Quick Fixes For The Government Model

Well-tuned Government Model pistols are renowned for their power, accuracy, and reliability—but off the shelf, those characteristics may be lacking. Here’s how to make the most of a stock pistol without taking out a bank loan.

With the installation of a few simple parts a Colt M1991 A1 can be made more accurate and reliable with a variety of bullet styles and levels of cartridge power.

A commercial Government Model pistol purchased new and fed with G.I. equivalent ball ammo will usually function reliably and deliver 25-yard groups of 4 to 5 inches. Some will do better, but that’s about average. But try shooting mild target loads or hot hollowpoints, and jams are almost certain to occur. If you’re prepared to spend much more than you paid for it in the first place, you can increase accuracy to the level of a target pistol and get it to work with any sort of ammo. But, frankly, not many of us are in a position to spend that much money on the GMs, and we need to be able to upgrade—but not completely refit—them.

Here’s how to get the most out of your .45 ACP for very little money.

Support The Barrel Front And Rear
The most important factor to be addressed is the barrel and the manner in which it is supported. Good support at the front and the rear of the barrel is essential to accuracy, but one doesn’t have to fit a match bushing and have the lugs welded and recut to do it. While a solid bushing fitted tightly to the individual barrel and slide lends greater accuracy, much more must be done to the pistol by a skilled gunsmith to compensate for the reduced reliability this will cause. Nor is a high-grade barrel essential. Bear in mind, we’re merely trying to improve accuracy and versatility, not prepare and outfit the pistol for championship-level competition.

If your pistol is a Mark IV Series 70 Colt with a collet bushing, half the battle is won. If that isn’t what’s already in the pistol, get a barrel and bushing of that type. These are often available at gun shops and at shows, but parts suppliers such as Gun Parts Corporation usually have them in stock if you can’t find them locally. You can expect to pay between $22 and $25 for a collet bushing from a commercial supplier, but shops that do much work on GM pistols often have a drawer full and are happy to be rid of them when the opportunity arises. If they charge anything at all, it will usually be from $1 to $5. The collet bushing has four flexible fingers that grip the bell shape of the forward end of the Series 70 barrel under mild spring tension. With continued use, it wears slight grooves into the barrel and, with time, accuracy actually improves rather than deteriorates, which you might not expect.

Still, there’s a downside to the collet bushing. Eventually, metal fatigue takes its toll and one of its fingers will fracture, and the barrel will have to be replaced. A new original Colt Series 70 barrel lists for $64.90 from Gun Parts Corp. A Match Grade barrel is a mere $3.85 more, but is unlikely to demonstrate much difference on target. In our experience prices range from about $50 to $75 at gun shows. A search through the catalogs of several custom gunsmithing houses and parts suppliers failed to locate any aftermarket makers of Series 70-type barrels. However, new original Colt’s and used barrels in excellent condition remain plentiful and in wide supply.

Adding support to the rear of the barrel is simply a matter of installing a Dwyer Group Gripper. Retailing for $26.95 from Wilson or Brownells, this device replaces the original recoil-spring guide and link, and there’s no other product quite like it on the market. The new Group Gripper has a spring fitting in it and causes the rear of the barrel to be forced tightly into the slide’s locking lug recesses. These two simple steps—replacing the barrel and bushing and adding the Group Gripper—will go a long way toward shrinking group size without adversely affecting reliability.

Spring Changes
But changes in ammunition type may still create problems. The usual gunsmith’s solution is to polish the feed ramp, sometimes radically changing its angle, as well. However, wadcutter ammo, light bullets, and hot hollowpoints may frequently be made to feed and function through the pistol with more certainty by simply changing the recoil spring. Just replace the standard 18-pound spring with a new one, increasing or reducing the strength in 2- to 3-pound increments, depending upon the potency of the cartridges being used, until the pistol begins feeding and ejecting properly. Most recoil springs retail for $3 to $5 dollars. If you expect to use ammunition of different power levels, you’ll need at least three springs to try, perhaps more. Ed Brown Products lists a set of three in weights of 13, 16.5, and 18 pounds for $13.95. By themselves, they sell for $4.95. For really light or extra heavy loads, Wolff’s makes springs for the GM as light as 10 pounds all the way up to as much as 26 pounds at prices from $3.26 to $7.49 each. They are available from Brownells. There are no guarantees, but this simple expedient usually works without altering the feed ramp.

Guide Rods
Because of the force applied by the Group Gripper, you may run into problems with the slide not fully returning to battery. A new guide rod may fix the problem. While guide-rod assemblies from more than a dozen makers abound and range in price from about $20 to as much as $80, they all work to accomplish the same basic functions: keeping the recoil spring straight, preventing it from kinking, providing added tension against the barrel link, and cushioning the effect of recoil. Two worth considering are the Accumax, by Peace River Arms & Accessories, and the Chandler Arms Recoilmaster, costing $36.95 and $79.95, respectively. The latter is a bit more effective, allowing the pistol to recoil more smoothly and gently, but the practical subjective difference between the two is slight. In view of cost differences, you must make up your own mind how much improvement you need.

