GSG 1911 .22lr range report

[phrogpilot]

Yesterday I was in my local shop and saw, for the first time, the GSG 1911. I asked to see it, put it in my hand, said I would buy it, then asked how much ($334). The reason was twofold; I had heard good things about it, and it simply felt "right', just like my S&W 1911.

I love .22lr pistols and revolvers, and have owned many dozens over the years. I am also very quick to rid myself of poor performing or inaccurate ones. The three I currently own are a S&W 41, S&W 617 and a Ruger 22/45.

I have been looking for a 1911 .22 or .22 conversion; I am not a great shot with the 1911 and am looking for a way to get more practice without the expense.

The GSG 1911 is everything I have been looking for; the weight is very close to a full size 1911, it has great sights, the trigger is very good (mine 4.5lbs), the magazines are heavy and therefore drop out exactly as they do on all 1911's, making tactical drill training entirely possible. It also feels right, just as JMB designed it to be.

I went to the range today and put 250 rounds through the pistol, 160 CCI Mini Mags and the remainder Federal bulk. Before firing the first round I fully diassembled the pistol, cleaned and thoroughly lubed it. You will need to read the instructions the first time you take it apart; it is very similar to the 1911 but there is enough difference (a screw and a take down pin) that you'll want to follow the book. No big deal.

The pistol performed perfectly; absolutely no failures of any kind. It has a nice little recoil flip, which I like alot. Running through drills was great; the mags just drop right out. The bolt holds open after the last round, exactly as a 1911 does.

Accuracy was good, though I didn't put it in a rest. I was keeping 3-4" at 17 yards, which is about as good as I can do with a 1911 (and my not so good anymore eyes). Two of the instructors at my club, both of whom compete with 1911's, halved my spread, so I think the accuracy is pretty good.

I am delighted with the GSG 1911. From all angles except the bore, this is a 1911; it feels and looks terrific. Most imporatntly, it is great fun to shoot. This ones a keeper.

[proxpilot]

I was looking at one about 3 weeks ago at my LGS. i liked it a lot. i do want to add a .22 for the range to my collection very soon. thanks for the review!

[Stevie-Ray]

Man, the more I hear about this gun, the more I want it. Not surprising though, being a 1911 guy. Christmas is coming, gotta tell the wife.

[woodguru]

I might be all over one. I'll try to get my Colt Diamondback to understand why it isn't my main .22 squeeze anymore. Semi auto .22's are just plain fun.

Does the mag have a follower button to make loading easier?

[gglass]

Congrats on your purchase.

I bought my GSG1911 exactly one week ago and I have already put over 3000 trouble-free rounds downrange. I don't even want to think about how expensive that would be with my other 1911's.

I highly recommend this fine German-made pistol for anyone who needs to train with a 1911 and develop their mechanics. Unless you are very rich, you just can't get enough trigger time behind a larger caliber handgun... The GSG1911 is the perfect answer.

As for the accuracy, I found that the tallest of the three provided sights was perfect once I filed it down just a bit. I am keeping less than 1.5" (10-Shot) groups at 15-yards with a modified Weaver stance. I am getting less than 1.5" groups at 25-yards with a shooting rest. Not too bad for my 46-year old eyes.

Picture time:

[moddek]

I understand that some of the internals will be different than a standard .45 but does it look like, or have you heard, the external parts (ie. grips, hammer, trigger) are interchangeable with after market 1911 parts?

[Sevens]

At the gun show I was at on Saturday, the fellow I was with bought a handgun. So while he was filling out the paperwork and paying and such, I was fondling a brand new GSG-1911.

Add me to the list of folks who is impressed. This is a nicely put-together package. I don't own one, didn't get to field strip it and I sure didn't get to shoot it, but it sure impressed me in the 5 or so full minutes I got to play with it.

One thing that might concern me is that those magazines are weighted and would drop free -- but I'd be worried about the magazines damaging themselves hitting the ground simply because of the fact that there is so much weight added to them. Maybe I'm completely out in left field, but I'd think that dropping them on hard ground repeatedly while running around like you would in an IDPA/IPSC kind of scenario would be very hard on those magazines.

Pistol looks like a real winner and if you put it in one hand and a Chiappa in the other hand, Chiappa never sells another pistol for the rest of time.

[gglass]

I understand that some of the internals will be different than a standard .45 but does it look like, or have you heard, the external parts (ie. grips, hammer, trigger) are interchangeable with after market 1911 parts?

Only the barrel, slide and firing pin components within the slide are non-standard for a 1911. This just has to be, if you want to reliably cycle a slide of this size with a .22 LR round,unless you want to use a floating chamber design... No thanks.

The frame and all of its components are 100% 1911, with the exception of the two extra holes needed for locking the fixed barrel into place.

These components are interchangeable with the 1911 platform:

• Barrel Bushing
• Front & Rear Site
• Hammer
• Trigger
• Grip Safety
• the Whole Main Spring Housing
• Thumb Safety
• Sear
• Disconnector
• Sear Spring
• Grip Panels (but not the screws because they're in metric)
• Mag Release
• Sear Pin
• Hammer Pin
• Plunger Tube
• Plunger Spring

istol looks like a real winner and if you put it in one hand and a Chiappa in the other hand, Chiappa never sells another pistol for the rest of time.

After looking over the Chiappa for some time, I can only say that it is more like an Airsoft 1911 replica than a real 1911.