Remington 1911...$75 rebate or Storm Lake Barrel?

[Aligater]

Given that most all pistols can shoot straighter than I can shoot. I would probably do just as well in shooting at beer cans and targets with the issue barrel than the upgrade. However, in leaving it to my heirs, isn't it possible that the pistol with the Storm Lake Barrel will be worth much more than the $75?..........thanks for your opinion.

[ignats]

The barrel by itself really doesn't do that much to improve accuracy. The best improvement would be a fitted bushing and barrel. Most Government Models and clones have loosely fitted barrels/bushing to allow for quick disassembly without the use of bushing wrench. That amount of looseness causes the barrel to be a bit sloppy. The next improvement would be in the area of the trigger and trigger pull. Most GM's have rather heavy trigger pulls and there is some over travel. Last item would the sights. Again most GM's have rather rudimentary sights as used by soldiers in combat. You find most competition grade pistols have larger front sights and adjustable rear sights. Personally, I am not a big fan of the beavertail grip safeties, or laser sights, flashlight rails and all the other dress up items on the market.

Of all the items I have suggested, you might want to have the bushing installed first. You should have no difficulty finding an NM bushing that has an oversized OD and ID. It will need to be fitted to the slide and to the barrel. I'm guessing you are fairly new to all of this, therefore I recommend a gunsmith do this for you and not some clown who has a Dremel and professes to have done it "lots" of times. That part won't be cheap but you will be moving towards a target grade pistol.

Okay, after all that, I suggest you practice, practice, practice with what you have out of the box. Use a bullseye target at 10 to 15 yards to start. Hold your front sight at the 6 o'clock position of the bullseye. Without going into a long post about sight picture (google it you'll find something to assist you there) keep your sight picture the same. The idea here is to get the bullets to group in the same spot. It doesn't matter if they are not in the middle of the bullseye, you need them to group tightly in the same place. Once you have established a tight group, the sights can be adjusted to compensate. Do not chase the bullseye by adjusting the hold of your front sight keep it in the same position. There are many, many gadgets and toys people have made and bought to improve accuracy. IMO, most of it just away to make money for the guys who sell it. If you look at some of the National Match pistols produced by Springfield Armory (the government one, not the company) you will see what I've outlined above is about all they did. Save your money for ammo, it's not cheap.

[tanker trash]

I found my Remington to be one of the tightest factory fitted pistols I've handled. Very accurate out of the box. So I chose the SL barrel so I can build another 1911. ;^)