This was my 4th range session with this secondhand pistol.
The photo above shows 7 top-quality magazines, each loaded to capacity with 7-rounds of 230-grain Federal Hydra-Shok hollow points. This range session was expensive; Hydra-Shoks are spendy compared to target ammo; for .45 ACP defense loads figure roughly $1 per round, sometimes higher and sometimes lower depending on market conditions ... versus 30-35 cents per round for .45 ACP target fodder.
A total of 57-rounds of ammo were fired during this session, consisting of:
50-rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok 230-grain self defense loads
7-rounds of Federal 230-grain FMJ range loads
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For this session I used a single target set at a distance of 30-feet (10-yards).
There were 2 failures using the Hydra-Shok ammo. The 6th round from the 1st magazine failed to chamber, as did the 3rd round from the 7th magazine. I was disappointed but not surprised; many 1911 pattern pistols can be yeomanly reliable with ball ammo but downright sketchy with hollow point loads. A couple of misfeeds out of the 50-rounds fired during this session (and the 67-rounds of Hydra-Shok fired overall since I purchased the pistol) might not sound like much of a concern to some folks but it is a bit too much for my tastes. If ever I am pressed to carry this pistol for self defense (possible but unlikely because of better options) it may have a Hydra-Shok cartridge in the chamber but the magazine(s) will be full of FMJ ball.
Overall I am happy with this pistol. Since coming into my possession this dear old gun has fired 235-rounds total; 168-rounds of FMJ ball ammo went downrange without fail along with 65 of the 67 Hydra-Shoks that were fired. HOWEVER, I did notice one thing during this session that was never before an issue; I was occasionally getting whapped in the forehead with the ejected brass. That is often an indicator that the extractor is weak and / or damaged and / or dirty or a combination thereof. During the routine post-range-session pistol cleaning I opted to also yank the extractor from the slide, cleaned and inspected it, adjusted the tension with a Weigand EAT (I'm not a fan of the trial and error method of manually bending 1911 extractors), put everything back together, and tested the extractor function.
I do hereby proclaim that this pistol is as good as it is ever gonna get via my limited talent and resources.
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I've heard that calling for a timeout to clear a jammed pistol is not conducive to a continued existence when facing heavily armed homicidal space cadets.
