[glennasher1]

Stuff keeps following me home I was nosing around a local shop last Friday, and noticed this thing lounging around in the case. A Springfield Armory Ronin Lightweight Commander in .45 ACP. Those who know me know I like 1911s, and .45s are pretty fun and useful things to have around. I have (had) four .45s when I stumbled onto this thing. I went home to ponder/consider on whether or not I needed another .45, and decided I did not need another.
Yeah, we all know how that works out.
Sunday morning (the shop is at a local range, and they are open on Sundays), I got in the pickup to go for a ride, and danged if the truck didn't decide to head back to that shop to check and see if that pistol had sold yet. It hadn't sold yet, so I decided to bring it home with me, so it could visit with it's other Springfield compadres.
Silly little thing is only 30 ounces, has a good beavertail grip safety, excellent sights, including a fiber-optic front sight, a ramped barrel (totally unnecessary in a .45) and an extended thumb safety, good stuff to have. I had been looking for another 9mm Springfield, but hey, I have scads of .45 ammo on hand, and it takes normal magazines that I have a whole bunch of.

I haven't even shot this one yet, and danged if Rural King Guns had the same pistol in 9mm in stock (finally), so this AM, I went ahead and ordered one of those, too. Again, I already have plenty of 9mm ammo on hand and magazines that will fit it, so I don't have to buy anything else. Thankfully. I think I'm done with buying pistols now. Except for that SA-35 that I'm still waiting on, and I think I'm going to cancel that order.

 

[valleyoaks]

Decent gun but dont like aluminum frames as metal followers where tear up the feed ramp if you do some serious shooting

 

[67Firebird]

License plates?

 

[glennasher1]

Decent gun but dont like aluminum frames as metal followers where tear up the feed ramp if you do some serious shooting

It has a ramped barrel, so that is highly unlikely. I've had two Colt Commanders (alloy framed) and never once had an issue with them, even using CMC magazines with the older Devel-type followers. I don't know where or why this old wives story got started, but I've never seen it happen with my own pistols.

 

[callaojoe]

I need a 9mm 1911. Nice pistol Glen. 👍🏻

 

[2 the Plug]

Nice one, can't wait to see it with the 9mm too... just to look... for comparison... for a friend...

 

[callaojoe]

I like the Springer garrisons. Might have to pick one up in 9mm. 👍🏻

 

[glennasher1]

I have a .45 Garrison, I think it's the most accurate of my five .45s. I especially like the blued finish (although they are available in stainless, too), it's hard as heck to find a good blued pistol nowadays, most are either Cerakoated or Parkerized, both of which are great finishes, but lack the old school look and feel. I would probably have bought a Garrison 9mm, if I could have found one, but they're too new to find easily, and Rural King has the Ronins in stock.
I have the Range Officer 9mm, and it's fun to shoot, but I thought the Ronin's aluminum frame might make it easier to carry, and maybe another steel 9mm just wasn't necessary. A local shop has a used Dan Wesson Guardian 9mm in stock, but it's finish is worn badly, and the night sights are dead, and it still cost $400 more than the Ronin, for essentially the same pistol. I did get a .38 Super barrel for the Range Officer (from Barsto), and I suspect it will stay a .38 Super from now on. The Super is an absolute ball to shoot with good ammo, and it can be loaded to equal a 4" .357 Magnum, so it leaves the 9mm behind easily enough.
I've now got 1911s in .it's four most prevalent chamberings, I think that's enough, at least until the next neat thing comes along.............................

 

[callaojoe]

Yea, love the look of the Garrison's. Especially the old school bluing with the wood grips.

Good look'n pistols no doubt. I won't carry it, so having forged steel frame and slide is good for what I want. Something thats fun to shoot at the range, or just plinking cans at the farm.

 

[glennasher1]

Springfield badly undersprings their 9mms, they come with a 9lb. recoil spring. Swap that out for a 12.5 lb. spring before even shooting one round, and lube the crap out of it before shooting. They should run perfectly smooth if you do that. My Range Officer 9mm taught me that. The empty cases will drop about four feet off your right shoulder into a nice pile for easy retrieval. They are so easy to shoot it's almost like cheating.

 

[callaojoe]

Springfield badly undersprings their 9mms, they come with a 9lb. recoil spring. Swap that out for a 12.5 lb. spring before even shooting one round, and lube the crap out of it before shooting. They should run perfectly smooth if you do that. My Range Officer 9mm taught me that. The empty cases will drop about four feet off your right shoulder into a nice pile for easy retrieval. They are so easy to shoot it's almost like cheating.

Nothing better than a sub $10 upgrade.

 

[glennasher1]

I just got word that my Ronin 9mm has shipped from RKguns.com 👍 . It's going to the nearest store (about 4 miles down the road from me) and I'll probably have it by this weekend. Yeeehaw. Since I have plenty of ammo on hand, and the same spare magazines I have for the Range Officer, I'm sitting about as pretty as I can get (which isn't very pretty, I admit).☹

 

[WBF]

Decent gun but dont like aluminum frames as metal followers where tear up the feed ramp if you do some serious shooting

Well......... you would have to cease hoarding ammo and start shooting “some” for that to come to fruition.....

 

[glennasher1]

I've got about 3 gallons of 9mm brass, most of which I've shot since buying the Range Officer about a year ago. Some of it is "range brass" I picked up at the range, as most folks I know don't bother to load 9mm. I read someplace that a gallon ziplock bag will hold 1700+ 9mm cases. I don't even know how much .45ACP brass I've got on hand, but it's probably an equal amount.

I gotta get off my backside and set up my Dillon 550B. It's been in storage since I moved here 8 years ago. Of course, then I'd have to find some primers and powder....................bullets seem to be easy enough to find.

 

[glennasher1]

Nice one, can't wait to see it with the 9mm too... just to look... for comparison... for a friend...

Here ya go, I got a call about two hours ago. I cleaned the newbie and put it together with it's big brother.

 

[WBF]

Dang!!!!!!!

 

[glennasher1]

I took both Ronins to the range this AM, and both seemed to shoot about 2-3 inches high, and depending on the load, a little left (I think the "left" is my trigger finger "pushing" the trigger and moving the POI left). My RIA .45 did that, and I swapped out the long trigger for a shorter one, and it "fixed" it. I think it's an "operator problem", me, in other words. I gotta check my stash of 1911 parts and see how many more short triggers I have.
The US Army did that to the original 1911s, putting in short triggers and arched mainspring housings, to make the 1911A1 models. There may be a reason for that, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............