[dbshabo]

What is the purpose of a barrel bushing on 1911 style .45's? I was looking at Kimber guns and some of them have bushings and some don't. Seems the full size models have the bushing and the compact models don't. Is there an advantage to having the bushing? Is there a disadvantage to not having the bushing? Guess what I'm asking is whether the bushing plays a major part in the operation of the gun as far as accuracy and reliability are concerned. Thanks in advance for any and all info offered.

Shabo

[1911Tuner]

The bushing is part of the original design, and its purpose is to locate
the barrel in the slide and prevent its flopping around. A fitted bushing,
both to the slide and barrel enhances accuracy.

The bushingless designs have a cone-shaped barrel on the muzzle
end and locate the barrel in the slide via the taper, and requires
more precise machining to work properly. That is, to return the
barrel to the same place for every shot without causing return to
battery failures due to the taper wedging itself in the end of the
slide too early. Properly machined tapered barrel, bushingless
set-ups tend to be very accurate, however.

My own feeling is that the cone barrel/bushingless design presents
a greater sensitivity to dirt or foreign objects, depending on how
closely the tolerances are held, and once a taper is solidly wedged,
it's hard to break the contact. This would tend to make it more difficult
to clear a stoppage that was caused by that wedging action. I've
never owned a 1911 with this design at the muzzle, but have seen
this occur with one Colt Defender recently. The pistol required a
field-strip and removal of the grit that caused it. Probably a one-time-
in-a-million thing, but there it was.

Cheers!
Tuner