sscolt

Hi all, hopefully this will be an easy question to answer, Apart from overall length, is a Govt 5" and a Commander 4 1/4" barrel dimensionally the same?

If not, can someone tell me what the differences are.

Thanks very much

dfariswheel

Barrel are the same except for length.
Some barrels will have a slightly larger muzzle to fit a barrel bushing, so this might be an issue in installing a 5" barrel in a Commander slide.

sscolt

Thanks dfariswheel, that's just what I wanted to here.
Was recently given a Lissner barrel in 10mm, thought it would be pretty cool to build a 10mm Commander around it

dfariswheel

There might be some issues there.
I don't think Colt ever made the Commander length guns in 10mm, and there might be some problems with the 10mm and the shorter slide travel.
There might be excessive battering of the frame.

Jim Watson

A real Colt Commander barrel has a shorter link lug so as to not protrude out from between the shorter rail ends and bear on the recoil spring guide rod. The cheap treatment for that is to bevel or notch the head of the recoil spring guide to clear, rather than recontouring the barrel.

Bill Caldwell

I agree with what has been posted, The barrels are different to a certain degree, dependin' on the barrel You have, and there could be batterin', then again the pistol possibly could be setup to not batter at all or no more than normal....Due to there not being as much metal on the bottom barrel lug (goin' by the Colt barrel in My 9mm Commander), runnin' a fairly HOT round like the 10mm ( !0mm is nowhere near the 40 Super) the bottom barrel lug could be a problem, this would be an area I would keep a watch on.

I'm all for ANY AND ALL KINDS OF HOTRODDIN' WHEN IT COMES TO THE 1911...With that said, I don't know if I would build a 10mm Commander for concealed carry. Several reasons come to mind, one is no matter how fast a bullet is movein' or how hard it hits, stops come from puttin' the bullets in the right place. Again "With that said", and usein' My 9mm Commander as a reference point, I can shoot head shots on the USPSA target at 21 feet with .15 second splits , often times around .10 second....I don't think I could get splits any where near that with a 10mm in Commander size, and I beleive anything You HAVE to shoot needs shootin' as fast and as often as possible.

I've often thought of buildin' a Commander in 10mm, 40 Super, 45 Super just to see what problems would come up....To answer this post I'd say go for it....Use a firein' pin stop with a very slight radius to slow the slide some....work with the springin', only one way to know if it is doable

Bill Caldwell