Reducing recoil of a .45 1911

[Gadsden]

So my fiance and I are giving each other Springfield 1911s for a wedding gift. Her first experience with a 1911 was at a steel plate shoot with a custom rig set up for low recoil.. she loved it (That turned into an expensive shoot.. thanks Kimber45 and crew... I knew you would end up costing me cash on a new gun after that! ).

However, when we did our first IDPA shoot she started getting intimidated by the recoil and developed a wicked flinch by the end of the day. She still loves the 1911 and wants one, but is concerned about the recoil.

My question is this.. other than "ball and dummy" (which we will work on) or getting a 1911 in 9mm (which seems a bit like having a miniature doberman.. just not right), any suggestions? I will be getting a .45 setup for my press, so I could do reduced loads with lighter springs, etc.

Thoughts? Tips? Tricks?[STRIKE] Cats?[/STRIKE]

(thanks again to edmorseiii for letting her borrow his 1911 and mike-mike for coaching her at the IDPA shoot!)

 

[drgrant]

Work up some loads with Winchester WST. You can make powder puff loads no problem with it, in nearly any bullet weight. Course for IDPA, there probably might be some minimum power factor depending on the class the gun is in, etc.... but for things like steel plates/ steel pins this is a non issue. One nice thing about reduced .45 loads is they still will work pretty well against wood bowling pins if the need arises. (whereas 9mm is pretty much worthless in second chance format with wood tables).


-Mike

 

[Bugs100]

I would try 3.8 grains of Bullseye under 200 LSWC @ a 1.250" OAL with a 16 pound recoil spring.

You might have to use a lighter 14 pound spring it all depends on the gun. You might also want to go with a set of rubber finger grips. I put a set on a 1911 that I use for bullseye shooting and they made a big difference.

 

[JimB]

I would try 4.2 gr of bullseye, its not that bad at all.

 

[Gadsden]

Good info thanks! Keep it coming!
I have a keg of Win 231.. any good options for that?

 

[Bugs100]

I also use a 5.1grs of W231 with 200gr lrn in a 1911 that's a fairly light load and the lrn will feed in any 45 easily. That cycles my 1911's with 18.5 springs.

 

[Arto]

How about a buffer to ease up on the metal-to-metal pounding? http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=531663

 

[ChevyGuy91]

(thanks again to edmorseiii for letting her borrow his 1911 and mike-mike for coaching her at the IDPA shoot!)

Any time buddy, I was just glad to see it get a work out.

 

[Jose]

Course for IDPA, there probably might be some minimum power factor depending on the class the gun is in,

The power factor for Custom Defensive Pistol class in IDPA (where .45ACP 1911s play) is 165000. With a 230 grain projectile, you only need to get it to 750 fps to make it pass easily.

That ought to be pretty soft shooting.

 

[jshooter]

Gadsden, If you want to come up to Pembroke Ma I'll bring both of my 9MM 1911's for you folks to try. It may change your mind about them. I have an all stainless Colt Commander and a "mutt" that is done up. Both shoot very soft and for IDPA follow up shots are very quick. I absolutely love them. For my softer shooting .45's I load 3.8gr of clays with a 200gr lead swc. Great in my semis and even better in my 625 revolver.

 

[MassMark]

Do whatever drgrant tells you to do...(well with ammo anyway...)...Mike loads some of the best 45ACP I have ever fired - from mild to wild...

 

[R1ch]

As other have said, get some lighter loads. I run 185 LSWC in mine and it works well. I'm still working my loads down, but currenlty 5.1gr of tightgroup is about 790 fps and works well in my stock 1911.

 

[P-14]

Drop the bullet weight to 185 gr. for her loads. Still very effective and much less kick.

Then, have her practice flinch drills: Have her fire one shot at a time, slowly and deliberately, at 21 feet at a bullseye target. You should load a dummy round randomly in the mag for her and tell her. She will see the barrel dip significantly as she tries to fire the dummy and will learn that it is her fear of the "bang" and kick and not the gun. Repeat as necessary.

My thoughts only.

 

[Chuck Would]

Dry fire - have her do wall drills for 10 minutes a day for a couple weeks.

http://bunnyman-trifecta.blogspot.com/2008/03/dry-fire-wall-drill.html

Then start her out on the reduced bullet weights.

The wall drills will show her the flinch without making it worse.

