Smith and Wesson 1911 E Series Bob Cut Reviews

Ask a bunch of handgunners what is the greatest fighting pistol of all time, and many volition tell yous information technology'southward the Model 1911 chambered in .45 ACP. That's quite a testimonial for a handgun that has been around for over 100 years. Yes, in that location have been some "improvements" from time to time. Those 1911s built for bullseye shooting near the middle of the 20th century have incredibly crisp and lightweight trigger pulls, highly visible and adjustable sights, tuned actions and match-grade barrels. In the 1980s, activity shooters demanded absolute reliability, increased capacity, flared mag wells and anything else that contributed to greater speed. In the mod tactical world, withal, the need is for simplicity, functionality and survivability. The result is today'south 1911s are the all-time-made pistols in the platform's history, with nearly capable of fulfilling the requirements for target shooting, action-pistol contest or self-defence force.

At some betoken in the by (like when our cave-dwelling ancestors began decorating their favorite club or stick), our vanity surfaced in the selection of our firearms. In response, 1911 manufacturers are offering pistols with many of the beauty features previously provided but every bit an aftermarket service by custom pistolsmiths. Now, rather than await several months until your gunsmith finishes, yous can buy a 1911 and clothing it to a charcoal-broil that same night. 1 of Smith & Wesson's responses to our style desires is its "E" Series, and while these pistols are definitely aesthetically enhanced, they are still fighting handguns.

I tested one of the company'due south two, scandium-frame Due east-Series models with a four.25-inch barrel. The weight savings compared to that of a stainless steel frame with a 5-inch barrel is more than 10 ounces (29.vi versus 39.8 ounces). For a carry pistol, I consider this an excellent merchandise—the .75-inch loss in barrel length surrenders null in practical accuracy, while the weight loss does raise the comfort factor. The scandium frame wears a blackness anodized end, and the slide is stainless steel. If you lot don't like the ii-tone look, the gun is available with a black anodized end on the stainless steel slide, too.

This E-Series pistol's nigh distinguishable feature is the frame's round butt, something I love on 1911s with the shorter barrels. On a full-size steel 1911, I'm not crazy about it, but that's strictly a matter of personal preference and how the gun balances in your hand. What Smith & Wesson has done, and something I haven't seen on other 1911s, is extend the checkering on the backstrap downward and all the way around the bend of the butt. On other pistols, the checkering stops where the curve begins. Extending the checkering all the way enhances your grip and the ability to control recoil, something very desirable in a lightweight, total-power fightting handgun. I also similar the look and feel of the laminated-woods grip panels with their diamond pattern cuts and large, centrally located diamond with the alphabetic character "E" nicely engraved in its centre.

The E-Series is equipped with a beavertail grip condom, which has an extended "bump" to ensure proper safety deactivation with one's normal shooting grip. It sports ambidextrous safeties, and judging from the number of 1911s sold with the dual levers, it appears either the majority of buyers seem to hold with the "two is one" philosophy, or more than shooters are practicing their fighting skills using their back up paw. The pistol also has a precision-fit, long trigger with three weight-reducing holes in the side and a recessed stop screw to prevent overtravel. I seem to handle a brusk trigger better than a long one on a 1911, and I don't specially like the await of the three holes, simply these are both minor considerations.

Smith & Wesson didn't ignore the tiptop half of the 1911. Both the Commander-style hammer and rear face of the slide take serrations—the slide to break up possible glare, and the hammer to facilitate cocking with the pollex. Instead of plain serrations on the front end and rear of the slide, there are diamond-blueprint cuts, which are slightly larger than those on the grips and resemble the scales on a snake. They are very cool, and they assistance in manually operating the slide, peculiarly if information technology'south hot and your hands are sweaty. The ejection port is what the visitor calls a "gainsay ejection port." That's a adept name, because it correctly suggests the terminal identify you need ejection problems is during a gunfight.

This combat port lived up to its name during testing—I had no ejection problems at whatsoever fourth dimension. The externally mounted, oversize extractor probably contributed to the gun's smooth running. I grew up with internally mounted extractors, just I suspect the larger yous make the extractor, the easier (and less expensive) information technology is to mount it externally. Also interesting, and offering an enhanced degree of protection, was the chamfered and recessed muzzle. Information technology's not really recessed into the slide, but rather into the butt bushing. If dropped, in that location is less chance of damage to the lands or grooves at the cage finish of the barrel.

Since reports evidence a preponderance of defensive shootings occur in reduced-light conditions, take a hard wait at the sights on any gun y'all anticipate using for self-defence force. Sights that work well on daylight visits to the range may not serve your purposes as darkness descends, and the older we get, the earlier darkness arrives. Also, don't forget those occasions where you might descend into darkness, like a subterranean garage or any dimly lit construction. Despite its qualifications every bit a barbecue gun, the Due east-Series pistol has excellent depression-low-cal sights—specifically Trijicon, with their tritium vials surrounded by a white circle. Both front end and rear sights are dovetail mounted in the slide, and the rear sight has a setscrew that tin be loosened to adjust either right or left. As it turned out, the factory windage setting was perfect, but my 25-yard groups were consistently ii to 4.5 inches depression.

