Pawn Shop Circuit: Range Rumors
I was at the range this morning, contentedly shooting my Gold Cup and my Clark 1911. I noticed, after several magazines, that a fellow in black BDUs was watching me intently. I shot another magazine through the Clark gun, and he sauntered over. "Want to run a mag or two?" I asked.
"No," he said, "It's just that I had one of them nine-eleven guns and it weren't worth crap. All it would do is jam up"
"Really?" I asked, "What kind was it?" I suppose I was expecting him to reply Armscor or Kimber.
I was surprised when he replied "Springfield."
"Yep, I just sold that some bitch," he declared, "I lost three hundret dollars on it too. It weren't worth crap."
"Where did you sell it?" I asked.
He gave me the address of Neil's pawn shop.
"Hello Neil!" I said cheerily as I walked inside.
"Where have you been?" Neil asked, "You missed a good .357 magnum last week."
"Dadgummit," I replied. "Well, since I'm here, let me see that old chrome pistol over there."
"This 'un ain't old," Neil stated as he removed the Springfield GI45.
"Mind if I fieldstrip it?" I asked.
I noted a McCormick magazine as I began the field stripping, and I asked if there were any additional mags. There were not. Once inside the pistol I saw that it had never been lubricated or cleaned. It had soot and silver metal filings all through it. I wiped a bit of the soot and metal dust onto a finger tip and sniffed it in front of Neil.
"How much?" I inquired.
"Tag says $349," countered an unimpressed Neil.
"Yep. Now how much do I have to give you to get this pistol out your door?" I smiled.
"Hell Xavier, $350 out the door." said Neil, "I know I can get that for this pistol."
"Yep, you sure can," I said. I broke out the checkbook.
I had the day off, so I took the Springfield home and began to clean it up. It quickly became evident that this pistol had very little wear. It had never been cleaned. There was evidence that some type of machine oil had been squirted across the top of the frame in a feeble attempt to lubricate it. I detail stripped the gun, cleaned it all with brake cleaner, then reassembled and lubricated it with Break-Free and Tetra grease.
The pistol actually cleaned up really well. As I worked it over, I made note of the MIM sear and disconnect, as well as the MIM extractor. I'm pretty sure there is more MIM in this pistol, but I'm not really concerned. I'll probably do nothing at all to it.
Once cleaned and lubricated, I took the stainless GI45 to the range to try it out. I shot 200 rounds of Winchester White Box, a box of MagTech, and some reloads. The pistol never skipped a beat. It was not my most accurate 1911, but it was reliable. It's amazing what a little lubrication will do.
I am not certain what I will do with this pistol. I may keep it for trade fodder, I may return it using Neil's generous return policy. There was a time that I wanted a stainless Springfield to learn checkering and engraving on. I may sacrifice it to that cause. One thing is for certain, however, this Springfield GI45 was a reliable firearm. It's previous owner just did not know how to properly lubricate it.
"No," he said, "It's just that I had one of them nine-eleven guns and it weren't worth crap. All it would do is jam up"
"Really?" I asked, "What kind was it?" I suppose I was expecting him to reply Armscor or Kimber.
I was surprised when he replied "Springfield."
"Yep, I just sold that some bitch," he declared, "I lost three hundret dollars on it too. It weren't worth crap."
"Where did you sell it?" I asked.
He gave me the address of Neil's pawn shop.
"Hello Neil!" I said cheerily as I walked inside. "Where have you been?" Neil asked, "You missed a good .357 magnum last week."
"Dadgummit," I replied. "Well, since I'm here, let me see that old chrome pistol over there."
"This 'un ain't old," Neil stated as he removed the Springfield GI45.
"Mind if I fieldstrip it?" I asked.
I noted a McCormick magazine as I began the field stripping, and I asked if there were any additional mags. There were not. Once inside the pistol I saw that it had never been lubricated or cleaned. It had soot and silver metal filings all through it. I wiped a bit of the soot and metal dust onto a finger tip and sniffed it in front of Neil.
"How much?" I inquired.
"Tag says $349," countered an unimpressed Neil.
"Yep. Now how much do I have to give you to get this pistol out your door?" I smiled.
"Hell Xavier, $350 out the door." said Neil, "I know I can get that for this pistol."
