Hammer bite!!! OUCH! Remington R1 range report.

[gunnut1]

Finally got out to the range yesterday. Shot my new R1 for the first time. I like it. It is accurate (if I did my part, the gun did it's part) and I had no problems with it that I could not blame on the ammo. I was shooting steel plates at about 20 yards so I cannot speak for the grouping. It fed great. I bought some magazines from Joe's and they also worked great. I do need to tune a couple of them but they worked right out of the box.

I had some lousy reloads. These were loaded in my early days of loading pistol ammo so there were a few problems with them. The biggest problem I had was bullets seated to far out and I had one squib. Fortunately, I caught the squib and that ended my day of shooting. It was to danged hot to shoot anyway. It was 101. Some of them did not go fully into battery. A simple rap on the back of the slide fixed that problem. So I went back to the Range Officer shack, removed the stuck bullet and cleaned my gun. (I am a Range Officer at my club) I was shooting 250 grain lead bullets and Barry plated 230 grain FMJ. Under them I had 5.5 grains of Unique ignited by CCI primers.

The biggest problem I had with it is the age old 1911 problem. Hammer bite. OUCH!!!!! I am going to put a longer beaver tail on it so that should take care of that problem.

I REALLY like this 1911. After owning 3 or 4 of them, this is the only one I have had that is reliable. I am impressed with the gun. I also think as time goes by, I am going to replace some of the cast parts with milled parts just because I think they look better.

Looks like I have a keeper here.

[NEWFNL1A1]

Thanks for the report!

[JasonB]

Originally Posted by gunnut1

I am going to put a longer beaver tail on it so that should take care of that problem.

Unless you get a Pachmayr grip safety (maybe a few other makes?) you will probably have to replace or modify the hammer on your R1 if it is like other 1911 spurs I have seen.

A different or modified hammer might make the difference without changing the grip safety as well.

[NEWFNL1A1]

There was a flat beavertail grip safety back in the 80's I used on my Gold Cup. It was drop in....I can't remember the name, but it almost looked original...just slightly wider and flatter. Worked great, shot combat matches with it, no probs. Might have been a Pachmayr.

[gunnut1]

Originally Posted by JasonB

Unless you get a Pachmayr grip safety (maybe a few other makes?) you will probably have to replace or modify the hammer on your R1 if it is like other 1911 spurs I have seen.

A different or modified hammer might make the difference without changing the grip safety as well.

That was going to be my next question. Do I have to change the hammer also. I would like to keep it looking as gavernment as possible. But the R1 has been altered a bit anyway. It is not exactly like the military model so a new hammer and beaver tail probably would not hurt the looks.

Thanks for the information Jason!

[NEWFNL1A1]

Mine sorta looked like this one...extended straight back like the orig but flared with no upturn.




Combat Extended Wide Grip Safety Stainless Government 1911 John Masen
http://www.galatiinternational.com/p.../BW4541SG.html

Here is an extended one.

http://www.galatiinternational.com/product/BW4535B.html

A cheesey vendor but maybe it's a start.

[gunnut1]

I am up to 300 rounds with the Remmy R1. I bought some magazines from Joe's. They seem to work OK which is more than I can say for the factory mags.

I finally got all of my reloads shot. I had trouble with several of them not going completely into battery probably due to bullet seating depth. A tap on the back of the slide fixed that problem. They were loaded with laser cut lead 250 grain bullets over 5.5 grains of Unique. I am still learning how to reload .45.

I have a drop in beaver tail grip safety and Commander style hammer on the way to solve my hammer bite problem.

Overall, I am very happy for with the gun.

[AndyC]

'nut, take out your barrel - use it as a chamber gauge when testing the seating-depth for your bullets:

[gunnut1]

Thanks mate. I had thought about doing exactly that but I was not sure how deep the cartridge should seat. Great information.

I shot 50 rounds of factory ammo Monday and had no problems. I do have a problem with one of my factory mags though.

Thanks again Andy.

[John Crusher]

There are only 2 types of 1911 shooters. Those who have been bit and those not yet.

