Colt XSE issues

[ltoncrey]

I recently purchased a second hand (like new) Colt XSE full size blued 1911. Once getting it home and stripping it down I noticed that the barrel bushing does not lock onto the guide rod plug. After a quick google search (and considering dremeling the bushing to fit) I found the issues with the guide rod tunnel on the XSEs. A quick call to Colt and the girl I spoke to recommended that I send the whole pistol back to Colt. From there they would consider whether they would fix the tunnel, replace the slide and whether they would charge me for the repair. She told me that repairing the slide required a considerable amount of handwork and if that route was taken, there would likely be a charge. This seems like a dangerous issue to me should the barrel bushing slide over 1/16" (or less) of an inch during firing and cover the guide rod causing the slide to lock in place. I would believe that this could possibly cause catastrophic failure of the frame or slide and at the minimum damage the barrel bushing and or the full length guide rod. In my opinion these should have been recalled and repaired. I will attach pics.

My question is, have any of the other highroad members experienced this with their XSEs and if so, how did Colt respond to their repair. I am going to send mine into Colt on Monday and I will keep everyone posted, but I just wondered what to expect as far as turn around and cost. Thanks

 

[alfack]

I would take it straight back to the person you bought from and ask Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

 

[ltoncrey]

Called him right away and asked. He played dumb and said that he kind of noticed that but that it shot fine anyway and didn't worry about it but i suspect that it is the reason that he got rid of it...

 

[yeti]

The bushing is not fitted to the plug.

 

[ltoncrey]

yeti - no it is a slide/guide rod tunnel issue, I have tried a couple other bushing and plug combinations from my other 1911s and they all align up the same - wrong way. the bushing and plug from this colt fit into my other 1911s perfectly.

 

[DenaliPark]

Hmm, someone wrench on the slide just a bit? I would demand my money back from whomever sold it to you, though lot of good that will do you now. BTW, Colt's will charge you bigtime to fix that, I'm positive that it did not exit their factory in that condition.

 

[ltoncrey]

DenaliPark - if you search a bit you will find that this was a common problem on some XSEs at some point. Colt did let some out of the factory and the girl that I spoke to at Colt seemed well aware of this problem once I started to describe it. I am really looking to hear from others with XSEs that may have had this same problem and what they did to remedy it or what Colt charged to fix it for them. Thanks

 

[Skylerbone]

Either way, I would not shoot it in that condition as I value my hands eyes and, to a lesser degree my face; )

I would suggest a post here: http://forums.1911forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26. These guys are die hard Colt fans. If you prefer some top notch advice here I would suggest a PM to 1911Tuner.

 

[ltoncrey]

Everyone, thank you for the info and offered help. I have received contact directly from Brent who is with Colt on 1911forums.com advising me to send it in to Colt and everything will be taken care of. I was looking for what to expect and got my answer - direct response from Colt is more than I ever expected.

 

[Skylerbone]

Great to hear it. I know you'll love that Pony when it comes back (that sounds weird...) and Colt will treat you both right.