I’ve seen differing opinions on this but mostly see ppl say that when 9mm 1911s are bought it should be in a 4-4.25” bbl as the 9mm round isn’t strong enough in its recoil to reliably cycle the 5” slide consistently without hot ammo and fresh springs and isn’t forgiving.

I have no experience with 9mm 1911s but I’m very interested in buying one in the future.


I figured instead of listening to regular shooters I’d come to the experts and ask:

Does the 9mm run more reliably in a particular slide length ie 4, 4.25, or 5”? Or does it not matter if the gun is built right?
Do things like flanged bbl or bull bbl, bushingless or anything else of the sort hurt or help the matter
Rich

If it's done right, any of those will run. 9mm is perfectly capable of running a 5"..... despite a certain period of conventional wisdom warning that 9mm and 1911's don't get along, I've seen way more 1911 9mm offerings in the last ten years than ever before.

Yes, this.... built right either will work just fine provided the ammo and the magazines are good.

IMO, good magazines with the integral "ramp" at the top of the tube forward of the follower have been one of the biggest reasons the 9mm has seen even more success over the last 10 years.

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Does “built right” mean it takes a $5000+ Custom for a 5” 9mm to work or are production and semi custom companies getting 5” to work just fine as well?

I have a Wilson CQB-E, all-steel, 5-inch 9mm, bought new about 4-5 years ago. I've run thousands of rounds of cheap factory hardball though it (as well as some quality defensive loads), and can't recall any failures other than a few times when my support hand thumb was sitting on the slide lock resulting in the slide failing to lock back after the last round. Not sure if Wilson's recommendations are still the same, but when I got it, they included two springs. The installed one was, I believe, a 10-lb spring, recommended for use until the gun loosened up, and the second was an 11- or 12-lb spring for use after that. I've used the Wilson and Tripp 10-rd mags and had no issues. I do use only oil; no grease.

Highly recommend it (not just the Wilson, but a good 1911 in 9mm) for geezers like me. Minimal recoil - - - I've run mine through some 2-3 day courses where a bunch of rounds were fired, with no pain. For the same reason I like it at the range (heavy), I don't use it as a carry gun.

Which reminds me. One Mr. Jason Burton was at the Leatham-Vickers class I attended a few years ago. He was shooting a fine-looking Government Model in, I believe, .45ACP. Can't recall who built it. ;~) I did drool on it.

No $5000 custom necessary.

But.

Not all factory 9's work perfectly, just exactly like not all factory .45's work perfectly. Not like I've done a study or anything but I'm sure the proportions are the same. Nor do I know which is the best but were it me I'd look at one of the higher-end Springfields or Dan Wesson. If I had a little more to spend it would be Wilson and Guncrafter.

My Valor 9mm has been 100% reliable. My colt CCU was mostly reliable, but hated Chip McCormick mags (first round of mag jammed about 60% of the time) and had ejection issues a handful of times. Since moving to Wilson ETM mags and adjusting the extractor, it hasn’t had an issue in thousands of rounds.

I have a Colt New Agent 9mm in the shop. I have not shot it much but between me and the owner it's had 2-300 through it with zero issues. That's pretty darned good for a gun from the factory (any factory, unfortunately). Before I'm done I'll only pout another 100 through it but maybe a third of those will be hollow points, I will report on those results but essentially I will first just make dang sure it will feed them.

My personal 'poodle shooter aka fun gun':

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