Dummy round drills are fine for proving a flinch and a great way to start doing tap, rap, bang. But if you have her do live fire it will take all that much longer to get rid of the flinch

 

[exo]

Can't speak much to recoil... but that is an awesome wedding gift to each other. Sounds like a match made in heaven

 

[Supermoto]

Dry fire - have her do wall drills for 10 minutes a day for a couple weeks.

http://bunnyman-trifecta.blogspot.com/2008/03/dry-fire-wall-drill.html

Then start her out on the reduced bullet weights.

The wall drills will show her the flinch without making it worse.

Dummy round drills are fine for proving a flinch and a great way to start doing tap, rap, bang. But if you have her do live fire it will take all that much longer to get rid of the flinch

Wall drill will do nothing for a flinch. It will help develop a smooth trigger press but it will not help with the psychological issues that cause a flinch. If you think the gun is going to go bang while you dry fire, then there are much bigger issues to work on

 

[Gadsden]

Can't speak much to recoil... but that is an awesome wedding gift to each other. Sounds like a match made in heaven

Thanks, I have to agree!

 

[JackDaniels]

It is just as important to learn how to properly hold, handle, and fire a 1911, or any gun that might give you a bit of felt recoil, as it is the tune down your load to reduce the recoil. I would start there.

 

[TY43215]

I would try 3.8 grains of Bullseye under 200 LSWC @ a 1.250" OAL with a 16 pound recoil spring.

You might have to use a lighter 14 pound spring it all depends on the gun. You might also want to go with a set of rubber finger grips. I put a set on a 1911 that I use for bullseye shooting and they made a big difference.

You need to read this again. It is very good advice, add to it ear plugs with muffs over them to deaden noise even more for the flinch

 

[BrianWilson]

Get the 9. No sense her having a gun she cant hit anything with,and doesn't like shooting.

 

[TheRoland]

Shooting any caliber also helps learn recoil control. A few thousand rounds into my 9mm makes my .45s handle far better.

 

[Gadsden]

Get the 9. No sense her having a gun she cant hit anything with,and doesn't like shooting.

She actually likes shooting .45 and does well, but with custom loads. She did quite well with Kimber45's 1911 in .45.

 

[BrianWilson]

Well,thats cool. And its a pretty cool gift. Best of luck on a long happy marriage.

 

[BrianWilson]

Just a thought.. There are two ways you can ride a dirt bike down a bumpy dirt road. You can sit down,grip the tank and bars a hard as you can and take a nice exhausting beating, or you can stand up on the pegs,flex you knees and elbows a little and let the bike bounce around underneath you,whilst you remain relatively UNbeat up. For me ,shooting a major caliber handgun is like that. Obviously you dont want the gun flying out of your hand over your shoulder,but for me,not having an absolute death grip,not trying to absolutely stop the upward motion as much as ride it well makes for a less tense experience. Some people advocate just shooting into the berm or backstop,while seeing what the sights do(you have to keep your eyes open to do this),but not worrying about actually hitting a spot on a target as a way to observe and understand,and thus master the recoil motion. But Im not a very good shot..so take it for what its worth....

 

[seanc]

+1 to most all of the above. Light load+ recoil spring. possibly a different set of grips, but most grips will make a 1911 too fat for a lot of women.. Definitely double up the ears. and then concentrate on the grip. That is the key to success on a 1911..

if all of that fails go a different route, buy a 22 upper and once she has gotten everything down switch back to the 45 upper.

 

[TheRoland]

Another suggestion: Get a full-steel 1911 with a rail and mount a light on it. I have a RemSport 1911 with a pretty small light on it, and the kick is minimal due to the weight. Mounting a larger light (as people do, like a Surefire X300) would increase this effect.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Another suggestion: Get a full-steel 1911 with a rail and mount a light on it. I have a RemSport 1911 with a pretty small light on it, and the kick is minimal due to the weight. Mounting a larger light (as people do, like a Surefire X300) would increase this effect.

While this is a good idea, matches such as IDPA do not allow mounted lights. Using one to make it manageable then having to take it off for shooting a match, if that is something you guys want to do regularly, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Having said that, I am switching to my XD40 for IDPA use, as it is cheaper to feed.

 

[jar]

Then start her out on the reduced bullet weights.

For a given power factor, heavier bullets are softer shooting. The recipe for gentle loads in uncompensated pistols is heavy bullet + fast powder. Try WST, Solo 1000, 231, VV-N320, or another powder of that ilk with 230gr bullets around 750fps (172PF).