Springfield Longslide V16 .45 Super/acp questions/comments

[Futo Inu]

Just came home with this (see pic), after being delayed yesterday by NICS - grrrr. Already ordered a Milt Sparks belt slide; 12-14 week wait. Grrrr. And ordered Hogue tulipwood smooth finger groove grips. It came with 2 recoil springs - 1 for super and 1 for acp. Came with 2 mags. Edges are not as sharp as Springfields used to be, from what I understand - Springfield is catching on...

Shot 100 rounds of acp through it - beautiful. No FTFs at all; not much recoil; have the sights purt near close to center of target now. Also shot 50 rounds through the frame, but with Mec-Tec carbine upper with red dot sight - fun!

Questions:

1. For a beveled mag well - I was recommended to get S&A I believe was the name for this - where can I find them? Will says they're better than Ed Brown cuz the screw doesn't work loose.

2. Re: ammo: Who makes .45 super factory ammo besides Triton? Anyone here reload .45 super? The super brass IS thicker, no? One gunshop guy was saying that everyone he knew who shot super used acp brass - doh - isn't that an accident waiting to happen, even with a fully supported chamber?

3. Re: mags - these are seven round mags - so all I have to do to make them 8 rounds is change out springs and followers? Where's the best place to get such a rebuild kit, and why would springfield not do this from the start? Any advantage to the 7-round follower setup?

4. Rowland or not to Rowland? I'm about 95% sure I'm not going to ream bbl for rowland, because of the acp flexibility factor, but this gun with the 16 ports and long slide *would* be a good candidate for it. Prolly leave super and get a Mec-Tec upper in rowland.

5. Which .22 conversion kit is best?

Ahhh, hooked on 1911s now - so much more to play with - why didn't I do this sooner?

 

[Futo Inu]

Oh yes, I remember

why not sooner - no $$.

Here's better view of ports and sights:

 

[AR-10]

Congrats on your purchase!

Nice that you got two springs with your gun. Mine only came with one. I have found that after a little break-in, .45ACP will cycle fine with the heavier spring.

As for the factory mags, if they're like mine, just buy some good ones. The ones that came with my gun were worth about a buck. The only good I got out of them was lots of practice clearing feed failures. New followers in them would be just the ticket, but I am not sure you can buy replacement eight round followers.

Mag well. Why put one on a longslide? To add weight?
I can't imagine that you will use this as a carry rig, and the ported barrel negates the possibility of using it for competition shoots. Are the grips you ordered cut for a magwell extension? Just curious. Brownells would be a god place to look for the S&A.

Ammo. Last I knew, Triton hadn't actually produced any (.45SMG?) for sale. Only ammo I have been able to buy is from Texas Ammuntion Company. Chaps my hide to give them business, But they seem to be the only suppliers of .45 Super at the moment. Try to get some 45 Super Express. Velocity is 1200fps, higher than their other loads. Label is even marked "for the Springfield V-16". Custom Ammo!

Have fun with your Longslide. I really like mine!

 

[Futo Inu]

AR-10

Thanks for the info. Hmm, yeah, I guess you're prolly right about the magwell. It's certainly not for carry or organized competition (can't be limited because of ports; not good enough gun or shooter for unlimited) - I was just thinking that for bowling pin shoots, it would help for quick reloads, and important factor given the pistol's limited capacity and the competition prolly having standard cap mags in their wondernines, etc. But I doubt the hogue grips will be cut for this anyway - hmmm - maybe it will be strictly a braggin/fun gun, esp. since no one seems to hold pin shoots anymore for whatever reason (bowling alleys use synthetic pins now perhaps, so don't regularly have leftover wood ones like in the past? - anyone know the reason for this???). In any event, would the stock grips accept a magwell without removing material? I'm a major 1911 newbie, sos I need a lot of help here....

Thanks for the link. I thought Triton still made .45 super ammo. Custom ammo - tee hee.

