It's been a while since I've compared them, but I believe that the Series 70 collet bushings were mated to a barrel which had a slightly increased flared diameter at the last inch or so towards the muzzle.
The collet bushing on a Series 70 barrel should readily and loosely slide up and down the barrel (chamber end to about 3/4 of the way towards the muzzle) until it encounters the muzzle end. There, it should be friction engaged by the slighty thickened barrel and require moderate finger pressure to slide off the end of the muzzle.
You appear to have a Series 70 bushing slid onto a Series 80 barrel. Check the barrel marking on the polished exterior of the barrel's chamber just behind the barrel lugs. Does it say: MKIV Series 70?
Does the prongs of your bushing "grasp" the muzzle end of the barrel (with tension from the three prongs) when the end of the muzzle is pulled through the the prongs of the collet bushing? They should.
When holding the loose barrel, does the bushing slide loosely around the muzzle area and can the bushing simply slide off the end when you tilt it towards the floor? It shouldn't.
With the weapon assembled and looking at the business end, is there significant gap, play, or jiggle room between the collet bushing and the surface of the barrel. There shouldn't be. The collet bushing was Colt's transitory attempt to transfer Gold Cup target gun features onto the Government Model (tightening up barrel play at the muzzle). It was not especially successful and there were occasional reports of one of the three "fingers" breaking off during firing, causing jams.
This may be the problem. In over 35 years of owning 1911s, I've never seen that uniquely depicted type of damage in a weapon equipped with OEM parts.
As Oro mentioned, replace the bushing with a standard (solid) one and get a new Recoil Spring Plug as well as a new standard 16 pound recoil spring. You can on-line order either Colt factory or reputable aftermarket parts from Brownells or Wolff Gun Springs.
http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto Pistols/COLT/1911 GOV'T%
http://www.coltsmfg.com/shop-c25-p0-g8-b0-.aspx
The collet bushing on a Series 70 barrel should readily and loosely slide up and down the barrel (chamber end to about 3/4 of the way towards the muzzle) until it encounters the muzzle end. There, it should be friction engaged by the slighty thickened barrel and require moderate finger pressure to slide off the end of the muzzle.
You appear to have a Series 70 bushing slid onto a Series 80 barrel. Check the barrel marking on the polished exterior of the barrel's chamber just behind the barrel lugs. Does it say: MKIV Series 70?
Does the prongs of your bushing "grasp" the muzzle end of the barrel (with tension from the three prongs) when the end of the muzzle is pulled through the the prongs of the collet bushing? They should.
When holding the loose barrel, does the bushing slide loosely around the muzzle area and can the bushing simply slide off the end when you tilt it towards the floor? It shouldn't.
With the weapon assembled and looking at the business end, is there significant gap, play, or jiggle room between the collet bushing and the surface of the barrel. There shouldn't be. The collet bushing was Colt's transitory attempt to transfer Gold Cup target gun features onto the Government Model (tightening up barrel play at the muzzle). It was not especially successful and there were occasional reports of one of the three "fingers" breaking off during firing, causing jams.
This may be the problem. In over 35 years of owning 1911s, I've never seen that uniquely depicted type of damage in a weapon equipped with OEM parts.
As Oro mentioned, replace the bushing with a standard (solid) one and get a new Recoil Spring Plug as well as a new standard 16 pound recoil spring. You can on-line order either Colt factory or reputable aftermarket parts from Brownells or Wolff Gun Springs.
http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto Pistols/COLT/1911 GOV'T%
http://www.coltsmfg.com/shop-c25-p0-g8-b0-.aspx
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