Okay, so you’d like to shoot your 1911 Government, but the cost of the manly .45 ACP ammo is eating into your Booze Fund. What to do, what to do…
Well, in the past you could always just buy one of those ACE conversion kits, but they were spendy and anyway, you were too lazy to do all the mechanical work involved in stripping and reassembling. So you just never bothered. Far easier, therefore, just to buy a .22 pistol like a Ruger or Browning. (This paragraph, by the way, describes me perfectly.)
But in fact there are now a couple of alternatives that enable you to shoot cheaply and keep your eye in with your Colt 1911. Here’s one: the Walther-Hammerli 1911:
…or, if you want to take away that long 5″ barrel for a lighter gun, you could go for the Combat Commander-style shortie:
Finally, of course, if that modern “cheese grater” look grates on you [sic], you could always just go for the Walther-Hammerli “Made under Colt license” 1911 model:
And the best part? The above two retail (ATOW) for about $350, and the licensed model costs only forty-odd bucks more.
No need to wait for those winning lottery tickets, in other words.
That matchless Colt 1911 trigger in an affordable .22 LR package: irresistible.
Note: just as a point of interest, Hammerli’s own .22 pistol (called by the romantic name of “X-Esse”) costs well over a grand. Yes, it has a 6″ barrel:
But in the dictionary under “Tack Driver” you’ll find this pic.
Here it is, in its competitive “Sport” iteration:
I do like that 3rd one down. Gonna take a closer look. Thanks for the tip.
I bought the Kimber conversion for my Smith & Wesson 1911. that kit is an excellent addition to my 1911. The only draw backs is the accuracy probably isn’t the best with the .22lr set up when using the high velocity cartridges needed to reliable cycle the slide. I usually practice my pistol drills with the .22lr slide in place. This way I can practice for a lower cost. Then I’ll run the drill a couple of times with the .45acp slide in place to finish off the drill.
There’s an auction company in Cody, WY that does consignment auctions. I just sold off my two M1 Garands, a couple of bayonets, and about 3,500 rounds of .30-06 ball ammo on Garand clips. I used to shoot the “good” one in CMP matches before my eyes went to heck, but I hadn’t fired either of them for over 20 years. The good news is that I netted enough money that half of it is going for a suppressor and host pistol for it.
I decided on a Springfield Armory “Operator” model with the 5-3/4″ threaded barrel and tall sights, in .45 ACP. I now have on order from a local NW Wyoming dealer a Rugged Suppressors “Obsidian45”. I pulled the trigger [heh] on doing this now that the ATF has rolled back the $200 tax stamp to zero. Wyoming is an incredibly suppressor-friendly state; you can hunt big game with a can on the end of your .300 Win Mag if that tickles your fancy. Me, I’ve never fired a pistol or rifle with a suppressor on it. I’m excited to see if it really works, and I figured a .45 would be a good host since all of the 230-grain ammo I use is already inherently sub-sonic. I usually shoot at the range with both squishy plugs and muffs on over my ears; I’m hoping with the suppressor (in its longer configuration) will let me get that down to just one layer of hearing protection.
I’m justifying it in thinking that this will be (in its shorter configuration) a good inside-the-house defense pistol that might save our hearing if we ever need it in an emergency. In reality the reason I’m getting one now is that I think the Dem-wing is going to fraud the 2028 election REALLY HARD since the GOPEr’s and RINOs can’t seem to pull their heads out of their fifth point of contact and actually pass an elections bill. Basically the same reason I bought a WASR back during the ban; they don’t want me to have one.
With regard to Walther-Hammerli, if it’s Walther manufacturing them, I wouldn’t take one as a gift after my experience last year with a Walther-made PPK in .22 LR. It broke (literally, the safety lever snapped rendering the pistol unusable) after the first couple of dozen rounds through it). I sent it back, they “repaired” it, and the replacement slide had exactly the same problem, breaking after less than a dozen rounds through it. At least all it cost me was the shipping fee to get my money back. They must be using pot-metal for the components these days.
I will stick with the Ruger Mark IV 22/45. It has a top rail for a red dot and it is finally a Ruger Mark pistol that can easily be broken down for a field cleaning.
I have a couple 1911’s in 9mm. The Colt Government is the first pistol I have ever bought that was “Right” from the factory. I have a Tisas that I have thrown another $130 worth of parts and it still needs work. I have plenty of 9mm ammo.