Okay, exactly what do I do to a 1911 to enable me to shoot wadcutters?
I have a couple of every size 1911... which one should work best and what do I do to it for a wadcutter dependable sharpshooter.
Not sure about full wadcutters. If you're interested in shooting semi- wadcutters, first step would be to run a bunch through each of your guns. They might feed just fine, and you'll have to do nothing. Most high quality, modern 1911s I have shot have worked fine with semi-wadcutters.
If they are handloads, make sure you match your recoil springs to loads. Shooting powder puff loads with 16-18# recoil springs might not allow the slide to fully cycle, resulting in failure to eject, or failure to strip bullet out of mag and go fully into battery.
Quote:
first step would be to run a bunch through each of your guns. They might
feed just fine
Yep. The gun may handle'em just fine, particularly the 200-grain Hensley & Gibbs #68 or similar design. I have several original/unaltered USGI pistols that can't tell the difference between SWCs and hardball.
The std "wadcutter" spring for Bullseye loads in a 1911 is a ten pound spring. That may give you a place to start when trying to shoot lighter loads. The old Bullseye load with either a 185 or 200 grain lead SWC is 3.5 grains of Bullseye powder. It's a whole lot lighter than the 5.0 grains of BE that was used in the original .45 FMJ load developed by Colt and Browning for the 1911 pistol.