1911 Unreliable?

[BluedRevolver]

I want to be convinced to get another 1911, but I have problems trusting them. I know so many people with them that just aren't reliable, and my Springer Loaded wasn't reliable. I see more and more people, both on the internet and in person, say the 1911 isn't as reliable as modern designs.

Convince me the 1911 is reliable enough for self defense. I like them, I just lack confidence in them but I love a steel framed .45

 

[stinger 327]

I want to be convinced to get another 1911, but I have problems trusting them. I know so many people with them that just aren't reliable, and my Springer Loaded wasn't reliable. I see more and more people, both on the internet and in person, say the 1911 isn't as reliable as modern designs.

Convince me the 1911 is reliable enough for self defense. I like them, I just lack confidence in them but I love a steel framed .45

What I don't understand is why this older 1911 pistol has a following? It is very popular. It is known not to shoot new out of the box but needs some tuning or work compared to other new guns out of the box. Also they are very expensive and there is a demand for them. Why is this?
I can say this though that the 1911 feels great in my hands but is is single action only.

 

[BluedRevolver]

What I don't understand is why this older 1911 pistol has a following? It is very popular. It is known not to shoot new out of the box but needs some tuning or work compared to other new guns out of the box. Also they are very expensive and there is a demand for them. Why is this?
I can say this though that the 1911 feels great in my hands but is is single action only.

I shoot the 1911 the best too, I'm just concerned about reliability

 

[stinger 327]

I shoot the 1911 the best too, I'm just concerned about reliability

But what I do like is the feel of the 1911 in my hands despite it being single action and perhaps dated. I have heard of problems with them fresh out of the box and they usually need some tuning work. I was considering a ParaOrdinace .45 ACP 10+1 because it is a very nice compact size but it is based on the 1911 and I have heard it had magazines issues and jamming not able to shoot all kinds of different loads.

 

[Fishslayer]

You don't sound like a 1911 type. Just go ahead & get the ****** Glock...

 

[stinger 327]

You don't sound like a 1911 type. Just go ahead & get the ****** Glock...

Already have a few of those. I would probably go for the DA/SA P-220 Sig Sauer.

 

[BluedRevolver]

You don't sound like a 1911 type. Just go ahead & get the ****** Glock...

You're right, I'm not a 1911 type, I'm a revolver guy. But lately I've been wanting to get a good, reliable, .45.

Unfortunately, most double stack .45's are too thick for me, and I like a steel frame. I've had a 1911, and it was the greatest pistol I'd ever shot, it just wasn't reliable enough for me.

 

[stinger 327]

You're right, I'm not a 1911 type, I'm a revolver guy. But lately I've been wanting to get a good, reliable, .45.

Unfortunately, most double stack .45's are too thick for me, and I like a steel frame. I've had a 1911, and it was the greatest pistol I'd ever shot, it just wasn't reliable enough for me.

tRY A gLOCK .45 IT IS AS SIMPLE AS AN AUTO CAN GET NEXT TO A REVOLVER.

 

[Tomcat32]

My Springfield has eaten anything I've fed it. Had issues with my Kimber Pro Raptor II, so I traded it for the Springfield.

 

[Sky]

Man I hear about $600 or $900+ 1911s needing break-in not working out of the box etc etc and think I am so lucky to be a bottom feeder with my ACll and my friends with their AClls and Rock Islands. Not saying you can not get a lemon in anything but jeez it should work with a little lube and some ammo or get rid of it or have it fixed.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Funny..........All of the ones I've owned functioned fine from day one-including three Llama Max-1 1911 knock-offs. I only have my Kimber Stainless Target II and Colt Mk IV now, and would trust them with my life.

IMO, the bad rap 1911's have gotten comes from two places:

1) Under 4" tubes; The 1911 just wasn't meant to be bobbed that much, and while virtually all compacts are more finicky than their full size counterpart, the 1911 is particularly affected. Not that you can't get a 3" or 3-1/2" gun to run, but I personally stick with commander size (4") or larger.

2) People screw with them, and many of those people have no business putting a tool to a gun. They mess with the spring assembly, the feed ramp, etc. and then gripe that the thing is unreliable. Leave the modifications to someone who knows what they're doing or LEAVE IT ALONE!

As well, the 1911 wasn't intended to run with the tight tolerances many of them do today. Tightening guns up inproves accuracy at the cost of being ammo sensitive. This is akin to a race engine; The performance is astounding, but they have to be perfectly adjusted, are adversely affected by wrong oil viscosity or low grade fuels, more sensitive to temperature, etc. In the reverse, a low compression standard small or big block cast iron V8 can run on any grade of gasoline, doesn't care if it's filled with 10w30 or straight 50 weight, will run at 150* or 240*.......

Increase perfromance, decrease reliabilty. Guns, cars, doesn't matter-this is just how it works.

In other words, if you want a reliable 1911, get one that is set up like a military M1911, with some clearance between parts. It may not chew out the X-ring at 50 yards, but it'll run and run.

 

[stinger 327]

Man I hear about $600 or $900+ 1911s needing break-in not working out of the box etc etc and think I am so lucky to be a bottom feeder with my ACll and my friends with their AClls and Rock Islands. Not saying you can not get a lemon in anything but jeez it should work with a little lube and some ammo or get rid of it or have it fixed.

Maybe that's where Sig Sauer or Glock comes in since they shoot correctly right out of the box and cost less.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Maybe that's where Sig Sauer or Glock comes in since they shoot correctly right out of the box and cost less.

