From Long Ago and Far Away

When I was 18 I had an old US Army issue 1911 that I bought it at the Jewel Box Pawn Shop in Phoenix, Arizona. The gun had been chrome-plated and the chrome was peeling off of it in many places. The barrel was worn and the gun was loose but I got it for about $40 and was happy.

On the range one day Dad said, "We can make that old gun shoot." Then he started digging around in his shooting stuff. He took a primed .45 ACP case, dumped in 2.5 gr. of Bullseye and the pressed a lubed .454" round ball on the end of the case.

He had me sit down and lean back against the front tire of the car and hold the gun between my upraised knees. He dropped the round ball load into the chamber and when I had it pointed downrange I dropped the slide on it. Everything locked up and I put the sights on the 25 yard Bullseye and fired. It went through the center. He reloaded the case 4 more times and I fired 4 more shots. All 5 went into 3/4" at 25 yards.

I still have the target.

The loads were so mild they did not unlock the slide.