For a multifariousness of reasons, my go-to .45 ACP load is something with a 230-grain bullet. There are exceptions—I don't consider it a alienation of faith to switch when a fixed-sight handgun shoots to point of aim with 185-grain loads. My testing of the scandium pistol focused on 230-grain loads considering I wanted to see what upshot the heavier bullets had on felt recoil. In a nutshell, recoil in the lighter weight E-Serial was noticeably stouter than with a steel gun. The heavier loads combined with the lightweight frame made me shoot slower, but since I've never been fast, I tend to concentrate on precision. In this arena, the pistol was remarkably consequent. At 25 yards with my fore- arms resting on a shooting bag, every 230-grain load produced v-shot groups ranging from 3 to 4 inches. The solution for me is quite elementary: I demand a taller rear sight. As information technology turns out, the rear sight on the Eastward-Series 1911 is noticeably shorter than on some of my other pistols. A simple rear sight replacement would convert information technology into a perfect carry gun, both for upward-shut-and-personal encounters and those at more extended ranges.

For a sanity check, I moved to the 10-yard line and engaged some silhouette targets from the holster. I loaded 2 magazines with a mixture of different 230-grain loads, and went to work offhand with a speed reload between magazines. All 16 rounds stayed in the vital zone. I then loaded three magazines with a mixture of the 230-grain loads and some lighter-weight offerings borrowed from friends. Running the same drill back at the 10-1000 line and speed loading the extra ii magazines resulted in i round straying well-nigh .v inch below the vital zone. Since this hiccup occurred near the end of the terminal magazine, in that location's every reason to believe it was pilot error. In that location were no malfunctions of whatsoever kind throughout these tests.

Let's talk a chip about reliability. When you buy a new gun, the instructions tell y'all to clean it before use. I never practise that with a handgun considering I want to see how the pistol does when it's non clean. If there are whatsoever difficulties during this period, I do not flunk it. If those difficulties proceed after cleaning, the course indicate average plummets. When first loading the Eastward-Series 1911, there were a couple of failures to feed, but just when manually operating the slide—there were no malfunctions when the slide was cycled past firing a round. Later in the day, when the gun was dirty, i circular failed to chamber, with the slide stopping well-nigh 1/viii inch short of fully closing. A button on the rear of the slide put the gun into battery and the round fired. At that indicate, I partially disassembled the pistol and roughly cleaned it. The pistol has demonstrated 100 per centum reliability always since.

Some folks would consider 25 yards as a rather long-range requirement for a defensive pistol. For a pocket pistol wearing rudimentary sights, I might agree. For a properly equipped 1911, however, that is  not the case. A human with a knife may not be an immediate threat at 25 yards, merely he could be in a thing of seconds. Information technology's all-time if you lot tin stop him before he gets inside arm's attain, and even with a .45 ACP, that might require multiple hits. A man with a gun is definitely an immediate threat at 25 yards, and since I'k at the historic period where I probably tin't outrun anyone, I insist on being able to brand hits at 25 yards and even beyond.

Make no error almost the Smith & Wesson Due east-Series 1911; it'southward non only cute enough to wear to the barbecue, it volition ensure y'all become in that location safely.

Specifications
Manufacturer: Smith & Wesson; (800) 331-0852
Action Type: Recoil-operated, semi-automatic
Quotient: .45 ACP
Chapters: 8+1 rounds
Frame: Scandium
Slide: Stainless steel
Barrel Length: 4.25 inches
Rifling: six grooves; 1:15-inch RH twist
Sights: Trijicon tritium front and rear; rear sight adjustable for windage
Trigger Pull Weight: 4 pounds, 4 ounces
Length: 7.95 inches
Width: i.4 inches
Acme: 5.iv inches
Weight: 29.7 ounces
Accessories: lock, manual, spare mag,  hard case
MSRP: $1,369

Shooting Results

Load	Velocity	Boilerplate Grouping Size
Black Hills 230-grain JHP	809	iii
DoubleTap 230-grain Expander	943	iii
Remington 230-grain JHP	831	3.75
Remington 230-grain MC	792	3.5
Winchester 230-grain PDX1 Defender	912	three.25
Winchester U.s. 230-grain JHP	859	4

Velocity measured in fps 10 feet from the muzzle for 10 consecutive shots with a Shooting Chrony chronograph. Temperature: 71 degrees Fahrenheit. Accuracy measured in inches for five consecutive, five-shot groups at 25 yards from a shooting purse.

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Source: https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/smith-wesson-e-series-1911s/

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