I may have been shooting with a handicap

So I installed my Kart XACT fit myself because I was told that was the path to a more accurate pistol.  I fit it per instructions until I was able to make contact point on the lower lug legs, it said to leave it tight, and experience will determine how hard of a lock it'll be.  Having no experience of what an accurate 1911 45acp should feel like I left it hard, very hard, so that it took two hands to take the barrel out of battery.  Oddly enough I was shooting better, with this very hard to rack Kart, than my stock Target Loaded barrel.  So I thought that was it, got into reloading, found a load that I shot well with, and dry fired a lot.

My scores with my 1911 were never really great nor match up to how I shoot with 22.  When I shot my recently acquired revolver I would sometimes get very nice groups at 50 yards, something I've done with 22 but never with my 1911.

I started doubting myself and thought it was recoil that was holding me back(since that's the difference between calibers right?) and explored lead options

Wanting to see how good SWCHP is I found myself disappointed https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t23424-disappointed-with-zero-185gr-swchp, but Bruce Martindale mentioned something that got me thinking.  He said he had a gun unlock too fast it had a high recoil.  It got me thinking, what if my upper lug engagement is too low that it's coming out of battery quickly, after all, I left it very tight.  So, I touch up the upper lugs and was finally able to pull the slide back with one hand, with great difficulty. Shot a match and my groupings seemed better, but still scored the same as I was still finding zero.  Unsure about touching the upper lugs more I called Kart, something I should've done a long time ago, and asked how hard the lockup should be. He says to touch up the lugs until I can just bump it out.  I had difficulty gauging what a bump is, seeing how recoil springs are different and my inexperience. So I post the question on the 1911forum and got a very good response. https://www.1911forum.com/threads/kart-xact-fit-upper-lug-engagement.1065884/ 

I followed their instructions, got a slide I rack back easily, and went out to shoot.  First couple groups were pretty bad, but then it seemed to get tighter.  Shots seemed to be on call as well, something I couldn't do well with the 1911 and I figured I was just a bad shot.  Then, I shot this grouping:



Excited about this grouping, of course, I threw the next 5 shots for this target!

But then I shot the best grouping I've ever done at 50 yards:


I was SO happy—I was jumping for joy throwing fists in the air! I finally have a barrel that's accurate that I can have confidence in!  Of course, my elation had the next 5 go off pretty bad.  I would recall something from Bruce Martindale's book that touched upon that subject along the lines of: shooting well is bad for you

Maybe it was a lot of luck to get that grouping.  So I loaded various charges and tested them by shooting a 900 and I did a lot better than I've done before, even shot my highest slow:




Also, SWCHP doesn't feel like it kicks hard anymore either


With only 2 EIC's available that I can compete in, I'm super stoke that I have more confidence in my pistol and myself.  With my biggest dream to be distinguished this year and getting hard legs in Canton and Cardinal—I think I need to dry fire more

Just wanted to share my 5 month story of fitting a Kart Barrel.  

Looking to shoot some X's at the Sunnyvale Memorial 2700 on Monday!

Congratulations on your progress with the pistol and new skills! The 1911forum thread was a good read

Awesome results! Great shooting as well. I plan on doing something similar to a Tisas 1911 I have to start shooting the .45 match instead of shooting 2700s .22 only. Good to know that those plans are not unrealistic.

jareds06 wrote:Awesome results! Great shooting as well. I plan on doing something similar to a Tisas 1911 I have to start shooting the .45 match instead of shooting 2700s .22 only. Good to know that those plans are not unrealistic.

If you're going to fit a Kart XACT fit in your Tisas and you need a reamer and fitting kit, I have a reamer and kit I can sell to you.

I had to take a lot of hood off the XACT fit to fit my SA Target Loaded so I had to ream my barrel quite a bit


I have no plans for fitting more barrels but it was definitely a learning experience that was Type 2 fun.  I actually messed up my first Kart barrel but touching the lower lugs(don't do that) and ended up speed running my 2nd, but incomplete, fit in 8 hours first file to finish reaming.  I'll be looking to BE gunsmiths like Jon Eulette for more accuracy now