1911 frame differences ???

[remauto1187]

A little background. KAHR Arms bought out Auto Ordnance years back and Auto Ordnance use to make a compact 1911 called the ZG51 Pitbull from 1997 to 99. It had a 3.5" barrel and a logo of a pitbull on the right side and the words pitbull aft of it. Well I found one online and liked it so i called KAHR after i found out they bought AO out. I asked them if they still had those parts NOS laying on any shelves. Guy said he would call me back and did and i managed to get a complete topend for around $150. Whats cool is there is no logo or any words on the slide. The guy said well we dont have the rollmark dies, i thought cool Ill take a oneoff! So they sold it to me back in 2003 or so.

Question: Is there a difference between a commander, officer or Govt frame? Are they identical or is one shorter or ?? than the others?

 

[remauto1187]

It appears there are only 2 frames. The Officers frame and then the Government frame which is used for Commander and Officer model from the info ive stumbled across. Anyone have any further insight? Id like to build my ZG51 topend onto a Officer frame to yield a nice lil compact 1911.

 

[melensdad]

I have no idea what you are asking.

 

[churchmouse]

A bit confusing. What are you trying to do???
I know of 2 length frames but that is mainly in the dust cover.

 

[menzzer37]

The dust cover is shorter on the officer as well as the magazine portion of the frame. All the small components sans the mainspring are the same. Commander and Govt are the same size/parts.

 

[CCF]

It is true the dustcover is shorter on a commander when compared to the full size, but the area where the recoil spring guide sits as well as the rails are cut back .078 on a commander frame.

 

[torque_and_recoil]

CCF is right on.

While it's possible that a "Commander" top end will work on a Government frame, there are dimensional differences that could come back to bite you. I had to find this out the hard way with a Les Baer a few years ago. (Baer used Government-dimension frames on their Commanders, and there's a definite reliability hit.)

With a 3.5" barrel, you'll probably need/want to go with an Officer-sized frame. But it's best to get the opinion of a real gunsmith before buying your frame.

 

[Classic]

I thought the Commander had a full size grip and mag and the Combat Commander has the shorter grip and mag.

I've found lots of differences in frame dimensions on various manufacturer's 1911 frames in both critical and non-critical locations.