So I have apparently ended up with two 1911s in a trade/buy deal.

First is a Colt Government slide and I have troubles with that little bitty front site.
This thing feeds 200 grain SWCs like butter no matter what the power level.
The questions:
Get a new slide with better sights?
Find someone to put better sights on this slide?

Second 1911 Questions

It is unfired Fed Ord manufacture in the box.
Note on the box to the previous owner says the trigger pull has been reduced from 8 pounds to 4.

The question(s)

Find someone that has to have such manufacturers unfired gun and sell it?

Take it out, hope it feeds and get it out of the unfired mode?

Guns at my house don't stay unless they get fired.

They both look pretty danged silly without a cylinder to put the ammo in!

sights in that slide. Not hard to do. We all had to do this to our factory 1911s until recently.
Federal Ordnance 1911 never fired one. They had a sort of mediu8m quality reputation, at the time, but what I don't know about them with fill volumes. If it feeds hardball reliably keep it.

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

Send the slide out from the first gun and have it cut for Novak sights. I sent mine out to a local guy, and am unhappy with his work, so I suggest you only use somebody you can trust. Perhaps Novak. My front came out okay, but the rear is a mite too far forward.

I'd probably tuck the second gun away for a rainy day. It's not a high dollar gun, so I'd take it out and shoot it to make sure I want to keep it.

No matter what the gun, *unfired* is worth money, and it can only be unfired once. Every drunk has only had "a couple a beers", and every used gun has only been fired "less than a box". If it's not a gun that flang a cravin' on you in the first place, I would hesitate to throw away that unfired money just to say I had shot it some.

JLF

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Sell the Fed Ord, get a name gunsmith to change the sights for you. Andy Horvath is my local gunsmith and does all my work.

1) New slide or sights?

There are plenty of good 1911s around that already have good sights, so I think it depends on how much you like and want to keep that particular pistol.

I also think a 'new' slide is a bigger risk than new sights (not to mention 'bigger' cost).

If I wanted to 'target-shoot' the gun, I'd probably get new sights.

For any other purpose, I'd probably just paint the front sight white and leave it alone.

2) "UNFIRED" Fed Ord 1911

I think the note on the box regarding the trigger pull reduction effectively offsets the "unfired" status of this one, but that's just my opinion.

Whenever I hear the term applied to such a pedestrian piece or 'ordnance', I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not at a Gun Show: EVERY gun at every show is ALWAYS 'unfired'.

That being so, I'd probably shoot the Fed Ord 1911, if only to break the 'suspense'.

HTH

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When i get home from work tomorrow i will run a magazine of hardball through it and it will all be a moot point.

The fit of all parts seems to be pretty good, but the did some shortcuts on the final metal surfaces of the slide. Final finish of all seems to be even and well done. Hope it feeds everything I load in the mag as well as the other one.

I know there are many options for sights but I have always been very happy with Novak's 1911 sights and installation. You can send them just the slide for the cuts and installation or you can send the whole gun for them to ensure proper sight height. I would send just the slide and have them just cold blue the cuts and not refinish the whole slide. I would get their wide notch rear in black and either white dot front or tritium. I have this setup and love it!,

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Colonel, USAF (Ret)
NRA Life Member

I have no experience with Novak's service, but their reputation is exemplary.

The 'Novak Cut' for the rear sight is also pretty much standard nowadays (or close to it), so it's hard to go wrong there as well.

However, I do not like the standard Novak rear sight because its sight picture is not 'flat'. The notch is inset in the body of the sight instead of being in a single plane, which in my eyes makes makes for a 'busy' sight picture. Certainly more 'complicated' than necessary, but that's just my opinion.

In any case, if the goal is to improve the 'target shootability' of the gun, I would not recommend a Novak rear sight.

For a fixed 'target' sight on a 1911, I would probably get the Classic Heinie rear sight.

In an adjustable, I would probably try to find an old Bomar.

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Should you experience any feeding problems with the Fed Ord, remember to try a different magazine and/or ammuntion type before fiddling around with the gun itself.

Both are pretty much standard 'first advice' for autopistols, and one or the other fixes many 'problems' right on the spot.

If such a generalized approach doesn't work, then I'd try factory hardball (mostly likely Federal-brand) and a specific magazine, a 7-round Wilson (FWIW, the 47C is my favorite).

Lastly, if that particular combo didn't do the trick, then I'd probably look into the extractor tension before anything else. It's pretty common to find it 'over-adjusted' (too tight) and very easy to fix.

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If it is a factory-stock Government Model in good condition, I would suggest getting on the Colt forum and finding out a little about it before you let anybody cut on it. Some of them dang things are worth surprising money in unaltered condition. At least try some Rustoleum white epoxy appliance enamel (paint dept at Wal-Mart, in a little bottle like White-out) on the front sight.

As to the Federal Ord, +1 on shooting it. They are not high-end guns and will never be worth a lot of money, even unfired. You may get lucky and have one that shoots well. A FedOrd that's reliable even with hardball is worth more than a $2000 Colt at home in the safe if you need it right then.

Gordon

The Colt slide is very low mileage . No nicks, scratches or dings.
Guess I will go to Colt and see what shakes!

100% Colt Military.

The person that owned these guns was not a big time shooter.

Fed Ord idea was just one of those things where some folks want to have unfired variations of the different versions.

These will likely be in the safe most of the time.

Since my Bull Dog did not pan out I am back to a 36 for an every day carry piece.

Some day when I get over being so Pi$$ed off over that bulldog I may dig it out and use it for an anchor for the canoe!