Citadel Compact observations

[jedwil]

I bought a Citadel Compact after handling Time2Shoot's at the Texas get-together. My only previous experience with the 1911 was in the Army and it never felt right in my hand and I would have been more lethal throwing rocks at the enemy than trying to hit them with the 1911's I handled. So I have avoided them. I was really impressed with the feel of the Citadel Dale let me handle and I bought one and have been impressed with the way it's put together. Have not shot it yet, but did strip it for it's first cleaning. Pretty simple disassembly, though the front bushing set up was a surprise. My difficulty came trying to reinsert the guide rod and spring. Very frustrating. Looked at some videos on Youtube and found folks using paperclips to hold the spring assembly. That's a new one for me. I am anxious to get it to the range. Any ammo recommendations or reassembly tips would be appreciated.

[Double D]

Assembly is a cakewalk once you have done it a few times. I have a full size citadel and its a great shooter. I bought the compact citadel about 3 yrs ago and I was in the process of customizing it to carry it when my supplier found me a colt defender and I ended up selling my citidel to george moody here on the forum when he came thru florida one time. That compact was and still is a great shooter and george still has it I think, I know his son tried steeling it from him for a while. Anyhow, those guns should feed most any ammo but will like the round nose jacketed rounds the best. Anyhow, just shoot the daylights out of it and see if it has any trouble at all feeding any ammo. If it does, just buy some wilson combat magazines for it and make certain your feed ramp is polished and you will be good to go! P.S. It is an addiction. Also, there are little plastic assembly wrenches for 1911s.

[gdmoody]

Oh yeah, I still got it!! I love that pistol, it shoots great and is pretty easy to maintain. The only problem that I have with it is that I forget between range visits how touchy that trigger is, but after the first shot, I suddenly remember that you have to breathe easy on it. My son did try to swipe it from me but I let him use it for about a year in his Police job. He carried it every day as his service weapon and he loved it. He lost his job a few months ago so I took it away from him along with the Glock I let him borrow. I sold the Glock yesterday because I never liked them, but he wanted one for his job, I will probably never sell the Citadel.

It will feed anything, at least it will feed every thing that I have put through it. The plastic thing that Dan mentioned is a real finger saver when messing with that bushing.

[jlloyd73]

You can have my Citadel..................when you pry it from my cold dead hands....

Mine is great............one of the best investments we ever made.

[hogger129]

for the takedown, you might also consider using the gi guide rod setup. much easier to disassemble. i assume yours has a full length in it since you said you needed a paperclip to hold the spring assembly back. honestly i've noticed no difference in accuracy or performance between the full length or gi guide rod setups.

other than that, i stick to remington and winchester ammo. i never shoot crummy ammo like that tula/wolff stuff and i stay away from that blazer aluminum stuff. i avoid reloads too unless they were done by someone i know who does em right. seen too many peoples' guns get broken by poor reloads.

i had an armscor gun (i believe rock island and citadel are both armscor products), and my rock island was incredibly reliable. i simply desired something with more of the fancy doo-dads.

enjoy your citadel. shoot some pictures for us to look at :-P

[JLA]

Its a sub compact Hogger. Its a bull barrel with a reverse plug and a little hole in the end of the guide so you can insert whatever fits to capture the spring while you take it apart. otherwise its a thumb buster.

Great little guns they are.

[jedwil]

Originally Posted by JLA

Its a sub compact Hogger. Its a bull barrel with a reverse plug and a little hole in the end of the guide so you can insert whatever fits to capture the spring while you take it apart. otherwise its a thumb buster.

Great little guns they are.

I do like it and will deal with the paper clip issue..........................

[JLA]

it just takes a little practice John.

[hogger129]

aaah okay i didn't figure it was the compact model.

[jedwil]

Thanks for the responses. I've ordered 3 spare mags, some ammo that was back ordered, and holster. Thinking now about night sights and read some previous posts here. Still would like opinions on make, etc. And not being very mechanically inclined, do I need a gunsmith? Josh, you gotta shipping address and paypal account?

[JLA]

I do. You will need a pusher if you wanna do it yourself properly. You can do it with a hammer and nylon punch too if youre careful. The Citadels are doivetailed front and rear so swapping sights is a breeze. Look at Meprolight and Trijicon. 2 best brands ofnite sights IMO.

Oh, and if it shoots to POA for you now, make sure you get replacement sights that are the same height as the stock sights.

[jedwil]

Originally Posted by JLA

I do. You will need a pusher if you wanna do it yourself properly. You can do it with a hammer and nylon punch too if youre careful. The Citadels are doivetailed front and rear so swapping sights is a breeze. Look at Meprolight and Trijicon. 2 best brands ofnite sights IMO.

Oh, and if it shoots to POA for you now, make sure you get replacement sights that are the same height as the stock sights.

sending pm.........