Replacing dead washer = range trip

1
Had our old washer not given up the ghost, and had our son not been up here on an unrelated matter with his Dan Wesson, we'd've not pursued an all-.45 indoor range trip on Saturday. But it had, and he was, so we went.

I'm glad he'd come up, as washers are pretty heavy. I'd managed to tie the box into my Saturn's trunk, so I got it home OK, but I could not have moved it myself safely. So he popped over. Now all's I have to do is find a way to recycle the old one. It's in my driveway.

He has this gnarly Dan Wesson race gun. I got to shoot it, and he got to shoot my Springfield mil spec. We found the triggers remarkably similar. Not being familiar with 1911 triggers, I did not have much of a reference, but he had. He said my trigger was good with a tiny bit of "creep." Due to my inexperience, I did not see much difference. His DW is designed for carry, though with a standard length barrel, so it is narrower in the grips than is mine. I liked my fatter grips. However, he totally knows how to use his, and he's a really good shot. We shot at 15, 10, and 7 yards, about 60 or so rounds a piece. Turns out his 10-round mags do not fit in the Springer, though the Springer mags fit his DW.

One thing amazed me about the Springer. As you all may recall, I'm a one-handed shooter. I wanted to try two handed shooting under the watchful eye of my son. When I first mounted it and held it up, the first shot would not go. I dropped the mag and cleared the round, then I asked my son what might be wrong. Turns out, in mounting the gun up, my right thumb had brushed the safety, putting it in some kind of half-safe, or not-quite-engaged safe mode. This made me doubt the use of the 1911 platform for personal defense unless a person would have practiced extensively with it. My son showed my some mounting training he'd picked up at Front Site in Nevada, which entailed sweeping the safety off when "punching" the gun out from chest to full extended arms. So, if this habit is a habit, there will never be a moment like I found. Thus, for personal defense, I'll stick to my double action GP100. Never a problem. The 1911 for me will remain a fun gun for the time being.

One fun thing was having someone else shoot my gun. I was standing behind him, so I got to watch where the brass landed. I put my range bag there and managed to get about 2/3 of the brass to land in there.

Fun times by accident. With factory ammo, yet.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Replacing dead washer = range trip

7
Sounds like fun! I haven't fired a 1911 since I was on the Guard pistol team back around 1980. All our shooting was one handed and our pistols were a little on the rattly side. Would like to try one again some day...probably won't be near as good as I remember being.....the older I get the better I used to be.

Thanks for planning on recycling the washer...I have to apologize and admit that I cringed when I saw the header for this thread, but had to remind myself that the orc's and trolls who leave shot up appliances out in gravel pits and the woods are probably not participants in this venue. This does not seem to be the place for those with tiny minds and huge targets!

Re: Replacing dead washer = range trip

9
Yeah, it was sort of like the brick, but not as violent. It began as a small scratching during the agitation cycle, which grew into a bit of a grind, then into a sort of banshee wail. "Enough!" I says. So hot footed it down to the local appliance store and laid down the kopeks. I still haven't found some one to come get the old one and make pots of bucks recycling it. Looking...

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

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