My G-20 has jammed. The G22 before that jammed. Had a P228 that couldn't get through a box without failure. My HK USP .45 jammed, too.

I presently own exactly 3 autoloaders that have never malfunctioned, and they are neither Sigs nor Glocks. They are S&W's (5906, 4506, 4516-1). My 1006 doesn't like Norma 170 gr., but is 100% otherwise. The 4006 only goofed once, and it was the ammo; Complete case head separation. Still a malf, though. Incidentally, loads from the same box (reloads) blew the extractor off an HK USP compact .40 and shattered a grip panel on a Browning Hi-Power. I shot them after my buddies to show that the S&W was tougher than the vaunted Heckler und Koch or the HP (mission accomplished). My M&P .45 also never had a failure, but I only put about 400 rounds through it before deciding I'd rather have the Marlin 1894 .44 mag and selling the M&P to fund it. I never got a jam in my series 70 Colt Combat Commander, but I only shot about 4 boxes through it before selling it for twice what I paid.

Soooo....I'll see your Sigs and Glocks, and raise you a S&W 3rd gen

 

[HDCamel]

GI config rattle traps are reliable enough out of the box. If a GI doesn't work then something's broken. It's not about working our kinks.

Remember, this is the gun that has been buried in the muddy trenches of Western Europe, salted and sanded at the beaches of Normandy, dried out in the arid African and Middle Eastern deserts, steamed in the tropical southeast Asia, and frozen in the hills of Korea. And that's just what the US military has done to it.

Saying a 1911 isn't as reliable as polymer pistols is like saying that a Hyundai Elantra isn't as fast as a Mustang. The speed limit is only 65, people!
A Glock can be buried in mud for years and dropped out of a plane. Can a 1911 do that? Probably not, but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it needs to for most people.

 

[ugaarguy]

When built properly a 1911 is just as reliable as any more recently designed semi-auto pistol. The problem is that not all manufacturers build them correctly.

 

[HDCamel]

As well, the 1911 wasn't intended to run with the tight tolerances many of them do today.

The problem with tight guns, actually, is that tighter fitting designs require tighter tolerance manufacturing than the manufacturing processes that are used are capable of following, not the tighter tolerances themselves. Tightening tolerance only means that the variation in parts decreases. Basically, if someone made GI specs with extremely tight tolerances, they'd still rattle like a silverware drawer, but every one would rattle in the same way.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The problem with tight guns, actually, is that tighter fitting designs require tighter tolerance manufacturing than the manufacturing processes that are used are capable of following, not the tighter tolerances themselves. Tightening tolerance only means that the variation in parts decreases. Basically, if someone made GI specs with extremely tight tolerances, they'd still rattle like a silverware drawer, but every one would rattle in the same way.

I don't mean tighter manufacturing tolerances, I mean tighter guns. When you take the side to side slop in the slide of a GI 1911 and cut it by 90% for a competition gun, it's not going to be as forgiving. When there is less clearance, debris and parts expansion from heat cause binding that is not present when parts have more breathing room between each other.

 

[HDCamel]

But tight guns that are manufactured in spec work fine...

 

[nwilliams]

delete

 

[frank c]

I want to be convinced to get another 1911, but I have problems trusting them. I know so many people with them that just aren't reliable, and my Springer Loaded wasn't reliable. I see more and more people, both on the internet and in person, say the 1911 isn't as reliable as modern designs.

Convince me the 1911 is reliable enough for self defense. I like them, I just lack confidence in them but I love a steel framed .45

Buy a reliable 3rd generation S&W 3913,3914 or 5906 and don,t look back.

 

[JDGray]

The tightest 1911 that I have owned is my Springfield Milspec, no rattle trap here! I have had no issues at all with it, as accurate as my Kimber, no break in blunders, just a perfect gun so far Well I take that back....A Colt brand magazine(8rd) did not hold open on last shot, until I swapped in a SA 7rd follower.

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

it's no mystery.

a lot more fitting and machining goes into the 1911 design than cookie cutter pistols like glocks. if done properly, 1911's are just a reliable. however, it's often not done properly.

 

[1911Tuner]

The notion that the 1911 is unreliable is a little puzzling. The main problem is that, with so many different entities marketing them, the specs seem to be all over the map...but even with that...the majority of problems seem to be directly caused by the magazines or improper extractor adjustment. Many others are due to the slide being oversprung.

My main focus with 1911 pistols is in determining why a given pistol malfunctions...and working to make sure that it runs. I've often said that I'd like to have a dollar for every pistol that I've "fixed" by simply handing the owner a few good magazines and telling him to try again. I don't exaggerate when I say that 90% of'em are mystified when their feed and return to battery problems vanish, and most of the others are cured with just a little tweak on the extractors. A very small number are due to something actually being wrong with the gun.

The 1911 was designed to function. If it's built to spec, and fed decent ammunition from proper magazines...it will function. It doesn't have a choice. It's a machine.

 

[mavracer]

Basically, if someone made GI specs with extremely tight tolerances, they'd still rattle like a silverware drawer, but every one would rattle in the same way.

And every one would eat any ammo like it was goin out of style. One of the biggest problems with the 1911 is that so many manufactures tighten up the specs without tightning up tolerances. BTW this seems to be the buisness model for the most prolific 1911 manufacture.

 

[USSR]

A Glock can be buried in mud for years and dropped out of a plane. Can a 1911 do that?

No, but a 1911 can survive an oven. Can a Glock do that? Hey, this game is fun!

Don