You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

By Massad Ayoob

When I was young, if you wanted to buy a new “.45 automatic,” you had one brand available: Colt. The gun seemed to be loved only by military combat vets and the NRA, which had a .45 segment in bull’s-eye shooting. There had been the target National Match version before WWII, resurrected as the Gold Cup in the latter 1950’s, the decade in which Jeff Cooper almost single-handedly brought the 1911 pistol back from moribundity. There was also the Colt Commander, its barrel length shortened from 5 to 4.25 inches, and introduced circa 1950 with a lightweight aircraft aluminum frame, the first such auto to hit the market.

The clocks ticked and the calendars turned. Today, there are more 1911 clones available than anyone seems to be able to actually count, and more cops and, armed citizens may be carrying 1911s than ever before. They’re available in more calibers and configurations than ever… and the lightweight ones are still harder to make, and make work.

A few years ago, Ruger jumped into the fray with their solid, affordable SR1911. Last year, they came out with an aluminum frame model, which they called—drum roll here please—the Lightweight Commander. Way to pay homage, there…

Brass flies as Mas runs the Lightweight Commander. Arrows show brass
from last 2 shots, light Ruger 4.25-inch .45 still on target.

Petite Gail Pepin finds the light SR1911’s recoil easy to manage with .45 hardball.

Mas is all smiles after shooting this 50-shot police qualifier on the Bianchi
Target with the new Ruger and finished with a satisfying score of 500-48X.

Accuracy And Reliability

About 10 ounces lighter than GI configuration, this lightweight Ruger .45 is naturally easier on the hip. I wore the test sample in an Ayoob Rear Guard IWB from Mitch Rosen and found it perfectly comfortable.

Trigger pull weight averaged 5 pounds, 10.5 ounces on a Lyman digital scale. There was some slight backlash, but the trigger is adjustable for that. Fixed sights gave a good sight picture and shot reasonably close to the mark. From a Caldwell Matrix rest on a concrete bench at 25 yards, Nosler Match Grade 230-grain JHP delivered five shots into 1.85 inches, and Federal 185-grain JHP grouped its five in 2.30 inches. The best three in each, a measurement that helps factor out human error and better predict inherent mechanical accuracy, ran 0.45 and 0.75 inches respectively, center to center. This is excellent accuracy for a standard priced, 4.25-inch 1911.

There’s obviously more “kick” in the lighter gun, but nothing a shooter with good technique can’t handle. I ran a 50-round police qualification with it on the Bianchi Cup target, keeping 48 of them in the 4-inch diameter X-ring. Two escaped into the 10-ring, one weak-hand-only at 4 yards and one from the Weaver stance at 15. A final score of 500-48X out of 500-50X possible was more than I would usually expect from a lightweight Commander.

The test gun came out of the box bone dry. Perversely, even though I knew 1911’s demand lubrication, we shot it that way to see what would happen. Around the 70th shot, we started seeing 12 o’clock misfeeds. The gun was then cleaned and lubed. Another misfeed occurred with an aftermarket magazine. We chucked that mag out of the test, and the lubricated Ruger ran 100 percent thereafter, using magazines by Wilson Combat (ETM) and what came with the gun, which I’m told are made by Checkmate.

From the extra-slim grips to the light heft, I liked the Ruger Lightweight Commander, although I would have liked it better with an ambi safety. Its retail of $899 hews to the long-standing Ruger tradition of good value for your money.

The arrow shows the titanium frame insert in the new Ruger’s aluminum frame to
prevent battering at that point by the feeding of .45 ACP. Not a new idea, but a
good one. A long time ago, Mas had the same thing done on his Colt LW Commander
by Bill Laughridge of Cylinder & Slide, who used a steel insert.

Ruger entered the 1911 market with the SR1911, a full-size pistol first (top).
The new Lightweight Commander (below) is the next logical step to the equation,
and has proved a good one.

