Not experienced and he generally refuses my advice about ways to improve. I advised against the 1911 for his first pistol, for example.
You like your BIL?
You have a willingness or tendency to subject yourself to unpleasant or trying experiences? Why bother?
Wife needling you to "help" him? Rock & a hard place.
I will see if he'll meet me so I can clean/lube the pistol and try it out for myself. Not a bad idea.
Ammo is WWB, Rem/UMC ball, PMC ball, and my Berry's plated reloads (4.5-4.8 grains of Red Dot under Berry's 230 plated, seated 1.260-1.265".
Any decent build commercial 1911 ought to run on decent quality 230gr FMJ ball.
I've listened to enough other instructors and armorers complain about some variable QC exhibited by imported stuff, though, so I'd normally stick to something
made by one of the major American ammo makers ... at least until the pistol has had a chance to demonstrate quality of build, assembly & fitting.
I'm not exactly a fan of the folded leaf/spring-type follower used by some mag companies to stuff 8-rds into a 7-rd box, myself, and replace such followers (and their lighter tension springs) with 7-rd followers and the correct (for particular follower design) extra power spring. (First thing I did with the pair of mags that came with my Colt XSE Gov some years ago.)
If your BIL has thus far made it a practice to load the barrel's chamber of his Colt 1911 by directly inserting a round into the chamber and letting the slide slam forward over the chambered round, instead of using the mag to feed the round, don't be surprised if the extractor tension has fallen outside its proper range.
Some folks just don't like to be told/taught anything, though, and firearms are NOT something for the inexperienced to learn about by trial & error, compounded by any "you can't teach me anything" attitudes.
Discussions about basic familiarization with firearms safety and handling
never goes out of style. Nothing wrong with an inexperienced shooter learning to shoot with a handgun only loaded with 1 or 2 rounds at time, either.
Just some thoughts. Your call.
Colt makes a quality firearm, but even as the owner of Colt pistols, myself (and having been through the Colt Model O Pistol armorer class), a new pistol ought to be carefully inspected to make sure it's in the intended good working condition. Clean, properly assembled magazines are a good pre-range/live-fire inspection step, too.
If your BIL, or some well-intentioned 3rd person (at the gun shop, the range or whatever), has done something to the gun, it may create unwanted complications to identify and address.
The
shooter influences are generally the most common issues that can adversely affect normal pistol operation and functioning, though.
If you're sufficiently familiar with 1911-style pistols, and are able to inspect and properly clean & lube his pistol (and clean & check the mags for assembly; being clean & dry, etc), maybe you can identify and isolate any existing issues and help him address them.
Good luck.
