From: vanetten@unix.cie.rpi.edu (John S. Van Etten)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: RUGER P90DC INFO. NEEDED
Date: 20 Nov 92 13:46:42 GMT
Organization: CIE, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

James D. Del Vecchio writes:

#This reminds me, what about the "cheap" 1911s, ala Auto-Ordinace.
#
#I never considered them because they didn't look as nice as Colt or
#SA, but I've noticed that they cost less than a Ruger .45.  (Whlsl 
#$250 vs $310).   Could they possibly be any worse?  I've heard that
#AO frames could be used as a spacegun base, but that's the only 
#aknowledgement I've seen from any "real" (ala non-first time buyers)
#consumer that this brand has any value.   I've heard bad things
#about AO, but have the one friend who claims that they are ok (same guy
#who said he knew people who start out with them and fix them up,
#and/or build decent guns out of AO frames.)
#
#Where is AO in your estimation?
#
#If someone wants a reliable shooter, might they come out ahead
#buying an AO 1911 or "Pit Bull" rather than a Colt and using 
#some of the ~$200 savings for improvements?

Hi Jim,

     I'll stir the pot on this one (better put my flame suit on, the
Colt fans'll be after me for sure!).  I just bought one of the fancy
satin nickel-plated Auto Ordnance pistols with the wrap-around rubber
grips (pebbled, same as on some of the better Colts) and the 3-dot
high profile combat sights.  Cost me $279.95 from SOG.  I can't afford
a Colt, although I've shot a lot of them.  Another deciding factor is
that the Auto Ordnance plant is about 40 miles from my house -- these
are local boys.  The only other clone at the same price is Norinco,
which based on my experiences with SKS's, are junk (I know, I'm
judging one product based on another -- so sue me).  I bought it
because I wanted to bolt some goodies on it.  I was mildly shocked to
find the gun is damn accurate, out of the box.  I'd intended to put in
a match barrel and such, but have decided to wait.  This one's a
shooter.
     If you buy one, the first thing to do is get a hack saw and cut
the magazine up into little tiny pieces and throw them into the
garbage.  The magazine they ship is junk.  Period.  The second thing
to do is get out a piece of 600-grit wet-or-dry, some machine oil, and
a small piece of dowel and ever-so-gently polish the rough metal where
the bullets feed into the barrel.  The third thing, of course, is to
get a real Colt magazine. :-)
     My pistol now feeds anything I put into it, without a single jam
in about 1500 rounds of FMJ, SWC, and hollowpoints mixed.  Before
taking the above steps, it would jam at least once per magazine full,
and would *never* load the first round of a fresh magazine if the
slide was locked back from the previous one (i.e., I had to release
the slide, insert the mag, and then fully rack the slide to get it to
feed the first round).

     Some comments about the pistol:
        - It's really pretty with the satin nickel and rubber grips
        - The nickel is flaking off in a couple of wear spots on
          internal pieces
        - Tightest barrel bushing I've *ever* seen on a 1911A1
        - Two ugly stages of creep in the trigger
        - Holy sh-- is it accurate -- best 1911A1 I've ever shot
          (out of about 4 Colt 70's and 2 Springfields), despite
          the not-so-good trigger, probably because the sights are
          very nice

     I'm overjoyed with the pistol.  It has a few little problems (as
I noted above) but now it works fine and I can put all 7 in the same
hole, slow fire at 7-yards with a two-hand hold.  I'm dying to pull it
apart and tweak the trigger a little (with guidance from a gunsmith
friend, of course).  I've never shot a 1911A1 that was this accurate,
and I'm a pretty big fan of them. :-)  And it cost me less than $300,
even with the new magazine.  It only took 15 minutes to polish it up.
It is not a Gold Cup.  I've never shot one, so I can't compare them.
All I know is it is better than the standard 70's Colts that my
friends have, and the two Springfields that I've shot (and I'm not
knocking either of those guns -- any 1911A1 is great!).  Admittedly,
the edge goes to the Colt out of the box, but the Auto Ordnance shaped
up nicely for me.  If you want to spend the extra money you save on
modifications, start with the trigger, if my pistol is by any means
representative.


John

--
******************************************************************************
               John S. Van Etten     vanetten@unix.cie.rpi.edu
       Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  1000 MIPS GaAs F-RISC Project
       --"If sand didn't irritate oysters, there would be no pearls"--