MetroArms American Classic II -- EGW magazine catch and Pearce grip insert review

This episode of Shooting from the Hip is a follow-up to my review of the MetroArms American Classic II model 1911 pistol.  Specifically, I recently completed my first two upgrades, and I wanted to share with you what I changed, as well as why I did so.

Now, you may be asking yourself why, if I like the ACII so much, I felt the need to change something.  Well, for one thing, it is a 1911, after all, and one of the beautiful things about this pistol is that it is a platform that begs one to customize it to one's own preferences.  From grips, to sights, to triggers, hammers, even guide-rods, there isn't much on the 1911 that cannot be tweaked to fit the individual shooter.  In this particular case, my first upgrade was to add a Pearce rubber grip insert.

(Image courtesy of pearcegrip.com)  Now, while I am a big fan of wood grips on a 1911, the slim aspect of the 1911 doesn't fill my hand very well.  I have big hands, and I am used to double-stack guns that are wide enough to fit my hand well.  Part of the attraction of the 1911 though is the slimness, making it a good carry pistol, easy to conceal, so I did not want to lose that aspect.  My choice, therefor, was to try the Pearce grip insert:  a rubber insert that adds finger grooves to the frontstrap, while not greatly altering the thickness of the grip itself, and still allowing the use of the wood stocks.  Installation could not be simpler:  simply unscrew the grips, put the grip insert on aligning the precut holes over the grip screw bushings, then replace the grips.  The insert is cut generously, leaving some trimming to be done, but an X-acto knife makes quick work of that.

Range time with the new grip definitely showed a difference in the handling of the pistol.  The rubber grip afforded me a firmer grasp on the firearm, and it seemed to point more naturally.  Whereas before I installed the Pearce grip, recoil would occasionally cause the pistol to shift in my hand, I found that this was no longer the case with the new finger grooves.  Speed and accuracy of follow-up shots increased perceptibly.  I am curious as to whether the grip will prove to be durable, since the rubber under the stocks is rather thin (by design, of course), but time will tell.

The second modification I made to my ACII was to install a new magazine catch.  The one issue I have had with the pistol is that on a couple of occasions, it has failed to chamber a round when I have manually racked the slide.  I have not had this issue when using the slide release, only when "slingshotting" the slide.  This issue has been mentioned on a couple of firearms forums, as well.  It seems that the magazine catch on the ACII may be a bit low, allowing the magazine to sit a fraction of an inch lower in the magwell than normal.  This causes the top round in the magazine to have a bit of a higher jump to make it into the chamber.  Not much of an issue with round ball, but it can cause hollowpoints to jam.  As I intend to use this gun for home defense and possibly self-defense, it must reliably cycle hollowpoints.

One solution to this problem that I discovered on the M1911 forum (a great place to find information about this amazing weapon platform) was to change out the factory mag catch with a replacement that is machined to hold the magazine higher in the magwell.  One such product is manufactured by the company EGW, or Evolution Gun Works.  The HD Higher Mag Catch is available in either blued or stainless, is milled from solid 4140 Chromoly steel, and is designed to hold the magazine .020 inches higher than a standard mag catch.

While the company states that the part should fit "in most good quality 1911s," like any other "drop-in" 1911 part, some fitting is often required.  This was the case with the ACII:  a couple of minutes of light grinding and buffing, and the catch fit perfectly.  And it works as advertised.  The factory catch allowed the magazines to sit just a fraction of an inch lower in the magwell, and I could hold up on the bottom of the magazine and it would move ever-so-slightly up.  With the EGW catch, the magazine base is flush with the bottom of the magwell -- a nice, tight fit, holding the top round in a more direct line with the chamber.  Hand racking the slide several times with three different magazines showed that the rounds fed much easier into battery.  Pressing the EGW catch still allows the empty magazines to fall away freely, as well, so there should be no issue with tactical magazine changes.

After another 50 rounds (Federal 230 gr. FMJ) through it today, with no failures of any kind, the American Classic II by MetroArms continues to impress me.  It is definitely worth looking at if you are interested in a 1911.  I would also recommend looking at what EGW has to offer, with respect to aftermarket 1911 parts.  The website is easy to navigate, ordering was simple, and delivery was fast.  Three things I look for in an online seller.  You might also check out what Pearce has to offer, not only for the 1911, but for a variety of other pistols as well.