I've been working on a 1911 project lately, the basis for which has been a colt series 70. I've long been aware of issues stemming from the collet bushing breaking and jamming up these guns, and naturally the first thing I did was fit a solid bushing to mine. With the stock gun, a hesitation to lockup once the tapered barrel moved into the bushing was noticeable, and further urged me to make the change.
I was thinking today about the action, and the way the series 70 guns worked. With the tapered barrel, you get the same lockup at the front as you would with a standard 1911 barrel, but since it's tapered, the tolerances are MUCH lower when the slide is to the rear, allowing everything to move around more than a G.I. gun.
So, I thought, a 1911 built with a solid bushing and the series 70 style barrel should add another degree of reliability to the platform, all else being equal. Can anyone lend any credibility to this theory? Am I thinking about this correctly, or is there something I'm missing?
I was thinking today about the action, and the way the series 70 guns worked. With the tapered barrel, you get the same lockup at the front as you would with a standard 1911 barrel, but since it's tapered, the tolerances are MUCH lower when the slide is to the rear, allowing everything to move around more than a G.I. gun.
So, I thought, a 1911 built with a solid bushing and the series 70 style barrel should add another degree of reliability to the platform, all else being equal. Can anyone lend any credibility to this theory? Am I thinking about this correctly, or is there something I'm missing?