So I detail stripped my S&W 1911PD this weekend...

[edirtyfour]

And I was very mildly disappointed in the number of roughly finished MIM parts.

Oh well looks like I'm going to have to get forged internals and learn more about 1911 smithing. Oh the tragedy.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Why? Is it not working properly?

 

[edirtyfour]

Why? Is it not working properly?

It runs fine, but I wouldn't mind taking it to a pistol/carbine class this year. I read a report of a guy with a slide stop breakage in a class and another with different part breakage (the disconnector IIRC).

It has run fine with 1500 rds of ball through it, but I like to carry it and would prefer forged internals.

 

[mark056]

edirtyfour,

This gets a bit sticky and I certainly mean no offense here...but if it works okay..then why worry about MIM or forged? I think some times we really worry about things to the point where we go into "over worry mode." Now naturally you have your preferences and there are a lot of people who will insist only on forged parts.

How many rounds do you plan on putting through your S&W 1911? If you shot 50K to 100K rounds a year, then maybe you would have cause for concern.

Anyway, I wish you all the best with your 1911 regardless.

Mark L.

 

[JonJ]

It runs fine, but I wouldn't mind taking it to a pistol/carbine class this year. I read a report of a guy with a slide stop breakage in a class and another with different part breakage (the disconnector IIRC).

It has run fine with 1500 rds of ball through it, but I like to carry it and would prefer forged internals.

You haven't heard of anyone that had a failure with forged parts?

 

[edirtyfour]

edirtyfour,

This gets a bit sticky and I certainly mean no offense here...but if it works okay..then why worry about MIM or forged? I think some times we really worry about things to the point where we go into "over worry mode." Now naturally you have your preferences and there are a lot of people who will insist only on forged parts.

How many rounds do you plan on putting through your S&W 1911? If you shot 50K to 100K rounds a year, then maybe you would have cause for concern.

Anyway, I wish you all the best with your 1911 regardless.

Mark L.

I pretty much agree, I was more vocalizing a bit of surprise at seeing unmachined slag on the disconnector. This is all pretty casual for me - I'm in no rush to replace the parts. S&W's source for MIM parts is better than most.

A cursory search online reveals two broken slide stops and a broken trigger in addition to the word of mouth broken disconnector that I heard about. I wouldn't care for most of my guns but I like the idea of not having to use S&W stellar customer service if I ever have to in a carry piece. With today's metallurgical processes the odds of them breaking are slim, but if I have to rely on it why not? I'll learn a little in the process, maybe even start a working relationship with a smith like Greg Derr or other highly recommended individual.

If I did it's the same reason why I'd spend the money on a Colt, LMT, or other tier one BCG or upper for the AR-15. Quality parts but more importantly a higher quality QC. Every BCG is HPT'ed and MPI'ed. Do I need it for plinking? No. Do I want a tested bolt for a carbine that I might depend on? Hell yes.

Long story short I'm not concerned about MIM parts in the gun in general (I bought a sub $1000 1911 after all), just might get at least the slide stop swapped out for forged sometime in the future.

 

[edirtyfour]

You haven't heard of anyone that had a failure with forged parts?

Of course I have Forgings have to be cast at some point in the creation process. I have absolutely nothing against MIM parts, just a wee bit surprised that some of the parts like my disconnector were a little "in the rough". If I replace a part it will probably be the slide stop.

If I drop money on full set of nice forged parts it'll be for the Caspian group buy.

 

[pj150]

Well, if it wasn't for MIM, that 1911 would be 2x the cost.

Not to say that it won't be worth it but they certainly wouldn't be as popular as they are now.

 

[edirtyfour]

Well, if it wasn't for MIM, that 1911 would be 2x the cost.

Not to say that it won't be worth it but they certainly wouldn't be as popular as they are now.

For sure. There's a ton of crazies out there and the more I read about MIM parts in firearms the more I realize that it's a really touchy issue. Should have issued the disclaimer that I'm not moonbat looney over forged/MIM and that I'm okay with MIM parts sooner. With modern MIM processes producing parts tougher than those called by in the original specs I'm not worried.

 

[EddieCoyle]

For sure. There's a ton of crazies out there and the more I read about MIM parts in firearms the more I realize that it's a really touchy issue. Should have issued the disclaimer that I'm not moonbat looney over forged/MIM and that I'm okay with MIM parts sooner. With modern MIM processes producing parts tougher than those called by in the original specs I'm not worried.

Yup.

A couple of my customers (non-gun related) replaced forged parts with MIM because of the metallurgy available to MIM. MIM got a real bad rep in the firearms industry early on because some mfgs used MIM where it never should've been used (internal extractors).

 

[Urj]

I get what the OP is saying because I had exactly the same experience. my SW1911PD had the same roughly finished parts all over it. Even the MSH had sharp checkering that would cut my hand when shooting. The thumb safety and slide stop had burrs left on the insides that scratched up the frame. I honestly can't think of one part of the gun that didn't have burrs or grit to it. In short, I wanted to get rid of the gun two days after I bought it; I hated it.

I've replaced most of the parts with good quality after-market parts and it is now my favorite gun. I've stoned and polished and fitted for hours on end and now not only does it look a thousand times better it functions much more smoothly, accurately, and is actually fun to shoot.

It's not the fact that the parts are MIM it's the fact that they're so poorly finished. The assembly line there does the bare minimum to get the hammer to drop and out the door it goes.

Just for kicks -

 

[edirtyfour]

I get what the OP is saying because I had exactly the same experience. my SW1911PD had the same roughly finished parts all over it. Even the MSH had sharp checkering that would cut my hand when shooting. The thumb safety and slide stop had burrs left on the insides that scratched up the frame. I honestly can't think of one part of the gun that didn't have burrs or grit to it. In short, I wanted to get rid of the gun two days after I bought it; I hated it.

I've replaced most of the parts with good quality after-market parts and it is now my favorite gun. I've stoned and polished and fitted for hours on end and now not only does it look a thousand times better it functions much more smoothly, accurately, and is actually fun to shoot.

It's not the fact that the parts are MIM it's the fact that they're so poorly finished. The assembly line there does the bare minimum to get the hammer to drop and out the door it goes.

Thanks for summing up in one post what took me a few to explain.

That's the pistol I have - sounds like you turned her into a real beauty. I'm very interested as to the work you did on it.

 

[edirtyfour]

Yup.

A couple of my customers (non-gun related) replaced forged parts with MIM because of the metallurgy available to MIM. MIM got a real bad rep in the firearms industry early on because some mfgs used MIM where it never should've been used (internal extractors).

Yup - there's a reason why John Moses Browning specified spring steel for those.