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Pawpaw wrote:

gljjt wrote:Reading this makes me think I wouldn't want to own a 1911. This makes it sound like "1911 parts" are not interchangeable, perhaps even unsafe. I don't own one, kind of wanted to get one, but now I am not so sure. I want to shoot and enjoy, not become a gunsmith via OJT. Thoughts?

They're not unsafe unless someone makes them that way.

The 1911 has been incrementally changed from JMB's original design. As designed, you could detail strip 100 pistols, scramble the parts, and reassemble 100 safe and reliable pistols with very good "combat accuracy".

With the quest for precision (although precious few can truly take advantage of it), has come the practice of making many parts slightly over-sized so they can be hand fitted to more precise tolerances. Today, even entry-level 1911s use hand fitted parts, particularly in the fire control group.

JSThane wrote:

Would you upgrade your new Kimber with Wilson Combat parts? Like, hammer, sear, trigger, springs?

Not unless there was some issue or problem with them. Keep in mind that new parts are likely going to require careful fitting, especially things like the sear and hammer. Out of the box, the Wilson Combat parts might not even work properly, or at all. I fitted an ambidextrous safety to a 1911 several years ago, doing the work myself. It took a couple hours of very careful fitting and polishing, as the Wilson safety was deliberately oversized on the internal lug, to allow for such fitting. Springs are an easier matter to change out; just make sure you've got the right weight for the ammo you're using if you mess with the recoil spring. I wouldn't mess with the sear spring or the hammer spring; unless they break, there's no reason to swap them out.

Unless you are trying to lighten the trigger, provide a customization toward a specific purpose (like my ambi safety), or are experiencing some part-related failure, I would actually recommend -against- replacing internal parts. I "got away" with kludging it together myself, but it's really the job of a competent gunsmith to fit these things, as you're working with some very small bearing surfaces on the sear and hammer hooks, surfaces that require precise angles for proper function. "Getting it wrong" can go -very- wrong indeed, resulting in everything from a gun that won't fire to a gun that will go off if bumped the wrong way.

People like to badmouth the metal-injection molded parts (MIM parts), but unless you mess with them, they serve quite well. People also like to "customize" their guns, and this keeps gunsmiths in business fixing it.