What is “Match Grade”?
I’ve been lusting after 1911s as of late and a term I keep hearing pop up is “match grade”. After I noticed that, I started seeing it everywhere: “Match grade barrel”, “match grade ammo”, etc.
What the heck does that mean though? Well, it’s a combination of things. The root of it is the component has to be built to the highest manufacturing standard possible in order to be considered “match grade”. It’s mostly geared towards competition. Competitors want to eliminate every factor possible in order to improve their grouping and so they want barrels, bushings and such to behave as perfectly as possible every time.
There’s a problem though, “match grade” doesn’t always translate to “the best there is”. It really depends on the manufacturer. Just because a gun has a match grade barrel doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be more accurate or dependable. If you have a match grade barrel but bargain basement bushings and a 10 year old recoil spring, the gun will still fire like crap. Think of it this way: yes, you could put racing tires and track suspension on your Volvo station wagon but in the end, it’s not going to make a bit of difference as the car itself can’t take advantage of them. In that same thread, putting a match grade barrel in a cheap gun isn’t going to make it anything other than a cheap gun with an expensive barrel in it.
Put a match grade barrel and components in a top of the line 1911, Glock or Sig and that’s an entirely different story.
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