Springfield Armory Multi-cal Custom 1911

Springfield Armory s Multi-C Caliber Chameleon

BY PATRICK KELLEY, TY-114401

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n an era rife with modularity, the salient competition sidearm has held itself as a purpose-built affair. The Government model 1911 is lots of things but modular isn’t one of them. You want a Government model in 9x19 set up as a Limited division steel challenge slayer? No problem, “ching $$ ching,” nothing a handful of hundred-dollar bills can’t cure. What? You’re a devotee of SS matches and only the gamey .40S&W will do? Again whip out the ol’ debit card and get yourself one of them too. Oh, you are also an avid 3-Gunner and Heavy Metal is your calling? Order one more in .45ACP to round out your full set of three 5” 1911’s. While you’re at it, you better get a second job, as even a trio of 46

rack grade pistols will run you close to $3,000 without the inevitable upgrades. Another approach would be fitting three top ends to a single frame. In days past this was accomplished by fitting a slide with the correct breech face for each family of cartridges, based on case head diameter: one slide for 9mm and its lineage, a second slide for the .40 S&W / 10mm to include the .357 Sig and 9x25 Dillon, and lastly the beloved 45ACP and its descendents. (Semi-rimmed .38 Super is sufficiently different from 9mm that Colt and STI offer 9mm and .38 Super as separate slides – editors.) An expensive proposition in parts alone, but one must consider that these

are not slap together affairs. A fair amount of professional pistolsmith effort is required to hand-fit each slide and barrel to the single frame. Along with the caliber appropriate extractors and ejectors. Not to mention the three slides themselves, with duplicate sights, cocking serrations, etc. Enter Springfield Armory and most notably the wizard at the helm of their custom shop, David Williams. He and his crew have conjured up a new system for the multi-caliber 1911. Dave’s tack employs a user-interchangeable “cartridge positioner” to allow one masterfully fit slide and frame to accept any caliber suitable for the 1911. Before we get into the “what-andhow” of this multi-caliber system a FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2008

An interchangeable “cartridge positioner” replaces that “radius edge” as the means of accommodating multiple case heads. Each “cartridge positioner” is held in place via a drop of LockTite 680 and a light press-fit using the tool provided. They are comfortably removed with a little heat and the supplied Guts of the Issue. At left, the Springfield Custom Shop’s “cartridge positioner” being “jacking screw” and “jacked” out. At right, a new one being tapped into place with the supplied tool. Switch the wrench. A recoil shoulpositioner, extractor, and barrel, and you’ve changed caliber! der is incorporated into couple of words about the SA custom Springfield’s Modus Operandi the unit to help it maintain integrity shop are in order. In talking with Mr. Picture (or just look at the picture) over the life of the slide. The positionWilliams he was quick to point to his and understand that the distance from ers are marked 1, 2 and 3 for the caselong time crew of pistolsmiths for their the firing pin hole to the extractor tun- head families 45ACP, 10mm and 9x19 part in creating an environment where nel is the same for all 1911 slides. What respectively. quality goes hand in hand with creativ- varies with case head diameter is the The slide itself is not special as this ity. Each custom shop pistol is crafted distance from the firing pin hole to the by a team of specialists that are able to apex of the radius on the opposite side. process consists of a milling procedure apply their individual talents and spe- This is the key that the collective performed on SA’s standard slides. cialties to create something greater prodigy within the custom shop (which This makes the concept more available than the effort of any one master. The include three members of the Ameri- and affordable. While this feature pistol I received for this article is an ex- can Pistolsmith Guild) used to make a could be retrofitted to existing guns, Dave told me that “this would be a cellent testament to that philosophy. single slide into many.

July/August 2008 • FRONT SIGHT

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From Steel Challenge to Heavy Metal, Springfield’s switch-barrel 1911 is a go-everywhere, doeverything pistol. Custom Shop feature for the time being.” A single 9mm ejector is used for all calibers, but extractors remain caliber specific. Beyond that, it is only a matter of picking your desired cartridges and appropriate magazines. The custom shop will do the rest.

The test gun I received will ultimately remain in Dave Williams’s hands as it is the ONLY one in existence outside of Springfield’s Geneseo, Illinois facility at this time, and it is Dave’s personal pistol. When he offered up that tidbit of information I was a little uncomfortable about beating up the only gun, let alone his gun!

“Not to worry,” were Dave’s words of comfort “go ahead and shoot the heck out of it let me know how it shoots!”

