I have an earlier SIG 1911 in serial number range 16xxx that I bought new. I loved everything about it other than the way it pinched my hand at the bottom of the grip when shooting and I found myself not shooting it much. I had a chance to shoot my BIL's Springfield Armory 1911 and just loved the way it felt in my hand and how well I shot it and noticed it had the arched mainspring housing on it.

So I ordered an Ed Brown 817-ARCH arched MSH for my SIG 1911 from Brownells and just installed it which fit perfectly and wow does it feel great gripping it now. I don't understand why SIG put the stupid lanyard MSH on it originally. Can't wait to try it out at the range hopefully soon and yes I do have a stash of .45 range ammo already.

Here are some pics and the last pic is of the original MSH.

Yeah, that lanyard loop is unnecessary.

Personally, I cannot stand arched mainsprings, and have immediately swapped them out on any 1911 I've owned with it. But this highlights what's so great aspects of the 1911's customizability... We can both end up with guns with which we're happy, with minimal effort.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yeah, that lanyard loop is unnecessary.

Personally, I cannot stand arched mainsprings, and have immediately swapped them out on any 1911 I've owned with it. But this highlights what's so great aspects of the 1911's customizability... We can both end up with guns with which we're happy, with minimal effort.

Yep!

Yep, nice work. I did the same for my Sig 1911 RCS, to allow use of standard Officer's Model grip panels. As issued, the gun had a flared mag well, with the grips forming part of the flare, and the mainspring housing was extended to take care of the rear portion. Rod

quote:

Originally posted by grumpy1:
I had a chance to shoot my BIL's Springfield Armory 1911 and just loved the way it felt in my hand and how well I shot it and noticed it had the arched mainspring housing on it.

One of the nice and easy customizable things about a 1911. Personally, I always used the flat mainspring housing (no loop), because my hands are smaller. The flat one puts my finger right where it needs to be on the trigger.

All the 1911's I've owned, with flat MSH pointed low. Easy to change.

I prefer the arched MSH.

I liked that lanyard loop

I am pleased with results dry firing so far and I ordered a Pink Rhino 45 laser training cartridge to make dry fire more fun and effective as I discovered using such for my 9MM pistols.

I have large back straps on all my poly pistols, including my HKP30L and VP9, that have changeable backstraps as I have larger hands.

I should be getting to the range in a few weeks to see how that works but I am expecting good things. I shot my SIG 1911 pretty well with the old backstrap but it annoyingly pinched my palm and this arched MSH feels much more to my liking. Ready to fall in love with my 1911 all over again and it has never ever had any time of malfunction. luckily I still have a couple cases of ammo in the stash.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. To be honest I did not know I could change out the MSH and this is my only 1911. I found out doing research after loving shooting my BILs Springfield Armory 1911 and noticed the difference in grip.

I'm the exact opposite of Rogue JSK. HATE a flat MSH. I change all mine to arched. It's nice that we can have it either way easily.

I like and have both. Choices are great.

Nice, I happen to like the arched mainspring housing and feel it fits my hand better and gun points naturally better. Not sure why everyone went away from them, maybe to accomodate people with smaller hands?

Oh Joy!

Made it to the range today and loved shooting my SIG 1911 with the new arched mainspring housing. Results exceeded by expectations so money well spent.

8 rounds at 21 feet.

Nice work and shooting!

I put the lanyard loop housing on all of my 1911's. To each his own. They're made by Fusion Firearms. I love them.

I’ve known very few 1911 enthusiasts who favor AMSH’s.. I don’t care for them myself either..

quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
I’ve known very few 1911 enthusiasts who favor AMSH’s.. I don’t care for them myself either..

The 1911 was origionally designed with a flat main spring housing. Later, the Army was the one who instituted the arched mainspring housings, to fix the issue of the gun pointing low for many of our troops. Then, all of them were made with arched mainspring housings pretty much up until around year 2000, and then everyone started switching back to flat mainspring housings. I don't mind either and shoot well with both, but the 1911 does point slightly better with an Arched mainspring housing for me. I think most newer 1911 owners don't even know about the arched mainspring housing.

quote:

Originally posted by P6shooter:
I put the lanyard loop housing on all of my 1911's. To each his own. They're made by Fusion Firearms. I love them.

Glad it works for you. I would never have changed mine if it did not pinch my hand when shooting and had tried my BILs SA 1911 that has the arched MSM.

quote:

Originally posted by grumpy1:

quote:

Originally posted by P6shooter:
I put the lanyard loop housing on all of my 1911's. To each his own. They're made by Fusion Firearms. I love them.

Glad it works for you. I would never have changed mine if it did not pinch my hand when shooting and had tried my BILs SA 1911 that has the arched MSM.

The last one I bought was sharp as a knife around the edges where the lanyard pin is. That took some serious filing and sanding to make it comfortable. Usually they are nicely deburred, It looks like yours is pretty sharp too. Thankfully mine, like yours, is stainless steel and required no refinishing.

While not the original intent of its designer, the 1911 is the original modular handgun.

I've always preferred the arched MSH over flat, and always change them out.