There have not been enough gun threads in this section to my liking so i figured I would just start one.

As some of you know i jsut purchased my first handgun: Safari Arms 5" MatchMaster. It's a 1911 style .45 cal. (duh)

Anywho, now that I've had it for a while I'm ready to start upgrading it. What i'm not looking for is to upgrade the trigger... I absoultly love the triger on this gun. I am however looking to upgrade the extractor, firing pin and maybe and extended ejector. I'm really looking for just any sugestion on where to get parts, what to order and if possible where to find a good gunsmith in MD (frederick area).

Also I am looking for a holster, most likely a shoulder holster and I am looking for a good brand.

And then lastly also what ammo would you suggest for target shooting. First time out I shot some godawful winchester value pack, and am not doing that again...

I am also open to sugeestion on other upgrades that you would suggest. I am looking to shoot competitivly in the future so and suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks
Andrew

I load my own.

.45 ACP 1911's are good handguns....military used to have them, but as far as I know USMC now uses the M9 Baretta (which is known to armed forces members as being crap). Why they changed it, I don't know.

If you don't reload, Winchester White Box would have been my suggestion. What didn't you like about it?

There used to be some South African stuff called Sellier and Bellot that was cheap and great, though just a tiny bit hotter than the standard 230 gr. "GI load." I don't see it much anymore. It had a weird rim that doesn't hold up to reloading quite as well as other brands, but that's relative. I haven't bought any for several years and I'm still loading those S&B cases.

My main requirement for practice ammunition is that it be cheap. This is why I load my own 230 gr. FMJ and 185 gr. semi-wadcutters. It's cheap and I have the load pretty well figured out for accuracy now. It's much more accurate than I am, unfortunately.

The box i had may of just been an anomoly but the whole package had glue on lots of the casings. because of that i wasted atleast 15 rounds out of a 100 rd box.

.45 ACP 1911's are good handguns....military used to have them, but as far as I know USMC now uses the M9 Baretta (which is known to armed forces members as being crap). Why they changed it, I don't know.Where'd you get that info? When I was in, the Marines were the remaining holdouts for the .45. I don't know any leathernecks who used/preferred the Beretta.

Really? Wierd.

I have my ol' Guidebook for Marines they issued to us in basic. It was made in the 80's. Even in there, it shows the current service pistol: The M9 Beretta.

Most people agree that it's a piece of crap compared to the .45, but they say it might have to do with politics.

Edit: http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=Beretta&flashRedirect=true

There it is...9 milly too. :jerkit2yf

The Marine Corps currently issues the M9/Beretta 92 just like everyone else.

The MEU/SOC group of Marines do use a Kimber 1911 clone, but that's a relatively small group within the Corps (itself a relatively small group.) Basically a special forces group within the Marine Corps. And it was only introduced fairly recently.

You can buy a pretty close version of the MEU/SOC pistol from Kimber, but I forget what it's called. Warrior? Something like that.

yeah, the warrior is right... its a pretty awesometastic gun...

Sellier and Bellot:

...is Czech. I just got some for Xmas.

Parts:

www.brownells.com

Wilson Bulletproof extractor should do ya. You can see and feel the difference in your hand.

I never hear of firing pin problems. Why do you think you should replace it?

thin firing pin from what i have read

You'll have to elaborate.

I hate 1911s because I'm a glock guy and the 1911 makes a fool out of me sometimes, especially when my sniper/human encyclopedia brother loves them. As far as holsters go, DeSantis is one of the best out there, and for about 50$ you will be able to carry it for the rest of your life.

Czechs . . . South Africans. . . they all talk funny.

.45 ACP 1911's are good handguns....military used to have them, but as far as I know USMC now uses the M9 Baretta (which is known to armed forces members as being crap). Why they changed it, I don't know.

The reason the US government went to the 9mm is two fold. First it is easier to teach people to shoot a 9mm in training do to the lighter recoil.

The other reason I have heard is that one of the generals at the Penatagon decided to adopt the philosopy that the German army about pistols in the second world war. This was the idea that pistols are unlikely to kill on the first shot (huh?) so it is better to build a wounding pistol. The idea being that if you wound an enemy the it takes four other to take care of him. :bduh:

If I had to choose which is a legitimate reason I would go with the first since the second is hearsay. I did hear it from the Cheif of police in Commerce City Colorado, and he is a guru though.

As for why it picked the Beretta in particular...well...the story goes the powers-that-be already made up their minds about what they wanted. Despite the fact that the old, beat-up, worn-out 1911s refused to fail the tests, they kept changing the tests so the Beretta would do better.

Yeah, that sounds like the way government handles things.