"Yep, you sure can," I said. I broke out the checkbook.
I had the day off, so I took the Springfield home and began to clean it up. It quickly became evident that this pistol had very little wear. It had never been cleaned. There was evidence that some type of machine oil had been squirted across the top of the frame in a feeble attempt to lubricate it. I detail stripped the gun, cleaned it all with brake cleaner, then reassembled and lubricated it with Break-Free and Tetra grease. The pistol actually cleaned up really well. As I worked it over, I made note of the MIM sear and disconnect, as well as the MIM extractor. I'm pretty sure there is more MIM in this pistol, but I'm not really concerned. I'll probably do nothing at all to it.
Once cleaned and lubricated, I took the stainless GI45 to the range to try it out. I shot 200 rounds of Winchester White Box, a box of MagTech, and some reloads. The pistol never skipped a beat. It was not my most accurate 1911, but it was reliable. It's amazing what a little lubrication will do. I am not certain what I will do with this pistol. I may keep it for trade fodder, I may return it using Neil's generous return policy. There was a time that I wanted a stainless Springfield to learn checkering and engraving on. I may sacrifice it to that cause. One thing is for certain, however, this Springfield GI45 was a reliable firearm. It's previous owner just did not know how to properly lubricate it.
Labels: 1911's, Gun Maintenance, Pawn Shop Circuit
posted by Xavier at 4:24 PM
10 Comments:
"nine-eleven guns"???
Oh man, that's funny.
I dunno. I've run several 1911s bone-dry and they're still reliable anyway. I usually just use CLP on the rails and action and call it a day, though.
If you've still got it at income tax time, let me know. I'll drive to Monroe to get it, or we can descend on Junior in Tullos and all have a laugh.
"911 guns"
yeah, he doesn't know the name of his weapon or even how to clean it, but his black BDUs look FABULOUS!
Just another Tactical Tom
Xavier,
In your article you mentioned MIM. What is that?
Xavier.
PawPaw beat me to the punch but if for what ever reason that falls through..
Please keep me in mind. I've been looking for a GI repro as a companion to my marlin Camp .45
It'd be worth the FFL transfer to put some cash in your pocket, and get a gun I've been looking for.
Like I said, just put me at the back of the line..
Was just curious, you said you expected him to say Armscor or Kimber. What is the problem with Kimbers? I am looking into getting my first 1911 and they were one of the manufacturers that I was looking at. Do they have a lot of problems?
Curse your evil luck, Xavier! If you ever decide to play the lottery, don't tell us about it.
Kidding aside, that is a nice pistol that will treat anyone right if they treat it right.
Ok.....Here we go. Kimbers...I have no problem with Kimbers. I have no Kimbers. The Series 1 Kimbers were good guns. The Series II, especially with the external extractor had problems.
MIM=Metal Injection Molding. when done right, it's supposed to be an OK way to fabricate intricate parts. Done poorly, it leads to broken parts. The problem is, you don't know which you have until it breaks. On range guns you really don't need to swap out Mim, but on a carry gun, I prefer tool steel parts. Some other folks who know the 1911 intimately and better than me, disagree.
"Guilty!"
Guilty as charged for not having cleaned either of my 1911 clones until now.
I plead guilty with extenuating circumstances. I didn't own a barrel bushing wrench. Until yesterday.
I had written to Para-Ord, who made one of my two clones to ask where to buy one and they sent one to me. I'm not even the original owner. They sent it International, from Canada. Now THAT's customer service. Send out something for free, International mail, to someone who buys your product second hand.
I've taken one down for basic disassembly and cleaning. A lot of powder fouling from the tame, low-power loads I get from the club member I trust to do reloading for me. Smokey but mild and accurate. I took my Charles Daly 1911A1 down and cleaned it with good results. No metal shavings found. I bought this gun used, too, but they haven't replied to my e-mail about lacking a bushing wrench.
Tonight it's time for me to take down my 14.45. I've had it less time and fired fewer rounds but expect to be cleaning as much power fouling from it as the CD 1911 had.
I've got Corrosion X going into the guns right now for both cleaning and lube. Seems to do the job as a CLP type product as well or better than CLP itself.
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