[4thHorseman]

What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?
Those type pistols will eat just about anything you put in them. Most 1911 (that I know of) will only be reliable on hard ball. I do have a Caspian that is awfully good at feeding time though. Only because of hand tuning before I got it.
Any suggestions?

[Sean Smith]

Make it right and it works. Pretty simple. Only problem with the 1911 is that its hype for combat reliability isn't as fresh in people's minds as HK hype is. :D

[Schuey2002]

What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?
A large balance in your checking account. :D

[4thHorseman]

:D Yeah......

[Andrew Wyatt]

mine is as reliable as a sig or HK.

[4thHorseman]

What do you got Andrew?

[Sean Smith]

A large balance in your checking account.

Funny, it cost me $570. :D

[Tamara]

What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?

Out of the eight 1911's I currently own, five have been as reliable as any HK, SIG, or Glock I've owned. Go figure. :uhoh:

[Andrew Wyatt]

a colt series 80.

[4thHorseman]

I have a Para-Ord and a Colt 80 Series. They are terriable on feeding and ejecting rounds. I bought a Caspian at a pawn shop and it hasn't let me down yet.
But either has my Sig or H&K. I guess maybe it's the workmanship that causes the malfunctions in the 1911's. Don't really know though?

[10mmshooter]

I am a former LEO, and had trained with, and carried Glocks in my duties. As a civillian, my desire to own an AK-47 overpowered my love for my Glock, and I traded the pistol in a deal to aquire the 7.62x39mm rifle.
Since then, my Glock 23 has been replaced by a Dan Wesson Pointman 1911 style pistol in 10mm, and I have hardly missed my Tupperware.
As far as reliability with ball ammo only.....the only FTF's that I have experienced with this weapon were on one individual round of ball ammo. All JHP's that I have loaded into this pistol have functioned flawlessly. These rounds were made by Hornady, and Cor-Bon.
Also, I must say that the DW is infinately more accurate than my old Glock, and feels better in my hand...although I am 6'2", and 240lbs.
Although I will probably own more Glocks, Sig's, HK's and the like....the 10mm Pointman will not be sold, and if the ever get the concealed carry mess sorted out here in Missouri...I intend to use it as my carry gun also.

[Greg Bell]

"What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?"




A time machine

[Schuey2002]

Out of the eight 1911's I currently own, five have been as reliable as any HK, SIG, or Glock I've owned.
And your Detonics is probably not on that list, right? :D

[Gerald McDonald]

My Kimber has been as reliable as my USP

[Tamara]

A time machine

...or more experience with 1911's, whichever. :p

[George Hill]

My Detonics sure was. NEVER had a hiccup in my hands.

[Dr.Rob]

I've seen Glocks jam just as much as any other pistol.. and some really odd malfunctions with the USP.. a stone stock prewar 1911 with fmj is a pretty jam free beast.

The real trick is the right amount of lube.

All the suff done to 'tighten them up" is what makes them jam.

[Tamara]

My Detonics sure was. NEVER had a hiccup in my hands.

Trade ya for my Detonics; it absolutely honks. :uhoh:

[10-Ring]

What would it take? A greater commitment to quality control & the use of only high quality parts. No need to switch to an external this-or-that, or a polishing or adjusting of this-or-that if it's made correctly to begin with.

[Mikul]

85% of the jams that I see are ammunition related. It's not that the ammunition is poorly made or sub-standard, but most guns have ammunition that they don't like.

I ran 200 rounds of my reloads through my H&K when someone asked me to shoot his Glock. After asking if using my reloads was okay, it jammed on the first round.

In addition to ammunition peculiarities, 1911's have magazine peculiarities. Some guns won't feed reliably with 8-round magazines, some will only feed Chip McCormick's, others will feed anything.

The extractors on 1911's need to be "tuned" to the gun. Excessive wear or a loose extractor will cause lots of problems.

The last two problems are non-issues with H&Ks and Sigs. Non-factory Sig magazines are known to be problematic and aftermarket H&K mags are nearly non-existant.

Anyway, it's your gun. Know it's peculiarities and make it work.

[1911Tuner]

Sean said:

Make it right and it works. Pretty simple. Only problem with the 1911 is that its hype for combat reliability isn't as fresh in people's minds as HK hype is.

This man understands!

When the Army was considering adopting the 1911, the testing was
as follows:

The pistol fired 6,000 rounds total with several shooters taking
turns. magazines were kept loaded, and the firing was done
nearly non-stop. No cleaning or lubrication was done for the
duration. When the pistol got too hot to handle, it was dunked
into a bucket of water to cool it off, and firing was resumed.
There were zero malfunctions or parts failures.

