How good is my 1911?

[Rival]

After reading very detailed text describing quality of parts in Auto Ordnance pistols of certain period by 1911Tuner I asked myself a question: just what is the quality of parts in my gun?

I have a Springfield M1911-A1 Loaded Stainless, full size. It is one of the newer ones, with ambi safety and hex screws on grips. I picked it up in August 2002 when they first came out. As a matter of fact I did not even know that they have a new Loaded line with ambi safety untill I got the gun.

Anyway, I did absolutely no modifications to that gun, I am using the original metalform 7-rounders (got some more of the same factory ones from Springfield), and it never had malfunction of any sort. The gun is still very tight from factory - I have to knock on the bushing with a barrel to take the bushing out during field strip.

What is the quality of parts that went into this gun, in the long term? Should I bother about replacing the extractor (since 1911Tuner did mention that they don't make it from spring steel anymore)?

 

[Sean Smith]

it never had malfunction of any sort.

Looks like you answered your own question.

 

[Majic]

Purchase the parts that historically needs replacing over time and usage. Then store them to collect dust till the time comes to actually have to put them into use.

 

[cratz2]

I own several 1911s and have owned several more, many of them Springfields. One of the best put-together sub-$700 1911s I've ever owned or handled was a Stainless Loaded Target in 45ACP from about the same time period. A Stainless Loaded Target in 9mm only about 40 or 80 (I forget right now) was considerably less well fitted.

In my experience, Springfields are very decent 1911s and I'd take a Loaded vs the comparable Kimber any day. But I like to look over several specimens before making a purchase.

And more importantly, like Sean said, if you pull the trigger and it goes bang and ejects the spent case and loads up the next round, I wouldn't worry about replacing parts. For now at least.

 

[Top_Notch]

Rival, your's sounds like mine. I bought a late 2003 S/A 1911 SS (PX9151L) 45. So far, it's had <gasp> less malfunctions than my Glock <end gasp>, namely none! I don't have as many rounds through her as my glock (G19), but she is a beauty.

I love my gun! I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

 

[1911Tuner]

Loaded Springer

Howdy Rival,

Though I haven't had an opportunity to take a close look at the insides of
the Springfield Loaded Models yet, the handful that I've examined/fired have been very good overall. About the only issues that I've noticed is the
occasional bad extractor, which seems to be mostly a vendor problem than
a Springfield design problem. At the first sign of an extraction/ejection
problem, save yourself some headaches and spring for a Brown Hardcore or
Wilson Bulletproof. No way of knowing if Springfield has identified the bad
lot of extractors and removed them from the parts bins, and a complaint
may get another one just like the other one...so to speak.

I'm sure there are several MIM small parts in the gun, but I'm not sure
just which ones. At any rate, MIM is much better than the cast parts found in the Auto Ordnance. Investment castings can be very good, if the
quality is held to rigorous standards, but too many aren't, and as a rule,
small parts are supplied by the lowest bidder. Draw your own conclusions.
There are a few parts breakages that have been noted with MIM, but
it's pretty sporadic, and doesn't seem to be the bane of one certain
manufacturer or another...and it's mainly extractors and magazine catches
that break.

If you use good magazines, good ammo, and a good extractor...and keep the pistol reasonably clean, it should be very reliable. My neighbor/range pard bought two of them, and other than replacing the extractors on my
advice, the pair has been through nearly 5,000 rounds combined without
a hitch...and we have wrung them out thoroughly. on a scale of 1-10, I'd
give the Loaded Springfield an easy 8.5 I like the pistol, and would buy one if I was in the market for one of that flavor. Next time my bud is ready to detail-strip one of his, I'll try to be on hand to be able to make a
better assessment, and report back.

Cheers!
Tuner