 

[AR-10]

The grips that came on your gun from the factory have a bevel on the bottom edge. Grips made to be compatable with an extended mag well are flat on the bottom, so that they flow seamlessly into the mag well plate. The mag well sort of bulges out on the sides to the same shape as the grips.

Never thought about bowling pin shoots. A mag well extension would probably look pretty cool on your gun anyway. Kind of balance out the look of the Longslide.

I have some eight round stainless Shooting Star mags that I like a lot. They function flawlessly, look good in the gun. They come with black butt pads that you can screw on if you want to. The butt pads will come in handy if you do put an extended mag well on, as they give you a little more length to shove in.

As for reloading brass, I'd get some .45 Super, save the brass, and reload that. It is thicker down at the base than regular .45ACP brass.
I don't reload, but that is what I have read.

Have you stripped and reassembled your gun yet? Getting mine back together almost takes three hands. Hardest gun to assemble that I own. It's worth it though. When you get some .45 Super and shoot it, it's a blast!!!

Oh, keep an eye on the two piece guide rod. It may tend to unscrew itself as you shoot the gun. I take some teflon tape and wrap just a little on the threads before I screw the two halves together. Solved the problem for me.

 

[Futo Inu]

AR10 - Ahh, thanks for the tip on the guide rods and tape thing. Damn, didn't know it would be so hard to re-assemble - I've taken it apart WITHOUT removing the guide rod & bbl, to shoot the mec-tech. Hmmm, it'll be interesting to see whether I can re-assemble it myself. Yeah, the magwells might look cool with proper grips. Interesting side note: I carried this pistol to work today - honestly, it's very concealable - I've got a good 4 inches of fabric on my jacket hanging below the bottom of the barrel - so concealing it is not the problem if you wear a jacket - BUT, the reason it's not ideal for concealed carry is the time it takes to clear leather (or kydex). When drawing from the 4-4:30 o'clock strong side area, the front sight caught on the bottom front inside of the holster every time, from that odd pull angle, even when trying to pull straight up. I'll stick with the baby Kimber for carry (or a glock), much as I'd *like* to have .45 super at my disposal for CCW.

 

[AR-10]

Your a better man then I if you can conceal that puppy! I have a Kimber Compact for that sort of thing.

The problem with reassembly is that you have to stuff the spring and rear half of the guide rod in from the backside, and then screw the front half of the guide rod to the rear half while holding the whole thing together with your other hand. Then you have to slide the frame over it while holding the spring and guide rod in place. If you let go of the spring, it will pop out of place and jam itself up. I like to lube the slide right before I install it, so the whole process can be rather interesting.

After the first time or two, it isn't too bad.

 

[blades67]

The advantage to the seven round magazines is that the seven round follower has a much better angle to it. Many folks with 1911 feed problems can trace some of them to the eight round followers.

 

[Futo Inu]

Guys, please help with these two issues

First, lemme say that this gun is a sweeeeeet shooter - I'm starting to think that if I had to keep just one gun, this would be it. No FTFs (saying something considering the fully supported bbl), great trigger, mild recoil - put in a non-ported acp bbl and it would be great compet. gun - seems to be quite accurate, even with cheap ball ammo. Anyway, my two biggest questions/concerns I need answered at this time are:

1. The two-piece guide rod - it has been recommended to me that I replace the 2 piece with a 1 piece:
A. Does this make it much easier to re-assemble?
B. Pros and Cons please of 2 piece vs. 1? Where to buy, what kind, cost, etc.?

2. 7 vs. 8 round followers/mag springs: Blade67, thank you for that info about these. However, at least one knowledgeable person has said he does not buy the fact that the 7 round followers typically make for more reliability. Plz, everyone chime in on your opinion on this. I want as much reliability as possible, but if there is zero given up reliability-wise to go to on xtra round, then WHY NOT?

Remember, massive noob to 1911s here.