Does anyone shoot a S&W 1911 9mm Pro series competitively?

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I really want to get one of these pistols - heard nothing but good about it and it sure as heck would be a lot cheaper to shoot than .45ACP (no, I don't have time to reload).

However, it seems like it's really at a disadvantage for USPSA which is what I shoot - not production legal, and only minor power factor for L-10 and/or Single Stack (although I really don't mind that much), and really seems like an IDPA gun.

Does anyone use one of these competitively? Should I take up IDPA just so I can justify the gun?
 
Shoot what makes you happy. minor isn't going to be as competitive, but you will get 2 extra rounds in SS. You will get to shoot 2x as much with the 9mm. The extra practice and training, if focused will pay off bigger than the points bump to major.

John S is very competitive with his Cheely built 1911 9mm in SS. But then again, there are few shooters as smooth as John
 
One of the New Bedford members Fred V shoots one and really likes the gun. I shot SS minor yesterday for the first time. My ammo was a little long so I had problems but I should have that straightened out for next match.

HDGUN gave me his load data so I can use up my .357 Berry's bullets. I went to 9MM because of hand problems and find the recoil with heavy 9MM bullets much easier to deal with. Today was the first day after a match my hands were not swollen. I may have finally found the answer to me shooting longer.

My 1911 is a Springfield but the reviews I got on the S&W were great. A friend shot one for 2 seasons for S&W while they were getting the bugs out so it was a proven on the range product before it was released. They tell you Wilson mags only as the most reliable. I have Wilson and 3 Tripp mags and find they function about the same.
 
It's definitely on my list to shoot some IDPA ESP and SS minor with eventually. BJ Norris finished 6th at SS Nats shooting minor. I don't think it's that big of a disadvantage. Slightly faster splits plus the capacity advantage mitigates some of the lost points.
 
On a related subject does a single stack .40 (like an STI trojan) fit in the IDPA box with 10 round mags or just with 9 rounders? If it does you could shoot IDPA ESP, USPSA single stack minor or major, and limited 10 all with one gun.
 
It's definitely on my list to shoot some IDPA ESP and SS minor with eventually. BJ Norris finished 6th at SS Nats shooting minor. I don't think it's that big of a disadvantage. Slightly faster splits plus the capacity advantage mitigates some of the lost points.

It is a disadvantage at his level, rarely is 10 shots a huge advantage over 8 especially at majors, It allows for some cushion for mistakes, but at BJ level, mistakes are going to hurt bad no matter what. plus recoil recovery is the same with minor or major when you get in the upper levels. Locally, if 9mm SS allows you to practice more, you will see a bigger return on that then the bump in points by going major
 
Hello all,
I was looking thru this thread and thought I would jump in and ask for help.
I would love to learn how to shoot steel plates. I do not know what this takes or what type of competition it is called but I am looking for a Tutor/Mentor to help me get into this kind of shooting. I do not necessarily want to compete all the time but I want to learn.
I am a reloader and hve many guns to choose from but I do not know what is best.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
please feel free to PM me and Thank you for your time
Dan
 
Hello all,
I was looking thru this thread and thought I would jump in and ask for help.
I would love to learn how to shoot steel plates. I do not know what this takes or what type of competition it is called but I am looking for a Tutor/Mentor to help me get into this kind of shooting. I do not necessarily want to compete all the time but I want to learn.
I am a reloader and hve many guns to choose from but I do not know what is best.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
please feel free to PM me and Thank you for your time
Dan

Best bet is to go to a local steel match, tell the RO you are new and they will help you out. Then ask the shooters there for tips and critiques. the one thing I have found with the local steel USPSA IDPA is people are more than willing to help out new shooters. If you are looking to get into IDPA or USPSA, there are ranges around that hold weekly practices
 
It's on my list to get as an ESP gun. It is, however, going to be a reward for being in contention for Master class in SSP... which is at least one class away.

I've posted about magwells and such I am planning to stick on it. I am slightly concerned about reliability, however. The 1911 in 9mm doesn't have a great reputation. People seem to like the Smith Pro version, but the reviews I've seen posted aren't running high round-counts through it, or abusing it the way practical shooters do.

I'd be interested to see how you like it after a few matches and a couple thousand rounds!
 
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First off, I've shot Fred V's 9 and it is great. I think the factory Wilson 9mm mags are a big part of its reliability. It sounds to me that you'd really like to buy one so buy with confidence. That being said - if USPSA is your primary outlet, use the 9mm for practice and then use a 45 for matches. The last couple of years I shot limited I used a 9mm as training gun to save a little money on ammo and to save a little wear and tear on my elbows which were really tender with tendonitis. Rob Leatham's an advocate of this also (and that's about the only thing we have in common). The recoil impulse is not that much different. If you spend a little time playing with recoil springs in both guns, you can get them to feel very similar. If you want to stick with the 9 for USPSA, no sweat - just shoot A's ALL of the time. It just requires patience and discipline. You just can't shoot faster than you can shoot A's. I shot NB's September match Limited 10 minor after shooting Open all year. I focused on shooting all A's all day and I did pretty well overall in the match. The problem with shooting minor is that it's very unforgiving. One bad stage and you're done. As an aside - it's a perfect IDPA ESP pistol.
 
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My 1911 9mm is THE softest shooting center fire gun I own (STI Trojan) by a big margin. For some reason I don't tend to shoot it very often... once I went to a steel match and shot that and my G34. I was much faster with the Glock... but mostly because the 1911 was so soft I couldn't understand what it was doing... I'm not kidding.

