[Zeke Menuar]

I have a LW Commander SN# FL0XXXX E.

I bought this gun used six years ago and have put thousands? of rounds through it. Exactly where do these pistols develop cracking and the other problems attributed to alloy frames?
Is there a method that the average guy like me can use to highlight cracks and fatigue that may otherwise be hard to spot?
Are there any functional problems that may come up that can be attributed to an alloy frame wearing out? I check the frame after every shooting session. Things look OK to me, but as the gun gets older I want to keep a close eye on this potential problem.

Thanks

ZM

[HSMITH]

Zeke, the potential problem is overstated and overblown. The odds of it cracking are quite low. 20K rounds is just a start, if you have less than that don't worry about it. When it cracks you will KNOW it cracked. It won't be a tiny hairline crack that you need to dye to find. The crack will also have about 99% odds of being up in the frame rails, and you take a file and cut out the cracked portion of the frame rail returning the gun to 100% function and zero worry that the crack may come back. The crack will not put the gun out of order either, it will function for hundreds if not thousands of rounds after first cracking noticeably.

Keep it lubed and it will not "wear out" easily. If you can afford the time and ammo to wear one out consider yourself fortunate and go buy another, it is going to take 50K++ full power loads.

The only thing you need to worry about is keeping a fresh high quality recoil spring in the gun. IMSI is the way to go IMO, and change it every 3000 full power loads or yearly, whatever comes first. Cheap maintenance.

[Old Fuff]

I have a .45 Commander L.W. that I bought back in the late 1950's and it hasn't cracked yet. As I understand it if they do crack it's usually between the slot for the slide-stop lug and the top of the rail. Less common is between the slide stop pin hole and the slide rail.

Be that as it may, I'm not going to worry. I think the gun may outlive me. If it does crack I'll probably buy a new aftermarket frame from a quality maker and then build up a new gun using the parts that were in the Commander. By that time I'll consider I got my money's worth out of the old frame.

[dfariswheel]

Back in the 60's the late Skeeter Skelton did a test of both the Colt aluminum Commander, and the Gold Cup.
There had been stories about the Commander wearing out.
There were also stories about the Gold Cup requiring a heavier recoil spring for full-power loads, and not retaining it's accuracy.

So Skelton got new models of each gun and 10,000 rounds of full-powered ammo for each gun.

After the 10,000 rounds the Gold Cup was more accurate, and had broken the roll pin that held the rear sight. Since Colt listed the SAME recoil spring for the Gold Cup and the standard Government Model, the Gold Cup didn't "wear out".

The Commander broke no parts, but at some point did develop a tiny crack in the frame just in front of the slide rails, running from the slide stop hole to the dust cover. This was not in a critical area, and would have had no effect on shooting the gun.

Colt has been making aluminum guns since 1947 and they've learned much more about them over the years. Colt has changed the type of aluminum used since the 60's and the newer guns are less subject to cracking.

Todays frame are MUCH more durable than the older guns, and as far as I know, there is no "service life" limitation on them.