1.) Triton Rich - 03/29/2014

[B]Well my friends, I picked up my new sidearm today. I settled on the Metro arms American Classic Commander. It is a 4 1/4" 1911 in 45 ACP. I admit that the main reason for choosing this one is price but I also really like how it looks and it gets mostly favorable reviews online. I immediately installed some ruberized plastic grips to replace the cheap wood ones. I also installed a new hammer (S+W made). I mostly got the new hammer for looks but also figured a higher quality one would work better when I inevitably do a trigger job. Unfortunately, the gun wouldn't operate with the new hammer. It would fire without the grip safety depressed. It was a fit problem between the sear and hammer. I attempted a little polishing here and there but couldn't make it work. I may revisit the problem later with a new sear. I put the original hammer back in and it functions fine. In fact, the trigger already feels nicer thanks to the polishing on the sear. I plan a little trip to the range tomorrow to see how it shoots and cycles. Here are the requisite photos! [/B]:-)

2.) Triton Rich - 03/29/2014

[B]Some of the other amateur gunsmiths out there might appreciate this. There are jigs out there that are made to test the fit between hammer and sear. It is two pins on a block that hold the two parts in position. Well, after thinking about this for a while, I figured why not just install the two parts on the outside of on the frame using the same two holes and pins. I did it that way and it seemed to work just fine. I did, however, put a light scratch on the frame from moving the parts. This could be prevented with a piece of tape.[/B]

3.) bluecat - 03/29/2014

It's about time, that gun has been on the market forever.


Congrats man.

4.) bluecat - 03/29/2014

She is pretty, but can she fight...

5.) DParker - 03/30/2014

Nice! Good call on the grip replacement. I like the all-black look better anyway.

I look forward to your range report.

6.) Deerminator - 03/30/2014

SWEET
Can't wait to see how it shoots

7.) Triton Rich - 03/30/2014

[B]First magazine out of the box......[/B]






[B]Just got back from the range and it went quite well. The pistol performed flawlessly with zero malfunctions. My performance left a little to be desired but plenty of time to work on that. That first group was left of center. I realized there was a couple things I was doing wrong. I was wrapping my finger around the trigger rather than using the pad of my finger. I was also gripping too much with my off hand. I adjusted those two things and my groups moved more to the middle. The groups all stayed about the same size with a handful of flyers along the way. When I did some rapid fire and one handed stuff, the groups opened up of course. Not too bad but I'm hoping to improve. The ammunition I was using was from Freedom Munitions. They are the manufacturer and you can order direct from them online. I got 250 rounds of 230gn ball remanufactured from once-fired brass. It was $104.25 shipped which works out to 20.85 a box. That's about 6 bucks cheaper than I can get it anywhere around here. It seemed to burn pretty clean and no problems through 100 rounds. I also shot a box of new 9mm from them with no trouble. I'll likely be ordering more from them soon. [/B]

8.) crookedeye - 03/30/2014

try aiming it sideways like they do on tv...

9.) Triton Rich - 03/30/2014

[QUOTE=crookedeye;18358]try aiming it sideways like they do on tv...[/QUOTE]

[B]Now why didn't I think of that![/B]

10.) DParker - 03/30/2014

[QUOTE=Triton Rich;18362][B]Now why didn't I think of that![/B][/QUOTE]

Here's a good training video to help you out with that...

[video=youtube_share;iDnEkFSMRik]http://youtu.be/iDnEkFSMRik[/video]

11.) DParker - 03/30/2014

Be careful with that ammo. FM's website says they offer both new and reloaded rounds, and the description of the 230 gr .45 ACP doesn't say which it is. With mass-produced reloads there's always a slightly elevated risk of a *kaboom* due to a damaged case or, less likely, an over-charge.

12.) Triton Rich - 03/30/2014

[B]It is the remanufactured (reloaded) stuff that I ordered but it did clearly show what it was when I ordered. I did some reading about them on various forums and didn't see any complaints. The description on their website of how they go about the reman. process sounded pretty convincing so I took the chance. [/B]

13.) DParker - 03/30/2014

That's good. I only brought it up because I was recently involved in a discussion elsewhere about an M&P that blew up, most like due to some faulty remanufactured loads (from a different company).

14.) Triton Rich - 03/30/2014

[B] Speaking of the M&P, the guy I was shooting with had one in 9mm. Nice piece, fits the hand quite well. [/B]

15.) Deerminator - 03/30/2014

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[video=youtube_share;iDnEkFSMRik]http://youtu.be/iDnEkFSMRik[/video]

16.) bluecat - 03/31/2014

Looks complicated.

17.) Triton Rich - 04/07/2014

[B]Well here she is with the new hammer![/B]




Not sure it was worth the hours of work (literally!) to get it installed! I ended up ordering a new sear that was forged rather than the MIM original sear. I assembled the gun again and this time the grip safety worked. I was thinking "awesome!", then I noticed the frame/thumb safety wasn't working. What the hell! The new sear was taller where it engages the thumb safety and it wouldn't let it fully engage. Of course, it took me a while to figure that out. I did some careful filing, taking off perhaps .010", and now everything works fine. When I shot the gun with the original set-up, I didn't notice any creep and the trigger felt fine to me. When I was working the trigger slowly tonight, I noticed some definite creep. When I finished up the hammer/sear install I checked again and the creep is all but gone. I can probably eliminate it if I want but the trigger feels good to me so maybe I'll leave it alone for a while. It's a good thing I enjoy tinkering or this might have been frustrating :-)

18.) Deerminator - 04/08/2014

SWEET

19.) DParker - 04/08/2014

It looks good, and that's what really matters. :wink

20.) Triton Rich - 04/08/2014

[QUOTE=DParker;18568]It looks good, and that's what really matters. :wink[/QUOTE]

[B]Admittedly, that is the main reason I changed it.[/B]:hb:

21.) Ventilator - 04/08/2014

Nice! Congrats on the new family addition.