Impressions on 1911 flat bottom firing pin stop

[sparkyv]

I upgraded my SR1911-10 with a flat bottom firing pin stop in order to keep ejected brass from flying so far away.  I have to say that my attempt did not result in significant improvement.  It did make the slide harder to rack.  Not a good thing if your 1911 has target sights and your hand slips off of the slide while racking.  Don't ask me how I know.  Has anyone had better results with this upgrade?  This quote from sqlbullet was from a different post.

I do always order a flat bottom firing pin stop.

[Graybeard]

I think most people install a flat bottom firing pin stop to mitigate recoil. It stands to reason that if the slide is slowed down a little it shouldn't throw brass as far. But if that difference works out to 25' instead of 27', that's not much of a win.

FWIW, I've had 1911s since the 80s and never went with the flat bottom firing pin stop option. Back then there we reports of ovaled out pin holes in the frame due to the added stresses on the hammer and occasionally hammer breakage. Modern metallurgy has probably solved that as you don't hear about that much anymore. It's my understanding that the original JMB design submitted to the army for evaluation had a much smaller radius on the firing pin stop. The army requested that be changed to ease slide manipulation. You could also just cock the hammer first.

All of that said, I don't think there's much you can do to make a 10mm 1911 drop it's brass in a neat pile 8'-10' away. Maybe someone will invent a semi flexible polymer ejector in the future. 

[blaster]

I tried s flat bottom firing pin stop on my Witness to try to keep my brass from going into orbit. it didn't work. when I converted my 1911 to fire.45 Super, I put a flat bottom firing pin stop in  and all the brass piles up neatly on my right about 8' away.

[sparkyv]

I have also tried heavier recoil springs on my XDM-10 to no significant avail.  Many have claimed much, much better results.  The best way I've found to recover my spent 10mm brass so far is to use my M610.  I get 100% of my brass back. 

[spaniel]

I found the flat-bottom FPS to help a bit, but going to a heavier mainspring was the biggest help.

Actually, the biggest help was building a longslide.  All else equal, the heavier slide seems to keep the brass velocity sub-orbital.

[sqlbullet]

Sorry if I wasn't clear in the other post.  I was not suggesting this as an ejection distance cure.  It is just the standard modification I perform on all my 1911's.

I base this decision on some research done years ago by Ned Christiansen(sp?) of Michiguns on 10mm vs 45 ACP.  He used a Wilson Shok Buff longevity as a way to estimate slide velocity/force.  In his tests he found that a Delta Elite with a flat bottom firing pin stop and a 25 lb mainspring and 18.5 lb recoil spring provided similar buffer life as a bone stock government model 1911 in 45 ACP.  An added benefit is the recoil mitigation.

As far as ejection distance, I have found no solution to this issue in any of my 10mm handguns.  The only reports I have read of success are from drastically reducing the ejector length itself with a dremel tool.  Since getting the brass out of and away from the gun is a good thing in terms of reliability, I just watch where my first piece falls and usually find the rest there.  I just pack a lunch before hike over to the pile .

The big challenge is indoor ranges where the hit a lane barrier and deflect randomly from that point.  No solution I know of to this challenge.

[The Earl o Sammich]

Here is the solution..... 

Your own indoor private range....

[The Earl o Sammich]

Truth be told, I did the flat firing pin stop thingy with the stronger main spring as well on a Colt Delta, and I don't have the strain gauges and set up  to prove it, but I couldn't tell any difference in recoil.  If in your mind it makes a difference and you shoot better, than by all means, proceed.

I have noticed that if I concentrate on my grip,  push/pull, firm but not shaking, like you're squeezing orange juice from fresh oranges.  I get not only pretty accurate brass piles, I get pretty accurate groups.