funkymonkey1111

that federal is fine in the SR1911. That's about the cheapest you'll find new ammo in a store for-those boxes can be hard to find, too. my advice--buy all of it you can at that price.

and, to echo the comments above, it'll take a good hundred or so to get her broken in, at least--so don't give up on the ammo right away

Spike12

Serious folklore! I cannot even guess where that came from.

Any FMJ (aka 'ball') ammo should work 100% in a 1911. In fact, that's usually the only stuff a 1911 manufacturer will stand behind. I'd offer that you should stick with that for the first few hundred rounds, then start experimenting on what else *your* 1911 will handle.

I have a 3" 1911 (Para Slim Hawg) that is pretty much a 50% jam-0-matic on any ammo that has is JHP with flat sides. I tried a Colt Defender - basically the same routine.

JK55

My continued thanks guys for all the good feedback and pointers!

I'll keep monitoring this thread as I do need and appreciate you're expertise on the topic!

I'm lookin' forward in providing a good range report of this Saturday's SR1911 debut.

Again, many thanks for your help!

brimic

I never understood why people use ammo to break in their pistols...
Detail strip and clean first. Grab the back of the slide and cycle it back and forth a few hundred times- it'll do the same thing and won't cost $50 in ammo to do it.

Try this procedure for best results: Reliability Tweaks1: Make it Smooth - THR
The man who wrote that post has forgotten more about the ins and outs of 1911s than most gunsmiths know to start with.

North country gal

This so called "break in" period needed with 1911s before they can be expected to become reliable shooters has been repeated so often as to become folklore. Sure, now and then you might find yourself with a jam-o-matic, but the three 1911s I've owned, so far, have been as reliable, right out of the box as any other semiauto pistol I've owned. In fact, the very few issues I've had could be traced to the magazines, rather than the guns, themselves. The guns, when feed with 230 grain hardball and used with a good magazine, were more than reliable enough to use for SD work, right out of the box.

Moreover, if I bought a 1911 that had chronic problems with FTEs or FTFs, right out of the box, and I had done my part to solve the problem by trying different ammo and magazines and by using proper shooting form (no limp wristing), I would not accept some lame recommendation or demand from a manufacturer to keep shooting the gun and spending more money on ammo to see if the problems go away. That's a load of horse manure. No one should have to shoot 500 or 700 rounds before they can get a reliable pistol.

The odds of you having any serious issues with the SR1911 are remote, anyway. My SR1911, shooting 230 grain hardball of all makes, has been utterly reliable, right out of the box, from the very first shot. Over a 1000 rounds, now, and not a single hiccup. My Springfield Range officer needed a little magazine help, but once I found a magazine it liked and did a little tweaking on the factory mags, it's been perfect. My Remington R1E was equally good, once I got the right magazine.

The good news is that the magazines supplied with the SR1911 are decent. Okay, not Ed Brown quality, but they work. In fact, I've used the Ruger magazines as a control to isolate the magazine as the culprit when shooting the Springfield and the Remington. Both liked the Ruger magazines better than the factory supplied mags.

Just keep that SR cleaned and lubed and, like brimic says, do a little cycling of the action at home and you'll be fine. Enjoy your SR. My SR is the last gun I would ever sell.

gunjunkie

Those Federals have always worked just fine for me in all calibers. You can't hardly buy 22 magnums for that price.

LimaCharlie

I have three 1911s that I rotate for concealed carry. They are a Dan Wesson Valor, an S&W Lew Horton Special, and a Kimber Super Carry Custom. I cleaned, inspected, and lubed them before going to the range for the first time. I put about 200 rounds of 230 grain cheap ball ammo through them and then a box each of 230 grain Winchester PDX1, Speer Gold Dot, Remington Golden Saber, Hornady TAP, CorBon +P, and Buffalo Bore +P through them.

On each subsequent range visit, I put about a hundred rounds of cheap ball ammo through them and then a box or two of premium ammo. I am not comfortable with a carry gun until it has at least 500 flawless rounds through it. I use the cheap ball ammo just to save money for practice and checking reliability. The boxes of various premium ammo is to check reliability. My preferred carry round is the Winchester PDX1 230 grain. So far, I have not had a single issue with any of the three guns.

I clean and lube them after every range trip. I like to put a little Montana X-Treme gun grease on the slide rails. I carry one for a week and then rotate to another and clean the one I have been carrying. They are always loaded in the safe and the magazines are always loaded.

I spent twenty-two years in the military and have been shooting for over fifty years. I have never had an issue with a weak spring in a magazine from years of being loaded.

My other carry gun is a Glock G20SF 10mm. It doesn't care what I do to it. It goes bang every time.