.460 Rowland

[church]

So my friend and I just finished fitting and assembling his .460 rowland. Its a pain in the rear to assemble! When he ordered it off the internet (460rowland.com) The website stated that it was a drop in kit for certain guns. New model remington 1911 r1 was on that list and that is a new model remington r1... Needless to say, After much fitting and cussing and a little bit of bleeding we finally got it together!

 

[Fenwick79]

Nice gun

 

[mac45]

Very nice!
Look forward to the range report.

 

[Harleyrider_50]

Yeah on the .460 Rowland......it do be a badazz,hahahahaha...

 

[ghitch75]

get ready for BIG BOOM and hard hittin'...good job!!!..230gr RNL with 12gr of Power Pistol 12550fps....rocks the valley!!!...here's mine...Caspian/Colt...

 

[ErickB]

Very cool! I definitely want to try one of those before I die. Are they always comped?

 

[church]

Not always, sometimes a ported, extended barrel. But I've never see them without one or the other.

 

[Disposable Heart]

While I congratulate you on going into new territory, I do ask: Why run Rowland in a cast frame gun? Heck, .45 Super, even when sprung properly and all parts reinforced, peened the crap out of a RIA that I had converted to that purpose (and RIA is a good cast frame piece of weapon)

Be careful and keep watch on your springs/frame/slide.

 

[ghitch75]

While I congratulate you on going into new territory, I do ask: Why run Rowland in a cast frame gun? Heck, .45 Super, even when sprung properly and all parts reinforced, peened the crap out of a RIA that I had converted to that purpose (and RIA is a good cast frame piece of weapon)

Be careful and keep watch on your springs/frame/slide.

didn't know the R1'S where cast.......yes as Heart said keep an eye on it or it not be good.....so Remington is gettin' from RIA?

 

[Disposable Heart]

didn't know the R1'S where cast.......yes as Heart said keep an eye on it or it not be good.....so Remington is gettin' from RIA?

Maybe not that direct of a link, but the Remmies are cast. I know they are well fitted guns (better fitted and finished than RIA), but they are still cast. For the price of a moderate level R1, one could get a lowish end forged frame Springer and still be out ahead. I have nothing against cast frame guns!! Do not take it as such! Low pressure, standard .45 or the lower recoil 9mm cast frame versions rock on, but for crazy stupid high pressure high recoil slaps your unborn grandchildren generations to come kind of boomy rounds, no cast frame will hold. Yes, one can go on about the BHP and how they switched to cast for the .40, but .40 doesn't launch a 230 grainer around 1400-1500 fps, now does it?

I will say this: The RIA is a well made frame, not as finished, but well made for cast. Even when sprung heavier (22lbs), full length guide rod, square bottom firing pin stop, slightly heavier mainspring, etc..., the RIA peened fairly bad with .45 Super. The same conversion on a Springer parkerized Loaded I had back in the day had no issues. .460 and .45 Super aren't something you slap a heavy recoil spring, the barrel and ammo and off to the races. A forged frame will crack before peening in my research and exploration in heavy .45 loadings for 1911s, but they will last longer than a cast would.

 

[church]

Its my friends gun, he has wanted a .460 rowland for a good while now. Ill let him know he needs to watch for signs of damage while shooting. When you say peened I assume you mean frame damage?

 

[Corporal D]

Peening is when two pieces of metal make contact hard enough to damage/dent each other:

What is "Peening"? - 1911Forum

 

[Disposable Heart]

Corporal D got it pretty good there.

While the slide is extruded/milled, check the barrel to slide contact lugs for damage after each "session", check the front of the slide rails on the slide AND frame to make sure there is no banging or peeled metal.
Check the finish coloration in the hammer to ensure that the MIM hammer of the R1 isn't "crinkling" indicative of bending. In fact, this goes for anything contacting the slide.
Check the lower lugs of the barrel for any side to side or front/back peeling or bending.
Check the frame lug where the barrel nestles into the frame for any banging or metal that looks gouged or "pushed in".
If the slide stop is difficult to remove, check it for true, likely bent out of whack.
Check the barrel link, if difficult to move, it's been banged out of whack.
If possible, keep measurements of the dimensions of the slide (such as the distance from rail to rail on the slide, at minimum of 3 points, say front/middle near slide lock relief/back), keep a log. If it starts spreading, you will have a nightmare on your hands.
Check the dust cover for excessive wear, indicating too much side to side play in the slide during operation. Side to side play is okay. Too much side to side play + horrifically high slide velocity due to .460 Rowland= no good.
Ejector: make sure it's not loose or peened. That thing is going to take horrific beating! lol

Literally, these were things I checked on mine and they were all screwed. While it may not hurt the shooter, it's a bad idea and a good way to ruin a perfectly good cast frame 1911. Tell your friend to save the foray into .460 for a forged frame piece of weapon.

The MIM parts, while fine for .45 ACP slide velocities, did not hold up in my testing with the lowly .45 Super and I cannot abide by the concept of them being rocked by .460 Rowland, even if the slide is properly sprung. I replaced the hammer on the RIA with a Wilson, which I would imagine would be similar quality as the Remington factory part, and it was bent, literally bent back by a few thousandths, but enough to get light strikes. You don't even want to imagine what the area of the frame behind the hammer and beavertail looked like...

 

[rockhopper46038]

Here's mine; they are a load of fun!

Untitled by rockhopper46038, on Flickr

I tried mine at a pin shoot, but it kinda blew the pins up so I switched back to a .45ACP for the rest of the match.

It's built on a Norinco. Before AllenM got his hands on it the finish left much to be desired (he improved this thing 1000%); but one thing you can say about these 1911 Norcs - they are made from tough stuff!

 

[migioto]

The original post is my R1. The site (460Rowland.com) said it was a weapon that it could be used on. I was feeling antsy and wanted to do it as a project. So I did. It was more of a project to see if I could get it to work. And I did with no help to Rowland. If anyone is thinking of doing the conversion, I would not suggest Rowland. I would go with Clarkcustoms. I have had zero customer support from Rowland. Which would have helped. I just want to fire it and mark it down as a win for a project. If need be I will upgrade. Church and Bummer helped out a lot with the fitting and tools needed to do so. In the end its nice knowing that you can take out anything from a rabbit to an SUV.

 

[ErickB]

I never realized there was such a drastic difference between .45 ACP and the Rowland... probably because the rounds look so similar. I mean I knew it was beefier, but then I looked up the pressures! 40,000 PSI!! Yikes!