A Plan Comes Together. I picked up the pistol two days before the Washington State Steel Challenge, where I had planned to put the pistol through its paces dressed as a 9mm. Since I was match director and the lead dog on the set-up crew I was left with only one day to sight in and get used to this pistol. I had no time for pistol problems or break-in considerations, heck I did not even snap a photo of the gun until after it had been holster-worn from 100 draws. But thanks to the quality hard chrome and the supreme workmanship of the Springfield Custom Shop crew the pistol is no worse for the wear. In over 500 rounds of CCI Blazer 115’s, all I did was lower the rear sight ¾ of a turn, oil and add ammo. This gun’s a winner, even if I (for lack of 1.1 seconds) am not.

Let’s Go .40. I own a couple of single stacks in 10mm but this is my first experience with one in .40 Smith and Wesson. In anything other than “high-performance” loads these two cartridges are ballistic fraternal twins. Most factory “plinking” loads run within a 100 fps of each other, and for our uses we load to power factor so it is all moot anyway. 48

FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2008

STI and SV .40 guns actually employ magazines designed for the 10mm length, and shooters often “load long” to get best results. The single stack 1911 has .40 S&W caliber-specific magazines available, and two of Wilson Combat’s finest accompanied the pistol. After taking a 5-minute detour to swap the 9mm parts for .40 S&W, I decided to see if THIS pistol needed the 40-specific magazines. It didn’t. I put a good 650 rounds of CCI Blazer 180’s through this set-up using five different 10mm Metalform magazines I had on hand without a failure of any kind. Accuracy, as one should expect from a custom shop pistol, was excellent. This .40 cal. 1911 was able to create multiple 8-shot groups of less than 2” at 25 yards from a supported position. The 9mm iteration faired even better, with many groups hovering at or near the 1” mark. In both instances CCI Blazer was the “match” fodder employed. Just like the 9mm we have to let the infamous Mr. Murphy take his shot and test this pistol in competition, because if it is going to fail it will fail at a match. This time the match is the Oregon Single Stack. Had I shot better I could have walked away feeling better about my match performance, but over the eight stages I could not find fault with the performance of this Springfield Armory creation. Standards, speed shoots, field courses and many a reload, Murphy had his opportunity and lost again. I am starting to think I don’t deserve a gun this good! Before I close this article I must mention that this pistol not only runs flawlessly but is nearly flawless in aesthetic execution. From the flat-topped and serrated slide with “melted in” Champion adjustable sight to the expertly fitted grip safety and perfect 2.25# trigger. No detail has been overlooked. I don’t know if the gentleman who fitted this gun’s ambi thumb safeties is a lefty, but I am, and not only do they feel good, their operation from my side is smooth and positive. This is an item July/August 2008 • FRONT SIGHT

that a number of pistolsmiths fail to address and one I notice immediately. As I continue to “gray” I find myself enjoying things I scoffed at in the recent past, one of these things is checkering. Pick your flavor 20, 30, 40 or more lines per inch, routinely applied to create pyramids with lines intersecting at 90 degrees. Dave and crew have created what he refers to as “diamond plate checkering.” A visually new and effective pattern that is the result of cutting lines that intersect at 60 degrees. This pattern is applied to both the front strap and main spring housing and I like it. If I had to pick something I didn’t like it would be the grip panels. They certainly rank high for style points but were a little too aggressive. I had to change them out as the shooting progressed to protect my "sensitive” hands. It would be foolish to expect a hand-fitted multi-caliber single stack to be an inexpensive proposition. They are not, but to my thinking they are reasonable. While it would take about $4,000 to duplicate Dave’s personal shooter, a less feature-laden base model complete in 9, .40 and .45 can be had for around $2,700. You could easily pay that for a single caliber gun with a few extra touches. Remember these are full-house Custom Shop pieces and are built to standards not available outside of a skilled pistolsmith’s shop. Deadline and time constraints prevent me from performing any meaningful testing of the .45ACP version of this pistol, but I would expect an equal measure of success to that of the 9 and .40 editions. In my mind the ultimate examination is within the crucible of competition. This is where this multicaliber chameleon can change its color faster than we can change games. There is much to be gained from this pistol as I believe there is more truth than lore to the adage "beware the man who shoots but one gun; he probably knows how to use it." This multi-caliber Chameleon from Springfield Armory could certainly be that gun!

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