After restoring a pistol to proper spec...which does not mean
that it was a loose rattle-trap...I did a short version of the test,
firing over 2,000 rounds under the same conditions. One failure
to lock the slide was noted, and it was the fault of the magazine.

At the conclusion of the test, I submerged the pistol in water
as deep as my armpit would allow... and started firing it. When
it stopped, I brought it out with the slide locked on the empty
mag.

A pistol that my step-father got from his aunt just prior to her death
was delivered to me in condition one. It had been stored in an attic
in that condition since his uncle had died and laid untouched until
we got it. He brought it to me in that condition. I cleared the
chamber to check the bore...reloaded it, and fired it 7 times. The
slide locked empty. The owner died in 1929. I examined the gun
in 1991. Condition one for 62 years, and it functioned perfectly.

Reliable enough?

Cheers!
Tuner

[LFW]

I have never been a big 1911 fan, but a while back a bought one of the new Colt Commanders. I am pleasantly amazed each time I take it out and shoot it. It is as reliable as any pistol I've ever owned, and is very accurate. Saturday I took it to the range with a bag of mixed rounds I've been wanting to get rid of. The pistol handled everything I put through it with no problem whether it was HP, HB, cast lead, whatever. Almost makes me want to do the 1911 thing in earnest.--Leigh

[denfoote]

What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?

Buy a Springfield Loaded!! :D

[rayjay]

My Wilson CQB is right up there with H&K and Sig.

[Boats]

What would it take to make a 1911 model as reliable as a H&K, Sig or Glock style pistol?

Polish one's lying skills to the level of the average HK. Sig or Glock owner. See respective forums for details.

"How could anything have happened to your (HK Sig or Glock)? Nothing has ever happened to mine. Absolutely nothing, except that one time with the reloads, or that one time with the Winchester White Box.":rolleyes:

[Shake]

My (one) Kimber has been less reliable than both my H&K USPs . . .

I shoot my guns.

Shake

[Correia]

I've seen Glocks, Sigs, and H&Ks malfunction. If you haven't seen your particular favorite kind of gun malfunction is is because you have not shot it enough. In my experience quality 1911s have no more problems than anything else.

[Shake]

I agree that that is generally the case. In my particular case, my 1911 has had more malfunctions with far fewer rounds than either of my USPs. Small sample size I know.

Funny thing is, my Kimber has choked on factory ammo, never my own reloads (including SWC type lead).

Shake

[Obiwan]

In my experience;

Bad ammo can make any gun problematic....

I often hear "It can't be my reloads"..trust me ...it can!

1911 problems are usually caused by magazine issues

Glocks usually go down because you added some whiz-bang aftermarket part.

HK's is usually an actual part breakage...rare...but they happen

[dsk]

Build a 1911 right and it will work. It's as simple as that. My USGI 1911s have never malfunctioned with good ammo and magazines. Same with my older commercials and many of my newer Colts. Several recent specimens have required tweaking before they were reliable, but the causes were lack of attention to detail during manufacture.

[Greg Bell]

Tamara said...


"Out of the eight 1911's I currently own, five have been as reliable as any HK, SIG, or Glock I've owned. Go figure"


Too bad they arent always the same five! :p

[KMKeller]

Had one 1911, wasn't reliable for me, works perfectly for Correia (I must've broken it in for him.... :D ) Had HK's, functioned perfectly, hated the trigger. Currently compete with Sigs, zero failures. Have two more 1911's on the way, we'll see how they do.

[Tamara]

Too bad they arent always the same five! :p

Why, actually they are the same ones.

Of the remaining three: One hasn't even been fired by me yet, so I can't offer a reliability eval, the other (the Detonics) was bought as a project gun with known issues, and the last, a Springfield Stainless Loaded, has been perfectly reliable for a couple thousand rounds since its chintzy factory ejector and extractor have been replaced with in-spec quality parts.

Sometimes they'll jam on the occasional softball semiwadcutter if things like this (http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=167277) happen to them, though... ;)

[OF]

I replaced the stock Springfield mags with 7- and 10-round Wilson's (got rid of the one Wilson 10-rnd mag that was causing problems) and since then my PX9109L runs like a sewing machine. Not a hiccup in, maybe, a thousand? more? I don't know exactly. Mostly Winchester white-box FMJ and Winchester RA45TP.

My USP has been 100%, no joke, for at least 5,000.

- Gabe

[swingset]

Sig
Glock
HK

One house, one product, one design & QC department.

1911

Lots of manufacturers, outsourcing, loose standards, etc.

One is a recipe for reliability, one is a recipe for all the posts on 1911forum.com about "issues" with my gun.

[1911Tuner]

Your malfunction was caused by improper ammo! The 1911 will
handle Hardball and Softball with ease, but it's NOT designed
to digest Football. And now ya know...

Cheers!

Tuner