SR1911
Maker: Sturm, Ruger & Co.
200 Ruger Road
Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 778-6555
https://gunsmagazine.com/company/sturm-ruger-co/
Action type: Locked breech, semi-auto
Caliber: .45 ACP
Capacity: 7+1
Barrel length: 4.25 inches
Overall length: 7.75 inches
Weight: 29.3 ounces
Finish: Matte stainless slide, black frame
Sights: Drift adjustable Novak 3-dot
Grips: Walnut, checkered
Price: $899

For starters, let me say I’ve never been a certified firearms instructor, never been trained as a law enforcement officer, never served in the military and never been involved in a firearms altercation. I have been an avid handgun shooter since 1966, having owned hundreds of revolvers and pistols, and fired untold thousands, maybe over 100,000 factory loads and handloads through them during the 55 years. And I’ve written a couple of thousand magazine articles.

With the above in mind, I’m not keen to give opinions on defensive firearms. Regardless, I’m sometimes asked for advice by non-shooters who somehow become aware of what I do for a living. The conversations go like this, “Mike, what do you recommend I (or my wife) get for a handgun?” My reply, “To what end?” They usually say, “Uh, to get one to keep in my home.” Again, I question, “Do you intend to get involved in recreational shooting, competition or at least attend a training class?” Vague reply, “Uh, maybe someday, but I’m awfully busy right now.”

That’s when I stop and say, “Find yourself a .38 Special double-action revolver, preferably with a 4″ barrel. Other brands exist, but my favorites are S&W Model 10 M&P .38 Specials. My answer generally takes the questioner by surprise, and they respond, “I thought you would say GLOCK or SIG or some sort of semi-auto.”

Semi-Autos For Beginners?

No, I wouldn’t recommend a semi-auto for a novice: Not now, not ever, never! Semi-autos require training and experience. Have you ever watched a novice fumble about loading magazines and getting them seated in pistols properly? Some pistols have safeties that need mastering. Also, they will have either a single-action or double-action trigger mechanism. And how about the following: malfunctions caused by ammunition, malfunctions caused by limp-wristing, or malfunctions caused by dirty gun and/or ammo? And perhaps above all, the matter of whether one should keep a semi-auto’s chamber loaded or unloaded.

Now consider this. A Model 10 M&P has no safety, but it won’t fire unless the trigger is pulled. In a double-action with the trigger’s long pull, firing must be intentional. Model 10 M&P sights are fixed and duly (hopefully) factory regulated for ammo with about 150- to 160-grain bullets at about 800 to 850 fps. There are oodles of factory loads that fit those parameters.

Time Tested

S&W unveiled the K-Frame Military & Police in 1899, and the revolver, in turn, was the introductory vehicle for the .38 Special. It is one of the finest all-around revolver cartridges ever developed. Until 1957 the S&W factory assigned names to their handguns. This new one became Military & Police, but after 1957 it officially became Model 10. M&P/Model 10s have been made in blue finish, nickel-plated finish and even stainless steel. The SS ones were named Model 64 and Modelv65. There is also a variation called Model 12. It is nothing more than the Model 10 but with a frame of aluminum alloy. Barrel lengths have been 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″ and 61/2″. Maybe there are some others of which I’m not aware. Model 10/M&P barrels were almost pencil-thin, but the company offered a heavy barrel option in later years.

In his excellent book The K-Frame Revolver, author Timothy J. Mullin relates that over 8,000,000 K-Frame S&W revolvers had been made by the time of his writing (Copyright 2013). Of course, many of those were .22s, .32s, .38 S&Ws and .357 Magnums. I’d bet cold, hard cash the most significant number were chambered for .38 Special. They are still available, newly made by S&W, albeit only with 4″ barrels. Used ones are not rare.

After my comment to advice seekers, some get snarky and say, “So you’d have us rank and file buy obsolete old revolvers, but I bet you keep modern pistols for yourself.” As a rule, I wouldn’t say I like to give advice preferring only to relate what I do personally. So, my answer to such a comment is, “I won’t tell you where I keep them, but in my home are stashed away two S&W Model 10/M&P .38 Specials. One has a 2″ barrel and the other a five incher. Also, there is a Model 12 with a 2″ barrel.” And I don’t keep them loaded with the newest types of ammo: just ordinary factory loads with lead semi-wadcutter or semi-wadcutter hollowpoint bullets.

