[doc540]

500 rnds/mo of .45 WWB hardball gonna damage or wear it out quickly?

What say you?

This post has been edited by doc540: 07 October 2009 - 08:31 AM

[outerlimits]

for how long? i've had one for 22 years, but never put that kind of numbers thru it. i would guess it would. stout loads with aluminum frames seems like a recipe for a short life. still, a great carry gun.

[Duane Thomas]

Why the desire to poor such a high number of rounds through the LWC? This design was intended to be a "carry a lot, shoot a little" handgun. I know you say you're not going to carry it, which seems a shame to me, but why beat the hell out of the gun when you have a steel-framed Government Model that could take the brunt of the wear and tear?

[reneet]

Spring it properly and shoot all the Hardball you want in it. If you're going to shoot any significant numbers of JHP, have a steel feed ramp installed in the frame.

[doc540]

Duane Thomas, on Oct 7 2009, 12:11 PM, said:

Why the desire to poor such a high number of rounds through the LWC? This design was intended to be a "carry a lot, shoot a little" handgun. I know you say you're not going to carry it, which seems a shame to me, but why beat the hell out of the gun when you have a steel-framed Government Model that could take the brunt of the wear and tear?

Sold the steel frame.

I carry the Agent and have the Commander to shoot for fun.

If durability really is an issue I'll trade or sell this lightweight Commander for a steel frame.

[RH45]

I have thousands of rounds through my Para P14-45, and my Kimber Pro-Carry, .40. Both have aluminum frames, and don't show any signs of wear.

[doc540]

Got a kick out of Colt customer service: "We don't have a recommended service interval. Just shoot it until there's a problem, then send it to us." !

[G-ManBart]

I think you're gonna win the award for most individual threads about a single gun without having any of them closed

Lightweigh Commanders really are carry guns as Duane mentioned. It's hard to say whether 500/mo is going to wear it out, but the first signs are likely going to be expensive/terminal.

[Duane Thomas]

If you want a gun to shoot the living hell out of, you don't want a Lightweight Commander. Having said that, what you do have is such an ultimately cool piece it seems a shame to get rid of it. Keep it. Get yourself another, steel-framed 1911. If the day ever does come that you want to carry a 1911, you'll be glad you have this one.

[HRider]

I agree with the "carry alot, shoot not that much" philosophy with Comanders (not Combat Comanders). I don't know how many rounds it will take to harm it, but I did see a TV show about Bill Wilson a couple of years ago and he talked about his carry gun. It is a small aluminum frame 45ACP pistol( his version of an Officers Model, basicly). He said that it had around 90k rounds through it and it had been welded three times. Who knows, your Colt may do better or worse than his gun.
You have a nice pistol, I wouldn't be afraid to take it to the range, but I wouldn't try to wear it out either. Now you have an excuse to buy another steel framed gun
Hurley

[Patrick Sweeney]

My LWC was my regular carry gun for nearly 20 years. I bought it used, and took it to Gunsite four times. Its had maybe 5,000 rounds through it from me, and one auto accident. It is cracked (where they all crack, at the dustcover) but otherwise soldiers on.

Fun to shoot? Not so much. Fragile and unable to take the load? Not at all. Easier to carry than an all-steel gun? You betcha.

[doc540]

"Not so much fun to shoot" is news to me.

I guess that's another benefit of being a noob to 1911's.

I didn't realize I shouldn't have been having so much fun shooting a LW Commander.

And I was looking forward to going back to the range tomorrow after having a little more tuning on the trigger.

And speaking of noob news:
A strangle little plastic doughnut started coming apart inside my gun.

Did you guys purposely not warn me against using a "shock buffer" or is that part of the 1911 noob initiation process, the firearm equivalent of the Texas snipe hunt.

This post has been edited by doc540: 09 October 2009 - 11:51 AM

[Duane Thomas]

Shok buffs suck. Toss away those pieces of crushed and shredded plastic and never look back.

[doc540]

Duane Thomas, on Oct 9 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

Shok buffs suck. Toss away those pieces of crushed and shredded plastic and never look back.

Will toss it today, but not before taking a pic to warn other noobs in the future.

