Kahr-built (2008) Auto-Ordnance 1911A1 WWII repro
Well, I'm not sure this new Kahr-built AO has totally exorcised all the demons from those awful Numrich AOs that I remember when I was living in NC nearly two decades ago, but it certainly made a good effort.
A few months ago, I was the market for a cheap, but reliable 1911 that I could beat around and not feel bad about. As circumstances turned out, I wounded up with a LNIB Colt SS 1991 NRM. Couldn't have been happier. Only there was a slight problem. The Colt turned out to be so nice, I didn't want to nick it let alone abuse it. So now I was back on the market for yet another 1911 that I could abuse and not lose any sleep over.
After exhausting my search for a RIA or Norinco, I picked up a new, "MA compliant" AO WWII repro last week. It was cheapest 1911 that we can buy NEW here in this socialist state (the rest of you will get to know our pain now that Obama is in office). Never thought I'd ever own anything with an AO rollmark on it, but after looking it over carefully at the gunshop, I decided to take a chance on it. Now after my first range trip today, I'm glad I got it.
Fit of all major parts is decent, all the holes are in the right spot, parkerizing was even, springs were of good quality, and the barrel chamber/rifling looked fine. The slide stop is a pain to remove though. The interior of the plunger tube must be very rough or something. Either that, or the plunger spring is excessively heavy. I cannot push the slide stop entirely out and away from the frame using just with my finger. I need the help of a small screwdriver or the lip of the magazine to give it a slight pry once it's partially slid out. Hopefully, this will wear in with use. Not a major issue, just a pain in the ass like my brother who borrows my stuff and never returns any of it. The Metalform mag was crap. Had numerous weld marks on it where they attempted to "fix it" or something. Anyway, since I had plenty of Colt mags, the factory mag went Immediately into the crash. Didn't want to waste any time with it.
Not much to look at, but hey it's all about personality, right?
167rds were expended today, of which most were UMC 230gr ball with some 230gr Remington Golden Sabres and Federal HydraShok (old truncated cone style) tossed in. To my surprise, there were no "break in" issues at all. Not one failure to feed, chamber, or extract. I did get two stove pipes, but that was my fault for limp wristing the gun during rapid fire. That problem went away as soon as I started gripping the gun like a man.
The front sight, a concern among some current AO owners, seemed to have been staked on properly and showed no signs of looseness. Accuracy was not bad at all for a mil-spec, but shots tended to drift slightly to the left and high, but not so much that it bothered me. The trigger seemed to have smoothed out really quickly after the first 100 rds or so and broke fairly crisp. Once again, way more than you'd expect for a GI mil-spec.
If I had any complaint at all, it's the standard high ejection port. I was reminded as to why I've always hated it. A few times the brass would deflect off the side of the port and bounce
back into the slide. Luckily, it was after the last round so releasing the mag or turning the gun upside down would simply let the casing drop out of the gun. Not serious, but really annoying. My old, custom Essex had this issue and it didn't go away until I had the port lowered. I remember the issued 1911s from my days in the Corps would do this every now and then also. Sooner or later, its gonna cause a stoppage if a brass case gets deflected back and causes a stovepipe.
Anyway, for those of you who have stayed away from the AOs based on your earlier Numrich, West Hurley experiences, these new Kahr 1911s are definitely not the same animal. You might want to give them a look see if you're looking for a cheap GI mil-spec or project gun. Right now, I'm pretty happy with mine and don't plan on making any mods to it (despite the high ejection port). I trust it enough to use it as my home defense gun at the moment.
UPDATE:
A couple of folks has been asking about the barrel and whether it was standard GI or was throated. It's throated.
Here's a better shot of the chamber and rifling.
Note, that's oil and fibers from my cleaning patch on the rifling. The grooves are actually very smooth.