Colt 1911 reliability: read this!

[HIPOWER]

I took a buddy of mine from church shooting this afternoon. He brought along a Colt 1911 that he bought new 21 years ago. The gun looked nice but was obviously dirty. We talked about it and he said he shot it 4 or 5 times a year since he bought it, but never cleaned it once, never oiled it, never even disassembled it because, he said, he wasn't sure how and never saw the need to. I was sceptical about how this gun would function, but we put over 300 rounds through it without any problems whatsover and it was very very accurate at 15 and 25 yards.

When we were done I field stripped it for him to show him how it is done and man, that thing was nasty dirty inside, full of dried crud, 21 years worth. I encouraged him to clean it, familiarize himself with it more and practice with it and above all take better care of it.

But man, I was impressed how well this neglected gun functioned. It gave me new faith in the original 1911 design. My Springfield Milspec has been flawless, but then again I clean it obsessively.

Just thought I'd share this story.

 

[1911Tuner]

Colt

Howdy HiPower,

No surprises there...I was involved with an old 1911 that was left in an attic
in condition one for over 60 years. After I checked a few things, I fired it
with the ammo that was in it. 7-rounds went bang and the slide locked back, as per design.

Why don't ya check out the floater thread and learn to detail strip that
Colt and really get it sparklin'clean? Easy to do, and if ya get stuck, there's
plenty of folks here who'll help ya get it buttoned back up.

Just give a shout, and the cavalry'll be on the way.

Luck!...and welcome to THR. Good buncha guys and gals here.

Tuner

 

[LAR-15]

I have a 1916 made Colt 1911 that has seen a lot of military service and it still goes bang even without cleaning.

 

[dsk]

Once again, a basic 1911 built to original design specs pulls through. I'm not gloating, honest.

I'm not against custom 1911s, but I think we've begun to lose track of where we've been and where we're going. If you want a nice custom 1911, start off with a basic mil-spec pistol that's reliable and go from there.

 

[Tamara]

Impossible! Don't you know those 1911's are jammomatics?!?

 

[George Hill]

 

[Dr.Who]

I would agree with Lar-15. I was given a 1911 made in 1914 that sat un-fired in an attic for at least 40 years. Recieved it in 1995 when I moved from CA, took it to a gun-smith friend and he checked it out and fired fine. You can see wear it has been fired a great deal, but it is very reliable. The only complaint that I have is the web of my hand gets pinched from the hammer, if I do not wear gloves. No Beaver Tail... That was one of my first 3 guns, the others were revolvers... It now gets more care and attention than it ever did in the last 50 years. The most problems that I have ever experianced in a 1911, is with weak 8 round magazine springs, not pushing up the next round quick enough. Never had a problem with the 7 round mags, original design...

However, still like my revolvers....

 

[stans]

I have an old rattle trap 1911-A1 that was assembled by an unknown armorer from a bunch of spare parts. The thing goes "BANG" every time the trigger gets pulled and has yet to jam! This and my Delta Elite are the only 1911's I have had that never jammed right out of the box.

 

[1911Tuner]

RattleTraps and Unknown Armorers

stans said:

I have an old rattle trap 1911-A1 that was assembled by an unknown armorer from a bunch of spare parts...

uh-ohhhh heh heh...Uh, where'd ya say ya got that there pistol
stans?

 

[ken grant]

Good old days

Early 60's------buying 1911's from DCM,mostly new
I signed up myself,wife,father,grandfather and father-in-law and got one for each.
WISH I HAD KEPT THEM

 

[BigG]

A voice crying in the wilderness...

With all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the failures of "1911s" {cough cough} only to find on further query it is actually a clone of the Colt Government Model or even worse, a STAR or LLAMA , this thread demonstrates that sometimes you get what you pay for.

There used to be a standard of quality built into a product before the brand name would go on. People understood this but now people talk about "1911" like it's a commodity, toilet paper, crude oil, pork bellies. Imho, a very debased attitude for people who bewail the lack of American jobs and leadership in quality, etc, on the one hand and the demand for shiny trinkets at bargain prices on the other. JMTC

 

[jercamp45]

Howdy!

My Father bought a Series 70 MK IV in 1976 when we lived in Alaska....was the first .45 auto I shot and I was impressed with it enough that I asked for and got one on my 17th birthday.
These two were the only survivors of a house fire in 78 that claimed about 18 guns and alot of other stuff. Later I had mine modified to the max, but Dad kept his stock. He never cleaned it, hardly carried it and seldom shot it. It actually became a tradition that on leave or while visiting for Chistmas I would clean his mostly unused Colt.
When he passed away in '01, my Mom asked me if there was anything of his I wanted, and I said 'the Colt'(of course) and it was mne. It was finally found in his wood shop and was completely covered with a red substance that nearly broke my heart until I picked it up shook off the coating of sawdust and was rewarded to find a pristine Colt beneath. Seems the sawdust absorbed any moisture.
Over the last couple of years, I did add a few parts to the old Colt, sights and ergonomic doodads...cause it is a tool meant to be used. In fact I carry it nightly now as my duty gun. As far back as I can remember, it has never jammed, been very accurate and I do trust my life to it(you should see some of the characters I deal with...druggies mostly, tweakers, crackheads and recently there is a room of Mexicano's doing some serious dealing, gang related.. they are being closely watched, not just by me.).
So I pack a bit of Dad with me as I prowl about, the traditional history of JMB's classic and of my own family!
Semper Fi!!
Jercamp45

 

[stans]

uh-ohhhh heh heh...Uh, where'd ya say ya got that there pistol stans?

I inherited it from a grandfather. He retired as a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army. He had this 1911-A1, most definitely a parts gun since it was a blued slide on a parkerized frame and had a mix of small parts, a flap holster and a Colt 1917, also parkerized, and a flap holster for it.

 

[Dr.Who]

Stans,
Yours sounds like two of the three I inherited. Mix finish on the 1911 and 95% 1917. They both included a letter from a sgt at the San Francisco Armory.

 

[444]

Doesn't surprise me in the least.
I have a couple Colt 1911s that I would put up against any autoloading handgun ever made in the reliablity department. Clean or dirty.

 

[unitman]

I love my Colt.