Headed back to the range this morning in the illusion that practice will overcome age and bad eyesight. :0

This post has been edited by doc540: 10 October 2009 - 08:01 AM

[kar45]

doc540, on Oct 7 2009, 11:18 AM, said:

500 rnds/mo of .45 WWB hardball gonna damage or wear it out quickly?

What say you?

A buddy of mine split the frame on his with 1000 rounds of hardball...but the conventional wisdom from the 70's was they were good for about 5000. Let us know when yours splits

[doc540]

kar45, on Oct 21 2009, 07:55 AM, said:

doc540, on Oct 7 2009, 11:18 AM, said:

500 rnds/mo of .45 WWB hardball gonna damage or wear it out quickly?

What say you?

A buddy of mine split the frame on his with 1000 rounds of hardball...but the conventional wisdom from the 70's was they were good for about 5000. Let us know when yours splits

not going to happen

[kar45]

doc540, on Oct 21 2009, 10:04 AM, said:

kar45, on Oct 21 2009, 07:55 AM, said:

doc540, on Oct 7 2009, 11:18 AM, said:

500 rnds/mo of .45 WWB hardball gonna damage or wear it out quickly?

What say you?

A buddy of mine split the frame on his with 1000 rounds of hardball...but the conventional wisdom from the 70's was they were good for about 5000. Let us know when yours splits

not going to happen

I have a .38 Super Lightweight that has 2200 rounds thru it. But I use 135 power factor shells in it, not 190...no cracking so far. It is fun to shoot :

[fortyfiveshooter]

If you want a 1911 to just shot get a Springfield MilSpec or Rock Island 1911 and shoot the crap out of it. The LWC is a little bit more of a collectors piece than a shooter.

[doc540]

I posted "not going to happen" tongue in cheek.

You should realize by now that when the BE forum speaks, doc listens.

I sold it last night and bought a Combat Commander in 9mm.

So, if the LW Commander cracks because of round count....it won't be me shooting or counting them.

here's a pic from the ad...it should arrive in a week or 10 days











clean little bugger, ain't it?

I supposed the purists are going to shame me for considering a few mod's, but I bought it as a shooter.

So be it.

This post has been edited by doc540: 22 October 2009 - 08:03 PM

[kar45]

I predict you will enjoy that thing immensely

[HRider]

It should be a sweet shooter. Nice gun.
Hurley

[Boyd]

Duane Thomas, on Oct 9 2009, 06:04 PM, said:

Shok buffs suck. Toss away those pieces of crushed and shredded plastic and never look back.

I gotta respectfully disagree on this one. I've seen too many cracked frames and slides, especially on older (Series 70) Colts and SA guns. I just replaced a slide on a friend's gun that was cracked up both sides with maybe 30% left. The dust cover was cracked on both sides. His other 1911 had a cracked dust cover too. Both guns were well worn and from "back in the day" (many trips to Gunsite etc). I've personally cracked two frames and two slides with lots of factory ammo and 175+ PF reloads (and no buffs). Run a shok buff for practice sessions and ditch it for carry. The only buffs I've had fall apart were old Wilson ones. I use Buffer Technologies and they have been working great (they look like the old "Tuff-Buff"). Good for well over 1k rounds. Stick with buffs of the .125 thickness and the gun will still lock open etc.

They are cheap insurance/preventative maintenance for your 1911, especially for an old alloy Commander. In a lot of places, one can't replace busted frames like one used to be able to do. Many modern makers have beefed up the critical areas (thicker dust covers). I don't think a buff matters with an S_I or rail 1911, but for the older 1911's they do.

-MB

This post has been edited by Boyd: 26 October 2009 - 11:51 AM

[Duane Thomas]

I have just seen way too many malfunctions that could be traced to the buff shortening the slide stroke, and that goes from failures to feed to failures to lock open the slide when empty. Pull out the buff, suddenly the gun starts working.

Also the buff, contrary to what we're told about how they'll "give you a cushioning effect that cuts down on recoil," I found gave me considerably heavier recoil. This makes sense if you think about it - it's like you've shortened the slide stroke so the slide is hitting the frame - or in this case the buff - considerably harder. Pull out the buff, suddenly you have much lighter recoil.

Just a total loser, as far as I'm concerned. Even if the buffs do extend frame life (and that's a big "if", I've never seen any real evidence that's true), it's not worth it to me to have a gun that lasts longer if it's malfunctioning and kicking way harder than it has to the entire time.