The Mainspring Housing
Shooters often have a strong preference regarding the GM’s mainspring housing, because the shape of this part determines the position of the hand as it grasps the pistol, which in turn affects the angle of the wrist and the position of the finger on the trigger. Each of these factors can make a difference in the individual’s ability to properly apply pressure to the trigger and recover sight alignment when the pistol is fired. There are two basic types of mainspring housing, arched and flat. They also come plain, grooved, checkered, and stippled. You can even find them made of Neoprene rubber or nylon compounds. If the kind on your pistol doesn’t suit your personal needs, it’s not hard to find one that will. Anyone with a set of punches and a rawhide, plastic, or rubber hammer can make the switch. Priced at retail from a low of $4.95 for a nylon one made by Colt (sold by Gun Parts Corp.) up to $18.95 for Pachmayr’s rubberized units, and a high of about $45 for finely checkered ones made of steel, the differences have to do with weight, material, and cosmetics. The flat, blue steel, mainspring housing, checkered 20 lines to the inch, as made by Colt suits our taste best. It offers the right angle of hand to trigger for our needs. Only the cost factor might justify the one made of nylon. The Pachmayr products help to minimize slippage in the hand under recoil and have some minor cushioning effect, but they’re more a matter of cosmetic appeal, especially when matched with stocks from the same maker.

Good gun shops usually maintain a selection of new and used Government Model pistols on hand. Stop into one and try several housings, paying particular attention to the difference in the feel of pistols with arched and flat mainspring housings. Once you’ve determined which suits you better, the matter of choosing among the checkered, smooth, or serrated types is a matter of personal taste.

Stocks
As issued, G.I. pistols come equipped with the nearly flat, checkered, brown-plastic stocks common during the World War II and Korean War periods. Commercial models were similarly outfitted until the early 1960s. Those stocks were just as flat, but made of roughened wood. Holding an issue GM in the hand has much the same feel as grasping a 2-by-4 pine board.

Most shooters find that the original GM gripframe and stocks cause the hand to develop a distinct tremor after shooting several rounds. This is the result of grasping the pistol too tightly. Scores usually improve dramatically when the original stocks are replaced with a shape that’s more rounded and thicker, particularly if there is a distinct curvature to help fill the shooting hand. Even better for some is a palm swell. The degree of thickness that’s right can only be judged by the individual. In recent years most makers of GM types have furnished them with rubberlike composite grips from such firms as Pachmayr and Hogue. Usually, shooters find these an improvement over the plastic or wood stocks and are perfectly satisfied. However, comfort and proper fit to the hand are essential to shooting good groups, so a brief look at the aftermarket grips that are available is worthwhile.

Pachmayr’s Model GM-G Signature Combat Gripper, retailing for $31.95, is very popular. We like it because it’s comfortably hand filling and provides finger grooves across the front strap that help guide the hand into the same position each time the pistol is grasped and lend greater control and faster recovery from recoil. Those who don’t care for finger grooves may prefer the GM-45/CS. A sculpted design with checkered frontstrap panel, it retails for $24.95. Either of these grips go well with the Pachmayr mainspring housings discussed above.

Hogue’s rubber grips feel softer to the touch and are thicker, but have flat sides. The pebble grain finish keeps the pistol from slipping in the hand. The spacing of the finger grooves is too wide for our taste, but those with larger hands may find it comfortable. At $20.95, they are a bargain for the shooter who finds their flat sides acceptable. Of greater interest to those who wish to indulge their sense of aesthetics as well as improve the feel of the gun in the hand is the availability of exotic hardwoods and laminates from Hogue at prices ranging from about $50 to $65. These are beautifully finished and may be had checkered or smooth. Of the composite grips, our favorites are the Uncle Mike’s. While not much thicker than the older factory stocks, they are more rounded, generously checkered, light weight, firm, but not stiff. They come with a finger groove panel that fits under the side panels that position the third and fourth fingers of the shooter’s hand higher than such stocks usually do, for more comfort and greater recoil control. There’s also a model without the finger grooves, and each stock model sells for $17.95.

Conclusions
The improvements recommended here should cost less than $300, even if you have to install new sights (see sidebar). They run much less if you already have a Series 70–type barrel and companion bushing in the pistol. Considering the expense involved in having a complete accuracy/reliability package done professionally, that’s a bargain by any standard. One of the best things about the procedure is that you can do the job one step at a time, as finances allow. This is generally more conducive to domestic tranquillity than having to justify a gunsmithing bill equivalent to a monthly mortgage.

Making the recommended changes to your pistol is no more difficult to accomplish than routine disassembly for cleaning and maintenance. They can’t be expected to turn it into a National Match course contender, but groups will be markedly smaller, and it will be more comfortable to shoot, without compromising the pistol’s inherent reliability. But before declaring it ready to serve its purpose, take it to the range and target it with the ammunition you plan to use. If you can hold it to 4-inch groups or less from 25 yards, it can be considered adequately accurate. However, with the modifications we’ve discussed, chances are good that it will shoot groups half that size from the bench.

Also With This Article
Click here to view "The Historical Perspective."
Click here to view "The Custom Stock Option."
Click here to view "Sights."
Click here to view "Contacts."

-By “Doc” O’Meara