Newest "Combat Handguns" article on Balester Molina

[Slabside]

The article is very favorable of the Balester Molina. It's compared to the 1911. The narrative goes on to point out the strong suits of the particular weapon, etc. Some parts are interchangeable w/ the 1911 but some are not due to different construction, no grip safety, etc.

Any thoughts on the Balester Molina? Do any of you have one? What are your experiences with it? I personally have ever seen just a few examples and have never even considered it. With my 1911s, I just never saw the need. However, on a shoestring budget, it appears it could be a good value.

Slabside

 

[James K]

I have shot several a fair amount, and have had no problems. It has some advantages over the Browning design. There is no problem with the hammer dropping on slide release, because the trigger is not free to kick the sear. The safety locks the hammer solidly, not just the sear, and also backs the hammer off the sear. Depending on viewpoint, the absence of a grip safety may be good or bad.

The down side is that most are on the soft side, and won't stand up to a lot of extensive firing, though they will outlast most shooters. If you want a moderate duty plinker and defense gun, you will find them reliable and accurate. If you are planning to build a heavy duty target gun to do several thousand rounds a year, something else would probably be better.

IIRC, the only parts interchangeable with the 1911 type are the barrel, bushing, and recoil spring plug, and they will usually need some fitting. Magazines are interchangeable. I don't recall that any frame parts are.

Jim

Jim

 

[Correia]

I have a friend with a Ballester and it is a great gun for the money. I believe he got his for something like $225. It was beat up and kind of ugly. But he has cleaned it up a lot, and it is a really good shooter. No reliability problems that I am aware of, and the accuracy has been pretty darn good. It has become his truck gun.

 

[straightShot]

I have one of the Southern Ohio Gun arsenal refinished guns. I like it and will keep it, but I'll list my negative thoughts below:

1. The sights are very small, but typical.

2. I'm not crazy about the short guide rod. When the slide is manually racked, one can feel and hear the spring crunching and grinding against the slide. I just don't like that, but it works.

3. The serrations on the slide seem don't seem to be as raised and distinct as they should be. Perhaps this was due to some sanding or smoothing prior to refinishing. It seems to make it a little harder to positively rack the slide with my thumb and forefinger compared to others.

4. The magazine that came with it was new, but it was a piece of junk. I've thrown away better springs and metal.

I had it recrowned, polished the feed ramp, and tweaked the extractor. Can't do much more to it without wasting money, for the same reasons that Jim raised. I do like it though, and think for $200 - $225 from SOG, it's a good buy.