Remington's 1911 R1 Enhanced Commander Part 1

The 1911 is a pistol that suits a great number of handgun applications, from bullseye and combat competitive shooting to military and law enforcement armament. These days, the carry pistol for the shop and surrounding woodland is a Commander length 1911 45 Auto made by Remington. Its selection was predicated on power, reliability, accuracy, and slab sided compact form.

A little elaboration

 

The R1 Enhanced Commander has a 4.25″ stainless steel match grade barrel and a close bushing fit, which contributes to the pistols accuracy.

 

Remington’s manual for this pistol indicate that it is design to use Full Metal jacket, 230 grain, 825 fps ammunition. The manual does not denounce the use of all other ammunition, but rather suggest that other ammunition of correct caliber and different bullet types and weights may or may not work correctly and should be tested before commitment to use.

 

During the course of testing and carry, I’ve run every imaginable factory load through the Enhanced Commander, lightest to heaviest, hollow point, composite bullets, and FMJ without a hiccup. A similar array of handloads performed the same. Power levels were both standard and +P.

 

The Enhanced Commander has a standard, stubby guide rod and 16 lb recoil spring. Inexpensive recoil springs for tuning to specific ammunition are available in weights from 7 lbs to 28 lbs in 18 increments. With the ejector length correct, 6′ – 10′ is a good range to work toward, which should avoid jams and failures to feed and beating a pistol’s slide to death.

 

Great set of sights for the 1911 and the purposes indicated. The rear sight is a combination of anti snag form with full windage and elevation adjustment capability. The red front sight fiber optic element is smallish in diameter, which makes it easy to align with the black rear sight.

 

 

This Remington R1 configuration has a long, lightweight aluminum trigger with overtravel adjustment. The lightweight trigger is probably more applicable where a gunsmith might reduce trigger pull, but it does diminish trigger bounce and the chance of a hammer following the slide as it closes. Trigger pull on this particular pistol checked 4 lbs 4 oz.; a safe light pull.

 

 

The R1 is very narrow, especially in the holstered area. It stays close to the body when holstered and is relatively easy to conceal. There are many holsters available; inside the waistband, outside the waistband, shoulder, cross chest, small of back… under hat… maybe. Where I use inside the waist band with compact and subcompact autoloaders, there is too much of me at the waist to do the same with a 1911.  Diet and exercise, Joe. At the moment a Yaqui slide belt holster works for the shop and a concealed carry paddle for trail work. If I decide to use the 1911 for general concealed carry, there will be a Mitch Rosen IWB in my future.

 

 

Ammunition selection, application specificity

 

In my estimation, ammunition intended for self defense in the confined spaces of a home or in public places where bystanders are present, approximately 14″ to 16″ in ballistic gel is sufficient, but not too much. Please don’t send arts and charts representing other perspectives or Captain Jack’s treatise on tree bark penetration that appeared on the “Guns, Gophers and Guano” gun board. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I chose stake my life and possibly the lives of others around me on things I myself have experienced, tested and reviewed.

 

Maine has the second lowest violent and property crime rates in the country, with Vermont being first. Vermont has no prohibitions on concealed carry and Maine has Constitutional Carry, no permit required to carry. Maine State Police have a record of no unsolved homicides. City police investigations are near perfect also. The combined violent and property crime rate in Maine is 127 per 100,000, one third of the national average.  There were 18 homicides in Maine this past year, compared to 746 in the city of Chicago. Still, an edge against being one of the 18 is prudent.

 

 

With some frequency throughout the year, new ammo or different types of ammo are checked out. If they don’t out perform what I use, my ammo of choice remain in place. The Remington Ultimate Defense 230 grain, left, consistently penetrates between 14″ and 16″ in ballistic gel, expands to 0.750″ without shedding weight. The Ruger ARX 118 grain, right, penetrates 15″ to 17″ in ballistic gel, but its composite copper/poly bullet does not expand at all. So why bother with the ARX? Where the Remington round generates 0.6″ side expansion in a 6″x6″x`6″ block of gel, the ARX causes 1.7″ of side hydraulic expansion and a permanent wound channel similar to the Remington round for the first 6″ of penetration. I am still testing an reviewing. Neither are used for trail work.

 

Another type of trail mix…

 

Getting out in the woods of Maine, outside of hunting season, is generally a relatively tranquil experience. This makes carrying a firearm a precaution, but a necessary precaution as the logic of having a means for self defense is always present.  Rabies presents itself in Maine’s animals: dogs, raccoons, skunks, bats, fox, and coyote. Even just those caught after an incidence of a human being bitten, fifty one tested positive for rabies. Even in our own rural back yard, we have had rabid skunks and fox. While both are small animals, they had no problem acting aggressively toward humans and it would only take a transfer of saliva through a bite or scratch to transfer the virus.

Maine has some other good sized animals, moose and bear, that typically go about their businesses, avoiding and/or ignoring humans. That, Maine has the largest black bear population in the lower 48 states and hundreds of human – bear conflicts are reported each year. There are over thirty thousand moose in Maine… big animal, and encounters with humans are common. I have never had a single undesired encounter with either animal over the past ten years, but many others have and I prefer not to find myself with a last resort out of a situation. Maine is rural. Out in woodland areas, there is isolation. No police, no sheriff, just each individual securing their own safety.

Hopefully, in the midst of all of this blah, blah, blah, I have left the impression that there is a potential for a diversity of targets, some small to moderate, some very large. Some thin skinned and fragile, some heavy boned with layers of tough muscle and fat. More power and greater penetration are needed then in defense against a human.

Full metal jacketed bullets penetrate, however, it is my experience that semi wad cutter hard cast bullets penetrate at least as well and tend to track straighter through tissue. Expansion is little or none, they don’t shed weight and they will easily punch through 32″ of gel block. One of the benefits of a 45 caliber bullet is a 45 caliber hole.

There are a number of factory cast bullet loads available, Buffalo Bore, Cor-Bon and Grizzly to name a few. Most have relatively heavy bullets at 255 grains with velocity falling in the range of 875 to 950 fps as predominately +P loads.

 

The bullets above are from Acme. Their bullets are 92-6-2 lead alloy, 92% Lead, 6% Antimony and 2% Tin for a Brinnel hardness of 16. The hardness results in reduced leading and increased penetration.  The plain cast and lubricated bullets on the left are 255 grain flat point, the bullets on the right at 185 grain semi wad cutters.

The plain bullets receive Magma Engineering blue lube. The coated bullets are finished with Hi-Tek Supercoat, a self lubricating polymer finish that is bonded to the metal substrate. The result of coating is containment of lead and an absence of smoke from vaporized bullet lube. The Acme bullets are very really clean castings, very uniform in weight and priced right; $14.25/100 and $11.75 respectively. Shipping for 200 pieces is $6. Bullets are packaged in heavy plastic and shipped in reusable wooden boxes as pictured.

Before the snow storm hits…

The Remington R1 Enhanced Commander is a very solid, very well done 1911 type autoloader. A break is needed to assemble a variety of cast handloads, and because it is 3AM and my left hand keeps falling asleep and sliding off the keyboard. Be back shortly with Part 2 if the pending snow storm allows.