As far as divisions- if you can avoid getting all wrapped up in desire to win ( I can't) just shoot one and have some fun. The gun (or minor) won't hold you back unless you let it... at least at the local level.
 
The M&P Pro is legal for Production in the USA. IPSC (international) rules dictate a shorter barrel (4.7 in or so) but allow 15 round mags. I am currently shooting a Pro in Production. The one I bought has a creepy trigger that I have not been able to cure and the front sight fell off. S&W admitted that some of their Pro slides left the factory with oversized front sight dovetails and said all they could do was use a staking tool on the underside of the sight to disrupt the metal for an interference fit because their sights were too small for the dovetail. I gave up on S&W and bought a front sight from Brownells that was oversized and allowed me to fit it to the S&W dovetail. Neither S&W QC or customer service is what it used to be.
 
I'd be interested to see how you like it after a few matches and a couple thousand rounds!

Thousands of rounds and some very high finishes by a shooter friend of mine in IDPA and USPSA show me at least his 9MM S&W 1911 works. In the first year he was testing he had trouble. Then they switched to ramped barrel. That helped. Next they went to Wilson mags. That solved the problem except with certain bullet profiles.

I have learned that my Springfield does not like some JHP loads I have. I want heavy bullets for my own reason and find the 158gr round nose work. (Thanks John) I will stick with them.
 
Like a few members here have mentioned ( Thanks Mike and Gary )I shoot a 9mm 1911 for USPSA. My main gun is a custom build by Matt Cheely, It has been THE most reliable gun in my collection. My back up is a semi custom also in 9mm, again highly reliable. Both built on Caspian Race ready frames. Chip Mcormick mags are a staple for my guns. Never tried any other.

As far as being competitive, on a local level, you can get away with minor scoring as long as you can keep your points to 90-95%. shoot a few Ds in a stage and your in the toilet. Like another had mentioned you get 2 extra rounds shooting minor. this may translate into saving a reload which saves any where from 1.5- 2.5 seconds on a stage. I shot the last Area 7 shooting minor and missed winning the div by 3% but i also shot the Area 7 Sectional and won by 1.5%. This shooting against Major. So, shooting minor has it's + and -s.

On another note, it is really fun to shoot and shoot just a little cheaper.
 
Hello all,
I was looking thru this thread and thought I would jump in and ask for help.
I would love to learn how to shoot steel plates. I do not know what this takes or what type of competition it is called but I am looking for a Tutor/Mentor to help me get into this kind of shooting. I do not necessarily want to compete all the time but I want to learn.
I am a reloader and hve many guns to choose from but I do not know what is best.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
please feel free to PM me and Thank you for your time
Dan

Dan, like SM said, the vast majority of competitive shooters are very helpful to getting new shooters started in the events - no matter what type it is (steel, USPSA, IDPA, ICORE, SASS, shotgunning ect...) Just pick a match and let an RO know that you are new and learning. Any center fire pistol or revo works for steel - except magnums of course. Personally, I like 9's, 38's, and 40's. Best if you have four mags that hold at least 8 -10 rounds. Moon clips or speed loaders for the funny round guns...

If you are interested in local steel matches, MRA in Woburn typically has knock down steel two Sundays a month during the winter and static steel on Monday nights.

Additionally, you can find the USPSA and Steel Challenge matches held in the Northeast here:
http://www.uspsa-ne.org/matches.asp?year=2010
 
The M&P Pro is legal for Production in the USA. IPSC (international) rules dictate a shorter barrel (4.7 in or so) but allow 15 round mags. I am currently shooting a Pro in Production. The one I bought has a creepy trigger that I have not been able to cure and the front sight fell off. S&W admitted that some of their Pro slides left the factory with oversized front sight dovetails and said all they could do was use a staking tool on the underside of the sight to disrupt the metal for an interference fit because their sights were too small for the dovetail. I gave up on S&W and bought a front sight from Brownells that was oversized and allowed me to fit it to the S&W dovetail. Neither S&W QC or customer service is what it used to be.

I would love an M&P Pro, but I'd rather get the 1911 Pro first.
 
The 1911 Pro shouldn't need more than a good trigger job, mag well and ammo.

It does have a factory magwell, though I don't know how it compares to the aftermarket choices. I'd probably change the sights as I don't like 3 dot sights for competition.
 
It does have a factory magwell, though I don't know how it compares to the aftermarket choices. I'd probably change the sights as I don't like 3 dot sights for competition.

It seems like it ships with a typical S&A-style mag-well. For some money, ridiculous mag-wells like Stan Chen's stuff or a Dawson Ice are in a whole different league (while still being ESP legal).

Sadly, the SW sight-cuts are not just Novak sight-cuts, so sight selection is a little more limited. I think Warren Tactical makes some nice black-on-black or fiber-optic sights that will fit SW1911s, luckily. Sight height might be an issue on the 9mm model.
 
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Not really planning on doing anything special to it right away. Maybe a trigger job, but that'll wait until the spring is closer as I'm already pouring all of my disposable income into it.
 
It seems like it ships with a typical S&A-style mag-well. For some money, ridiculous mag-wells like Stan Chen's stuff or a Dawson Ice are in a whole different league (while still being ESP legal).

Sadly, the SW sight-cuts are not just Novak sight-cuts, so sight selection is a little more limited. I think Warren Tactical makes some nice black-on-black or fiber-optic sights that will fit SW1911s, luckily. Sight height might be an issue on the 9mm model.

If the sight cut is not compatible with what you ultimately desire, don't get that model. Get a standard gun for a lot less money and have it modified to what YOU want.
 
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