteric caliber that fits
4
20%
Magic Browning, er Brownies
2
10%
 
Total votes: 20

User avatar
SoupOrMan
Posts: 5685
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:58 am

Should I convert my 1911?

Post by SoupOrMan »

I have an STI Trojan in .40 S&W. It's a competition/range-only gun mainly because it misfeeds my reloads regardless of which magazines I use. I can't trust it for self-defense and besides, that's why I have an XD. I'm honestly wondering if it's the caliber since the 1911 seems to work better in other calibers.

9mm is most tempting just due to cost, but is there something better?
Remember, folks, you can't spell "douche" without "Che."

“PET PARENTS?” You’re not a “pet parent.” You’re a pet owner. Unless you’ve committed an unnatural act that succeeded in spite of biology. - Glenn Reynolds
User avatar
HTRN
Posts: 12397
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:05 am

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by HTRN »

Anything other than 10 mil, 357 SIG, or 9x25 will require a new slide.
HTRN, I would tell you that you are an evil fucker, but you probably get that a lot ~ Netpackrat

Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
User avatar
scipioafricanus
Posts: 1298
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:08 pm

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by scipioafricanus »

Call STI and see what they say about the malfunctions. They might have helpful ideas/options for converting it too.
If there is a Stairway to Heaven, is there an Escalator to Hell?
If God wanted men to play soccer, he wouldn’t have given us arms. - Mike Ditka
User avatar
SoupOrMan
Posts: 5685
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:58 am

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by SoupOrMan »

HTRN wrote:Anything other than 10 mil, 357 SIG, or 9x25 will require a new slide.
I wouldn't be able to use it for 9mm with just a barrel & spring swap?
Remember, folks, you can't spell "douche" without "Che."

“PET PARENTS?” You’re not a “pet parent.” You’re a pet owner. Unless you’ve committed an unnatural act that succeeded in spite of biology. - Glenn Reynolds
User avatar
NVGdude
Posts: 1715
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:39 am

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by NVGdude »

SoupOrMan wrote:
HTRN wrote:Anything other than 10 mil, 357 SIG, or 9x25 will require a new slide.
I wouldn't be able to use it for 9mm with just a barrel & spring swap?
9mm is a lot smaller than 40. Extractor may or may not grab. Certainly wouldn't be that reliable.

I voted 10mm, though the suggestion of 357 Sig is somewhat interesting.

I don't know what your malfunction/feed issue is, but all the folks I know who shoot .40 out of a 1911 load very long and use 10mm mags.
User avatar
PawPaw
Posts: 4493
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:19 pm

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by PawPaw »

Thou shalt not muckest with the design of John.
3 And as the ages passed men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their metal smiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by lust.
Dennis Dezendorf
PawPaw's House
User avatar
Netpackrat
Posts: 13983
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:04 pm

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by Netpackrat »

PawPaw wrote:Thou shalt not muckest with the design of John.
3 And as the ages passed men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their metal smiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by lust.
This can be translated as the thing barely working to begin with, and any little change can throw it off. :mrgreen:

But I guess we know who was the 4th vote for .45ACP.
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati

"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
User avatar
Cybrludite
Posts: 5048
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:13 am

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by Cybrludite »

10mm would be the easiest, but I do have an irrational fondness for the .38 Super.
"If it ain't the Devil's Music, you ain't doin' it right." - Chris Thomas King

"When liberal democracies collapse, someone comes along who promises to make the trains run on time if we load the right people into them." - Tam K.
User avatar
First Shirt
Posts: 4378
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:32 pm

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by First Shirt »

Netpackrat wrote:
PawPaw wrote:Thou shalt not muckest with the design of John.
3 And as the ages passed men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their metal smiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by lust.
This can be translated as the thing barely working to begin with, and any little change can throw it off. :mrgreen:
But I guess we know who was the 4th vote for .45ACP.
Either his or mine. :)

Like anything else, you find good ones and bad ones, but with the exception of a Gold Cup that wouldn't feed anything reliably, mine have all worked pretty well. Maybe I just got lucky.

But I do know that I wouldn't trade one of my 1911s for a round dozen of anything else on the market today.

JMHO, YMMV, IRDDU.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
User avatar
PawPaw
Posts: 4493
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:19 pm

Re: Should I convert my 1911?

Post by PawPaw »

Netpackrat wrote:This can be translated as the thing barely working to begin with, and any little change can throw it off. :mrgreen:

But I guess we know who was the 4th vote for .45ACP.
I've known guys who keep fixing something until it's hopelessly broken. I've never had a problem with a 1911, assuming that it starts out close to GI specs.

I don't know who the 4th vote was, but I'm of the opinion that the .45 ACP is God's own cartridge, along with the .30-06 and the .22 Long Rifle.
Dennis Dezendorf
PawPaw's House
Post Reply