| 20,243 rounds | 10 stoppages | 0 malfunctions | 1 parts breakages |
It’s been a while since the last update. My teaching schedule has had me on the road pretty much nonstop which means less practice time than usual.
The big news, obviously, is that the gun surpassed the 20,000 round mark. It’s managed to stay on the right side of a 2,000 MRBS (mean rounds between stoppage) rate and with the exception of one small pin nothing has broken. While the gun has received more maintenance attention than previous tests — the gun has already been cleaned thirteen times — it’s only been detail stripped once.
The other news is not so good. During the second day of a 3-day class in Oklahoma the pistol suffered another stoppage: a failure to feed. The top round on the magazine failed to rise with the casehead not even reaching the extractor. The problem was quickly identified as debris in the magazine. Most of the magazines had been dropped repeatedly in the sandy red dirt and were clearly in need of cleaning. I cleaned the mags that night and suffered no more problems for two full days of shooting. Nonetheless, because the stoppage occurred during normal operation it still counts.
I’ve been carrying the gun in the new 5 Shot Leather S.M.E. aiwb holster. You can read all about the holster’s three year development at pistol-forum.com. It’s been used for many long drives and days of range time. The S.M.E. is the best balance of concealment and comfort I’ve experienced in an appendix holster for the 1911 so far. The 1911 version comes with two sets of belt loops, one for a straight drop and one for a slight reverse cant. I’ve found the reverse cant works best for me with this gun. I run both of my kydex 1911 holsters — JM Custom Kydex and Keepers Concealment — with a reverse cant (can? … sorry, bad pun), as well.
With my teaching schedule being so busy I haven’t had as many chances to practice lately. Luckily, some canceled flights during my trip to Oklahoma allowed me to get on the range for an afternoon with some buddies. Results were generally pretty good:
- After struggling at 25yd with my practice ammo I shot it for accuracy and turned in some unhappy results. So I fired off five shots unsupported standing with my carry ammo (Federal 124gr +p HST), grouping just over two inches.
- Shot a nice clean 4.72 on the F.A.S.T.
- We also shot the Warren Advanced 3-second Standards. I got a 54 out of 63. I gave up one point during the first shooting on the move segment because I stupidly started with only two rounds in my gun. Doh!
Now that pistol-training.com classes are done for the year, I should have a lot more practice time on the range over the next couple of months.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
You can also follow and discuss via the pistol-forum.com 2012-2013 Endurance Test thread.
Previous Springfield/Warren 9mm 1911 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:
- Report #11
- Report #10
- Report #9
- Report #8
- Report #7
- Report #6
- Report #5
- Report #4
- Report #3
- Report #2
- Report #1
- Springfield/Warren 9mm 1911: The Magazines
- Springfield/Warren 9mm 1911: The Gun
- I Own 1911s
- Springfield Endurance Test Guns
- Why 1911?
C’mon, Todd..if your were dropping the mags all day on the first day (or, for that matter, on any day) into areas where there was particulate matter (or liquid, slurry, etc.) that could penetrate into the magazine, that’s a clue that some preventive maintenance is needed-and yeah, an after-session cleaning and lubrication probably wouldn’t be the worst habit to get into, either…
I’m just a bit befuddled as to why you seem to have this perennial aversion to cleaning/lubing gear with any sort of episodic frequency-it’s not like anyone will be questioning your masculinity or anything…
Best, Jon
semi-related question (since you mentioned it):
why P9HST3? any reason for that over P9HST1? is it just for the added “insurance” of the faster/more energetic round?
Todd if you don’t mind, what is the difference in concealment between the SME and the two other kydex holsters?
I would think the kydex would conceal better due to the wedge shape designs near the muzzle portions of the holsters and that the SME would be more comfortable.
Jon — I’ve never had a gun before that needed such TLC, and as such I think the assessment is fair… especially given the complexity of disassembling the Wilson mags.
John — What can I say, I believe in the voodoo of velocity/energy.
Kevin — That’s tough. AIWB varies as much by the carrier as the holster. For me, I find the S.M.E. to be slightly more concealable than the Keeper which is more concealable than the JM Custom. For comfort I’d have to say the S.M.E. and JM Custom are pretty much identical with the Keeper less so during long drives.