S&W Model 10 Military & Police .38 Specials are point-and-shoot home guns. No more practical, down-to-earth, no-nonsense handgun has ever existed.

In a recent Insider, we chatted about the joys of small-frame .22 autos (Nov/Dec 2022). Part of the charm of the little guns is they’re easy to carry, easy to shoot, often surprisingly accurate and just plain handy. But alas … one of the pitfalls is the fact virtually none of the small .22 autos have truly adjustable sights.

Sure, you can knock a sight left or right to adjust for windage, but if your elevation is off, it’s time for welding up the front and re-shaping or filing things down. The downside to all that is you’ve now carefully zeroed for just one load, and we all know .22 ammo varies like crazy, so chances are good the next load you shoot will stray off onto another bit of target real estate.

About 40-odd years ago, I read an article by Skeeter Skelton where he mentioned MMC had made a tiny adjustable rear sight for his Walther PPK .22. But alas, MMC said it was so difficult to do Skeeter’s was going to be a one-off. Legions of Walther fans sighed in despair. I’ve wanted something like that sight for decades and have simply never found anything that would work.
Until now.

Casting About

Over the years, I’ve collected countless little drawers full of, as I call them, “assorted gun parts.” Pins, screws, hammers, triggers, springs, rifle action bits, factory sights of a zillion sorts, sling swivels, flat spring stock, barrels … well, you get the drift. What amazes me more than anything is the fact my increasingly aged brain can recall a specific part “I know I have” — even though it was acquired 35 years ago and stashed.

Need a front side-plate screw for an S&W Victory Model? My hand will reach instinctively to the right drawer. Hammer pivot pin for an 1895 Harrington & Richardson 1895 falling block? Oh, got it right here.

So I was digging in my “don’t throw these away because they’re not that broken” rear sight drawer, and my eyes fell upon a smaller-sized S&W J-Frame adjustable rear sight assembly. By a miracle of coincidence, my Walther PP .22 was laying on my bench right at hand. I looked a the sight, then at the Walther as my brain dusted off some ancient thought. Then I looked at the sight, then back to the top of the Walther’s slide again as dawning swept over me. I admit my fingers trembled slightly as I reached for my Starrett dial caliper. I also noted the J-Frame rear didn’t need the complicated T-slot cut a K-Frame sight needs. About one minute later, I realized … it just might work.

And Did It?

You bet. Some delicate filing on the rear sight dovetail on the Walther, and drilling and tapping two tiny holes to hold the sight on had the rear looking like it was factory-installed. Ha! The front was a bit more complicated as I could find nothing in my various stashes that’d work. I milled out a tiny front, then cut a corresponding very shallow dovetail in the slide, muttering “Oh please, oh please” as the cutter worked its way through. There’s not a lot of slide meat there. I pressed the rough sight home and Loctited it in. With a thumping heart, I donned my ear protection, glasses and loaded the magazine.

It worked.

A few trips back and forth to the mill to get the front sight height correct, then a bit more work shaping it “just so,” and my dream of an adjustable sight on my trusty Walther .22 was a reality. Double ha!

I stumbled onto a couple of challenges. There’s not much thickness to the slide, so the rear sight “strap” holding it on needed two screws to keep things in place. Also, much to my surprise, the steel S&W uses on that strap spun two twist drills before I ended up using a carbide end mill to make the holes. I also draw-filed the serrations from the sight plane on the slide top to get the rear to sit right. I also measured about 50 times (100?) before I took that front dovetail cut, and even then, my stomach was in a knot hoping the dovetail cutter didn’t break through the slide top. Whew!

So, the moral of the story is if you have a bit of skill, the right tools and think outside the box at times, dreams can actually come true. I checked with Dusty, my young friend here who builds custom 1911s and such, and he said he’d be willing to chat if someone wanted this work done. The hitch is you’d need to locate an adjustable rear sight for an S&W J-Frame first, as they’re not that common. I’m not sure what this work would cost, but keep in mind it may not be cheap!

I met Skeeter a time or two just before he passed away. I wish I’d had this gun to show him. I know he’d have smiled.