Ihave experience with one ATI, .That's not a.ll ATI's,just one.This one was the bare bones Govt.
The frame,slide,barrel looked fine and were reasonably well fitted.No complaints.
The small parts appeared tome to be nvestment cast,not MIM.
And,while they may have worked perfectly fine,in appearance they had a Harbor Freight look.
This gun was for my son in law,and I was gaining experience as a 1911 mechanic.
So I ordered,installed,and fit as necessary a Cylinder and Slide hammer,sear,disconnect,and sear spring.He has big hands,so I put in a long lightweight aluminum trigger.
I let him try various spurs/beavertails.He liked the feel of the Wilson drop in beavertail.I have the jigs for radiusing the frame..two styles,but the drop in was his preference.
I also fitted a top quality slide stop and link,extractor,etc.And a firing pin.
I used a Cyl and slide kit of mall springs and pins. I don't recall which mainspring housing he preferred.I fitted what was best for him.
I also staked on a Trijicon tritium front sight and installed a 10-8 U notch rear.
Recoil spring is a Wolfe.
I let him try several grips,he liked the Hogue rubber panels with the pal goose eggs.
I never even bothered to fire it in the original condition.
You may ask Why? To which I reply "Why not?"
Was it a bargain? Probably not. But I'm not sure an $800 1911 would have better critical parts,hand fitted with care.
He was able to choose some options.
One more thing was upgraded. Magazines. I got him 5 Wilsons. The ATI magazine did not impress me.
It shoots good. Its been reliable. I think he has a good gun.
That does not directly tell you much,but indirectly it tells you what I chose to upgrade.
Ask your gunshop to field strip it for you. If they will,pick up the slide stop and study it close. See what you think.
I did a similar work over on a Springfield that would not feed the bullet the owner had bought a few thousand of.
The Springfield had more wrong with it. Plunger tube loose,major factory burrs in frame dragging on barrel underlug,and the original,parkerized feed ramp was poorly hand shaped ...like the profile of a beer belly. Rounds feeding out of the mag hit a near vertical surface at about the navel.
I set it up at the blueprint angle in a Bridgeport,and fortunately had enough steel to clean the ramp and still allow the step to the chamber mouth.
It shoots good now.
I'm a 1911 fan. I went through the effort to learn to build them.
While I do respect the Glock is a very successful,reliable pistol,I just do not get a warm fuzzy when I grip one.
However,IF I was trying to convince my wife to let me have my 1911 back,I might convince her to try shooting the S+W M+P . Its value priced and a pretty darn good gun.
If you are 45 ACP folks,consider that a Shield 2.0 in 45 ACP holds 7+1
Its just over 20 0z,maybe 23? or so. You can even custom shop a 4 in slide.
Or,an M+P 9 C is a double stack that holds 12 in a flush mag,more with full size M+P mags.
What it won't have is a 1911 trigger. The 2.0 triggers are better than earlier M+P triggers. The triggers are a bit like new Carharts or denim jeans. After a while,the new wears off They get better.
I bought an M+P 9 Compact with thumb safety and put in Apex trigger parts.
At first,the 1911 style ambi safety seemed a good idea,as did the Apex parts.
Holster makers don't design for the protruding thumb safety,and the trigger became lighter over time.
I'm pondering retrofitting the original trigger parts and sending it to S+W to convert it to the "non-safety" version. I know,I could do that myself. But that would be tampering and could cause legal problems. A work order that says its a S+W job seems a better idea
Whethe my wife(when I still had one) or my son in law,I'd steer them toward an M+P ,at least to try out.
