Maritza's Birthday 1911

Maritza’s Birthday 1911 

Mari enjoyed shooting one of my .45 ACP 1911 pistols and wanted one of her own.  I decided to get her one for her birthday.  Unfortunately, we are coming out of a firearms shortage caused by fear mongering, profiteering, and hoarding.  Pistols of the 1911 design from most of the major manufacturers were difficult to find and generally overpriced. 

The Philippine manufactured 1911s were both inexpensive and widely available.  In the past, I have been less than impressed with the firearms coming from the Philippines; quality control and metallurgy tended to be poor.  Before I bought one, I did considerable research and handled a number of the currently available pistols.  The Philippine manufacturers have modernized their manufacturing methods and tightened their quality control considerably.  As a matter of fact, they are turning out pistols and parts for a number of other well-known brand names.  The examples I handled showed quite good fit and finish.  The reviews I found online indicated a few minor problems (primarily with spring longevity) but nothing I couldn’t repair or replace myself. 

I decided to take a chance and ordered a Citadel 1911A1 imported by Legacy Sports.  I ordered through Davidson’s Guns as they offer a lifetime warranty on firearms purchased from them. 

Per Mari’s stated preference, I ordered a full-sized pistol with a 5” barrel and checkered wooden stocks.  The finish is a black phosphate similar to Parkerizing.  The pistol came with a lockable hard case and two eight-round magazines. 

Mari’s Citadel is quite similar to the Loaded model offered by Springfield Armory with a number of modifications added to the original 1911A1 platform.  It has a beavertail grip safety with a memory bump (which I like), a skeletonized hammer and medium length trigger, chamfered magazine well, flat plastic checkered mainspring housing (which I don’t like), front slide serrations, and an ambidextrous safety (which I also don’t like).  I’m perfectly willing and able to change out any parts that Mari doesn’t like for something that suits her better. 

The sights are a nice copy of the Novak low profile fixed sights.  They offer an excellent sight picture but they are black on black.  I personally prefer a three dot system.  Whatever Mari decides to go with is easily accomplished with a bit of paint.  The sights aren’t true Novaks and the dovetails will require some modification to fit another set of sights, if necessary. 

I detail stripped the pistol and cleaned off all the preservative shipping oil.  That oil is designed for rust prevention and not lubrication and often acts more like glue.  I think much of the talk of “breaking in” these Philippine 1911s is simply the new owners failing to lubricate them properly.   

I inspected all the parts and everything seemed to be in spec and well made.  I understand there is some concern over the metal injection molded (MIM) parts, but if they’re well executed, they should serve.  I can easily replace any small parts or springs that don’t seem to be holding up.  I lubricated everything with Ballistol and hit the high-wear points with some moly grease.  I then reassembled the pistol and worked the action to smooth out some of the finish.  I function checked it but did not test fire it as I felt that Maritza should be the first one to fire her new pistol. 

Maritza was quite pleased with her birthday gift but we didn’t get a chance to go out and shoot it for several days.  We went out early Sunday morning to try and beat the worsening winds.  My regular target holders are buried in storage so I used a large cardboard box.  A chunk of wood in the bottom served to keep our impromptu target holder from heading for the New Mexico border. 

I had Mari load one magazine with a single round and her second magazine with three rounds.  With a new semi-auto it assures that, if the disconnector is not working correctly, you won’t empty a magazine on uncontrolled full-auto.  The first round was on the paper at about 15 yards.  The pistol cycled flawlessly with the 230 grain FMJ round nose we were able to find.  Empties were being ejected very consistently about five feet out and in the same area. 

Maritza had me fire a few rounds and I was able to keep all the shots within a couple of inches at 15 yards; which isn’t bad for offhand in high winds.  It’s hitting a little low for Mari but the sights are spot on for me.  Overall we’re both well pleased with the pistol. 

Maritza’s gunhandling and accuracy is improving with each training session.  Her loading and unloading of the pistol is getting smoother and smoother and her recoil control is excellent for someone who hasn’t fired more than three full boxes of ammo through a .45 yet.  Much of the gunhandling and accuracy skills can be developed without firing the pistol so Mari will be able to improve her skills even if we can’t get to the range frequently. 

Unfortunately Mari found out that shooting, while fun to the point of addiction, can be expensive.  The one box of factory ammo she bought didn’t last long.  Reloading and airsoft will allow more shooting with less expense. 

I wrote the following as part of a birthday letter I included with her present: 

“Now comes the fun part.  Guns are a lot like children- they end up costing you a lot of money.  You’ll want to buy ammunition, cleaning supplies, safety equipment, different parts, holster and magazine pouch, spare magazines, targets. . . the list is endless.  I haven’t given you a pistol.  I’ve given you a money pit.  But still, I hope you enjoy it.”