[gobbler]

Originally Posted by AndyC

'nut, take out your barrel - use it as a chamber gauge when testing the seating-depth for your bullets:

I bought one of the Dillon .45ACP case gauges and drop mine in before boxing up......works like a drean.

gobbler

[gunnut1]

Does the case gauge gauge only the case, or the OAL of the cartridge. My problem was OAL. I did not set some bullets deep enough. I think thyere were engraving the rifliling. A stout tap on the rear of the slide would send them home. I load on an RCBS progressive and sometimes I just don't stroke it far enough. Plus, I was using a bullet I don't normally use. These were laser cut lead bullets. But I have shot all of those up. I normally use Barry's plated 230 grain bullets. It is a learning curve.

[Deltaten]

JUst take extra care w/the 250's. Some mfgrs have long bearing surface/grease groove area that will stuff into the tapered interior of the case if shoved in too far. Increased pressure and perhaps wobbly boolit from loss of groove dia. squeeze??

J.I.C.

[gunnut1]

Originally Posted by Deltaten

JUst take extra care w/the 250's. Some mfgrs have long bearing surface/grease groove area that will stuff into the tapered interior of the case if shoved in too far. Increased pressure and perhaps wobbly boolit from loss of groove dia. squeeze??

J.I.C.

OOPs typo. I changed to the proper size. 230 grain. 250 grain don't work in a .45 too good. AMHIK And there is no load data for them.

[Nathan Forrest]

I replaced the humped mainspring housing on my Springfield with a flat one like the original John Browning design . That ended the bite problem. The curved WWII style housing pushes up the flesh between your thumb and first finger hence the bite. At last this was the case with mine.

[btill]

I just picked up this Stainless Remington R-1 a couple months back. It's been a good, reliable pistol thus far. I've got around 500 rounds through it. Mostly CCI Blazer Brass and a lot of Sellier & Bellot. A few handloads as well. It runs every bit as good as my Springfield Mil-Spec model.

[def90]

Any updates on the R1s now that they have been out a while?

[gunnut1]

Originally Posted by def90

Any updates on the R1s now that they have been out a while?

I haven't had any problems with mine since I did the mods but then I ran 50 round throught after I did the mad and haven't shot it since. Going to the range tomorrow, might take it with me.

[Hebrew Battle Rifle]

Originally Posted by gunnut1

250 grain don't work in a .45 too good. AMHIK And there is no load data for them.

Actually, they do. I found out when I bought a box of 230 LRN bullets at a gun show , but the vendor handed me a box of 250s by mistake. I didn't find any data either so I made some up. 4.5 grains of W231 under a 250 gr LRN is a mild load that is reasonably accurate in my Sistema and Ballaster Molina. I bumped the charge up to 5 grains and the accuracy decreased. There were no signs of over pressure at the higher charge though.

To get reliable reloads in 45ACP, set your seating die to seat the bullets without crimping. Once the bullets are seated, set the die to form the crimp. (Assuming that you are using a single stage press) Making these two steps instead of trying to make one will solve just about any ammo related feeding problems.

[L Haney]

HBR, are you saying you are crimping the mouth on .45ACP brass?

[SPEEDGUNNER]

I like the flat beavertails as well. Hard to find though, I don't think anyone still makes them. Now all you see are the fancy curved swoopy ones, which to me look like they could hook on your clothing while drawing the pistol.

Here are a couple of examples of the flat ones:



I have also installed them on Government Models with the standard spur hammer, no issues. Drop in w/no fitting.

[shlomo]

Originally Posted by SPEEDGUNNER

I like the flat beavertails as well. Hard to find though, I don't think anyone still makes them. Now all you see are the fancy curved swoopy ones, which to me look like they could hook on your clothing while drawing the pistol.

Here are a couple of examples of the flat ones:



I have also installed them on Government Models with the standard spur hammer, no issues. Drop in w/no fitting.

Just looked in the parts drawer, and I have a stainless one that I'll never use, on account of me bein' a swoopy high-grip beavertail kinda guy.

You ever need one such, PM me.

[SPEEDGUNNER]

PM sent.

[Hebrew Battle Rifle]

Originally Posted by L Haney

HBR, are you saying you are crimping the mouth on .45ACP brass?

Yes. It is a taper crimp. Just like factory ammo.