TargetTalk

I thought you guys might get a kick out of this.

My dad had his father's surplus .45 that had been refinished back in the 60s. We used to shoot it all the time when I was a kid. Now that I'm shooting bullseye, I've been trying to figure out a reasonable way to shoot centerfire/.45 as well as .22.

I had him send it to me with the idea that I'd put target sights on it, get the trigger done, tighten up the slide and barrel bushing, and be ready to go without spending too much money.

Turns out it was shipped to the Army in 1913 (SN 25,XXX), and it still has almost all the original markings and parts. Whoever refinished it just polished them all (including the magazine), dropped them in a blueing tank, and then put it all back together. Needless to say I lost interest in messing with it pretty quickly.

So, instead of setting it up for bullseye, my gunsmith (who also happens to be the local restoration guru) is fixing some minor mechanical and cosmetic issues (the slide rails were a little beat up, it had a trigger job that was WAY too light, somebody pulled out the lanyard loop, and the rear sight and grips weren't right). Now I've got a family heirloom/ 95 year old m1911. The non-original finish is a bummer, but it's actually pretty close to the finish it came out of the Colt factory with. I'm not going to cry over spilled milk.

When I took it to the smith, I said, "Hey, John, how about we drill some holes in this sucker so we can mount a red dot?" You don't want to see the look he gave me.

Anyway, I'm back to trying to figure out what to do about a bullseye pistol. No real reason I can't shoot it as it is. My scores might stink, but maybe I'd get some style points.

Oh, and no, I don't want to trade it for a bullseye pistol. ;)

-J.

The Great News:

Congratulations on your family heirloom! I inherited a Colt 45 revolver issued to my grandfather (prior to WWI?) that is in pristine condition. I have kept it cleaned and oiled, and even have a bunch of half-moon clips *and* a couple of boxes of (1930s?) vintage ammo.

No, I don't dare fire it, although it looks great! Lots of holster wear but otherwise original. Treat your "hand me down" with care and respect.


The Not So Great News:

You already know the answer to "What Do I Shoot In Bullseye" question. In my opinion, anything less than "A Dedicated Match Grade M1911" (Les Baer, Rock River, etc) will result in frustration and disappointment; and since that's what you will end up with anyways why not cut out all the time, hassle, and money and go straight to "the right answer?"

There is that minor detail ~$2,000 . . .

Steve

Yeah, I'm a "go straight to the right answer" kind of guy.

So is my wife, but unfortunately her "right answer" is, "You're not going to spend $2000 on gun, I don't care how cool it is." Since I won't be paying our mortgage with my tournament winnings anytime soon, I have to say I see the logic in her argument.

So, in this case I'm going to have to go with Teddy Roosevelt, who was busy getting shot in the chest while running for a third term as president right around when my pistol was built:

"Do what you can with what you have where you are."

That means keep shooting the High Standard, practice, practice, practice, and bust out the 1911 and some hardball ammo once in a while to scare the hell out of some targets. If most of them hit the paper and a few are in the scoring rings I'll be pretty happy.

-J.

Here's an unexpected bonus.

Because the trigger job was so poorly done, the only thing my gunsmith could do that kept the hammer from following was to bring it back to a GI trigger pull and then some.

Dry fire practice is like lifting weights for my trigger finger.

Oh, here's a picture of the end result. The sights are WWII and don't match, but that's a future project.



I'll post my score from monday night league, I'm planning on shooting a practice round with it.

-J.

Thanks for the picture- the finish doesn't look as bad as I thought based on your description earlier (quite nice actually!). I love the "Old Timey" font used for the markings and the original "prancing pony" logo.

Enjoy your fine pistol!

Let me know how well it shoots . . . what a bonus if it could group, eh?

Steve

The finish is even nicer when the fingerprints are wiped off!

Yeah, the pony is pretty cool, and it has all the original proof and inspection marks too.

As for grouping, I took it to pistol league with a box of commercial hardball and shot a NMC with it. I got a 71-1x out of 300. It's a rattle-trap, so it will never perform like a real target pistol, but I'd say 95% of the problem is I need to learn to shoot .45 without flinching. I don't see why it wouldn't shoot into the 250s if I did my part.

With dry fire practice the Popeye trigger is lightening up a little. Either that or I've been eating my Wheaties.

Any way you cut it, it's a fun gun to shoot, it has a family history, and it has an actual history. I can't complain.

In a few years I'll have the money for a proper target .45, and for at least the next year I'll have plenty of work to do to get my .22 scores in the realm where I'd feel like I had a good foundation to start working on centerfire/.45.

-J.