Colt Defender Owners

Hi Jim.

Welcome to THR. I don't have a Defender, but have read good things and have come close to ownership several times. Grips on guns (especially 1911's) are a matter of utility and taste. I'm a wood guy, so I'd pop the factory grips off and put something "classy" on.

I'm sure others with personal knowledge will chime in shortly... in the meantime, again, welcome.

Steve

Nods

I have had a Defender for 10 yrs now, only mod I made was to put some Trijicons on it and some Wilson Cocobolo wood on it.

I rarely carry it as I just couldn't reach a comfort level with JHP's in it. It ate ball all day with no problem though. It was easy to pack and damn accurate. Its just that if I'm going .45 I'll carry my full size 1911. The extra weight is offset by the greater comfort I have in its reliability.

Admittedly, I didn't really "tune" it beyond getting some good Wilson mags for it, but still seemed to jam / stovepipe / FTFeed sometimes. Sometime I should make the effort and have a gunsmith go over it because it IS a great concept.

I've had a Defender for a few years, with maybe 500r through it. With Wilson mags it is 100% reliable with ball, haven't shot enough HPs thru it to be a real test.
I've kept the Hogue grips because they're so comfortable, but switched out the trigger for a short one.

I have a Colt Defender, and use it in the wintertime as my CCW. It has never jammed or failed in any way. I've had no problems with HP ammo. I shoot it pure stock, the way I bought it. I've had mine for about 11 years or so. It is my favorite 1911.

I have a Defender it around 10 yrs ole It has been relieable with ball or HP I carry with 185 gr DPX +P Recoil isn't bad and DPX has feed fine I have been useing DPX since first came on market.
I bought a early Colt New Agent and it hasn't been any trouble either . The lack of wide grip safety hurts after about 50 rounds.

I don't like those wrap around rubber grips. Build a nice compact carry gun than hang those grips on it terrible Mine have WOOD om them .

Just picked one up last weekend myself and then went to the range and fed it 100rds failure free. The grips feel great but I had some Crimson Trace grips that were not being used so I installed them on my Defender. Love the gun so far!

I got a Defender a year aftyer they came out. The only upgrades I did was to get Wilson 7-round mags and thin wood slab grips; then Crimson Trace laser grips.

I tried the XS night sights but couldn't hit a barn from the inside with them. I switched the rear sight back to factoryu but left the "big dot" on the front and its a good combination.

I carried it on my ankle as a bug back when I was in uniform. Now I carry it as primary on the days I'm certain to stay in my cubicle; otherwise I strap on my 5" Kimber.

I find it too uncomfortable for IWB; the muzzle jabs pretty bad, worse than my 5".

Colt defender

Hi, just bough a new colt defender..

I have never owned one,but fired a friend of mines and really liked it.. He had some trigger work done and polishing to the ramp from what I understand.

Is there anything negative I should know about. My buddy said that he had some jamming issues with his and that's why he did the ramp work. Have any of you found jamming to be a problem?

My experience with 3" 1911's has led me to believe that they are far more reliable with 185gr ammo.

Mine has operated flawlessly since I bought it; and all with 230 gr FMJ, Hydrashock and Gold Dot.

Had this one for several years, zero problems...

Added the grips...

Hi, just bough a new colt defender..

I have never owned one,but fired a friend of mines and really liked it.. He had some trigger work done and polishing to the ramp from what I understand.

Is there anything negative I should know about. My buddy said that he had some jamming issues with his and that's why he did the ramp work. Have any of you found jamming to be a problem?

Click to expand...

I don't own one myself but according to alot of folks there seems to be more of an issue with 3" 1911's jamming. Many folks say alot of these issues have been worked out but there still seem to be more complaints with them than the commander sized and full sized models. That being said, there are alot of happy folks that own them and trust their life with them.

Been there since day one (last Saturday) when she was new in box. Some sort of markings Colt probably understands but nobody else.

I still havn't went to test mine as of yet. But will try early next week.. If there has been any jamming issues, hopefully with the newer models they have it all worked out..

If I have any jamming issues I'll do some light polishing to the ramp and re-test it again...As it seems some people have no problems at all and some that do.. With that in mind maybe the one's with issues were produced on monday or friday..LOL!

One other thing about it I'm not all that thrilled about is the dual spring guide rod and that little plate on the very back of it held on by a c-clip.. Seems a bit cheesy, anyone ever had it break before?

I had one. Worked just fine for the 300-400 rounds I put through it.

One thing I didn't like was that the edges all around were sharp enough to cut steak.

I got a Kimber that was much easier on the hands and much less likely to cut me in the process of handling it.

All the same, I got rid of the Kimber and wound up carrying an HK-P7.

I still liked the Defender, just didn't see the need to carry it and a knife.

I like mine. It's 100% reliable, it's more accurate than me, and it carries well. Do make certain you swap out the recoil assembly on schedule. There was a recall on it about six months ago, check Colt's website and make certain yours doesn't need replacement. Colt will mail you one if it does.

Mods to mine include an attenuated grip safety, a solid C&S trigger, Nowlin lockwork with a Speed Demon hammer, and of course, slim cocobolo grips. At some point, I plan to get Clarks to Meltdown the slide. I used a bit of #2 black gasket sealant on the grip screw threads to keep the screws from backing out. (Works bettern' Loc-Tite)

Mine feeds JHP fine, but I tend to carry ball in it. Reason? Shorter barrel means less muzzle velocity means less penetration. Probably a non issue, and I don't have numbers, but I reserve JHP for the Commanders and a Government Models.

I bought one when they first came out. It went back to the factory several times before they finally replaced it with a new one. Repair person at Colt said that he couldn't get it to run right. Sold the replacement gun as soon as I got it. I will say that I fired about a thousand rounds out of that first gun, and became very good at clearing malfunctions. Good training gun.

Defender

Well that isn't good at all.. You just gave about the most negative post on the the colt I've seen..

As it seems many people don't have any issues at all with them.. Sounds like you might have got a lemon.

100% functional 100% of the time. My most reliable auto.

nice to hear that

Nice to get good word on the defender.. Thanks