Colt 1911 Mk. IV Series 80 Ejector Question

[BridgeTooFar]

I was talking to my dad about possibly buying an older Colt 1911 the other day, and he reminded me that he had one that he hadn't shot in "at least a decade". I asked if I could borrow it to test it out for a bit before I bought my own. He replied that I didn't understand; he hadn't used it in many years, so as far as he was concerned it was mine. Pretty freaking stoked about that, to say the least.

I got it home last night, and was stripping it and cleaning it (took a while as my dad liked to shoot lead bullets and just wipe down the outside of his guns when he was done...).

I noticed that the ejector looks fairly different from my other 1911's. I have a Springfield Loaded and a Para GI Expert. Their ejectors have (for lack of a better term) an "extended" ejector that has a little finger that sticks out over the mag well.

The Colt ejector seems to just be a flat piece of metal.

My question is whether this is normal, or if the little "finger" from the Colt has broken off. Dad never had any sort of malfunction with this pistol that he or I are aware of, so I'm thinking it's ok to shoot, but I wanted to give the 1911 gurus here a chance to help assuage my fears.

I've attached pics of the ejector on all three to help me explain what I mean.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

that's an extended ejector. you're good to go

that's pretty much the standard nowadays.


the older 1911's you're used to didn't have that little extended tab that you circled in the pics.

the extended one is a more reliable design.

 

[The Bushmaster]

"more reliable design." I have a Series 80 Mark IV that I purchased in 1990 with the same ejector (no finger). It has YET to fail to eject an empty case (or loaded one for that matter). FMJ...Please explain. By The Way. Mine has had enough rounds through it that it has undergone a barrel change.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

"more reliable design." I have a Series 80 Mark IV that I purchased in 1990 with the same ejector (no finger). It has YET to fail to eject an empty case (or loaded one for that matter). FMJ...Please explain. By The Way. Mine has had enough rounds through it that it has undergone a barrel change.

the extended ejector allows the ejection of the shell earlier in the slide cycle, earlier before the slide begins it's travel forward, there reducing the risk of an empty being caught in the ejection port. that would be the whole point of it, and the reason you won't find a modern high end 1911 that doesn't have one.


i never said the original design was "unreliable". obviously not, as the US army used the design for 80 years. settle down there, mr. barrel change

 

[BridgeTooFar]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I sort of figured it was just an older design, but I wanted to be sure, and I knew folks on here would know (and Google didn't help all that much - just a bunch of info that I didn't know the "reliable-ness" of).

One further question - the Series 80 Colts; are they pretty decent 1911's? I'm thinking if dad doesn't want this thing back, I may (after a little shooting to be sure it's reliable with the HP's I want to carry in it) use it as a carry or HD pistol.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I sort of figured it was just an older design, but I wanted to be sure, and I knew folks on here would know (and Google didn't help all that much - just a bunch of info that I didn't know the "reliable-ness" of).

One further question - the Series 80 Colts; are they pretty decent 1911's? I'm thinking if dad doesn't want this thing back, I may (after a little shooting to be sure it's reliable with the HP's I want to carry in it) use it as a carry or HD pistol.

you're welcome

yep, series 80 colts are decent guns. as with any gun you're going to carry, shoot it enough to be sure it's reliable