Reliability of a mil-spec 1911 Gov't

[yosemitesam1101]

All 1911s are not equal. Many different thing cause problems. As a Police Officer I carried a Colt Gold Cup for years. It's fired maybe 10,000 rounds in the nearly forty years I've owned it. I bought it used back then. I have never had a part fail. I always carry Winchester Silver Tip that were Dept. issue. It was only when the Dept. demanded we all carry the same caliber and gun that I stopped carrying it. Nothing against Glocks but in my opinion the 40 caliber Glock never left we with the confidence the old Gold Cup instilled. I have repaired many 1911s. My opinion is that guns in general are fitted with specific parts for a reason. Many people start changing 1911 parts from gun to gun for appearances or expected functionality . These changes can often cause reliability issues that must be discovered and rectified.

 

[Fiv3r]

My most reliable 1911 has been a SA Defender. Not my most accurate, but as far as number of rounds without a hitch, it works well. I like that its barebones short of slightly improved sights with the white dots over tiny notch/blade.

 

[bannockburn]

This is about as close to MIL-SPEC as I can get: an early version of a Springfield Armory M1911A1. Well built, great overall fit and finish (at least for an M1911A1), and very reliable.

 

[tark]

As a small arms repairman in Germany in 69-70, I saw 1911s that had fired tens of thousands of rounds without wearing out much of anything except springs. Most of the time when the guns came in we just checked for wear, changed springs and shipped them off to Dachau for the Germans to re-parkerize. In my 21 years working for Les, I watched the girls on the shooting team easily run 50,000 rounds a year through their guns, before we would give the guns a "tune up." The girls did periodically change springs, but rarely had to do much else. The Wad guns were shooting reduced target loads but the CMP hardball guns used full power ammo.

The upshot of all this is that a quality 1911 will last a long long time with just a little care.

 

[tark]

I wish someone made a true WWII 1911A1 clone. No lowered and beveled ejection port, correct hammer, thumb safety and grips, parked finish and itty bitty sights. Most importantly sold as a shooter piece and price.

AMEN times a hundred.

 

[tark]

https://www.classicfirearms.com/sds-imports-1911-a1-government/

Close enough for government work.

Not close enough for a persnickety collector . ( Like me ) LOL! That ejection port is too low. A G.I. 1911 has an ejection port almost even with the top line on the slide.

 

[jeepnik]

How reliable are "real" GI 1911A1's? Well, when the pos m-16 locked up like a back vault out of battery, the Remington-Rand 1911A1 (I think those were WWII era guns) worked perfectly. I'd say that gives , that one at least, 100% reliability.

 

[Ed Ames]

I’ve owned two commercial “GI spec” 1911s over the years. A Springfield GI, and an Auto Ordinance BKO. Both were small sight, small ejection port, vertical slide serrations, arched mainspring housing, etc., but weren’t 100% copies of what would have been issued. Both were series 80 style, and there were other little differences. Neither is still made but I’m not aware of any new commercial guns that come closer to “GI” until you get into high dollar reproductions. One came with a lanyard loop, and I swapped mainspring housings on the other to gain the loop.

I think the fair thing to say was that they were as reliable as the magazines. Use good quality mags and they were flawless. Use $7 generic mags and they sometimes had issues. I wouldn’t hesitate to use either as a carry gun if it was what I had.

Side note, because it amuses me: I never had any trouble with the sights and rather like them. They are better than any of the three dot sights I’ve used.

 

[Garandimal]

I wish someone made a true WWII 1911A1 clone. No lowered and beveled ejection port, correct hammer, thumb safety and grips, parked finish and itty bitty sights. Most importantly sold as a shooter piece and price.

I wish someone would make a car that breaks down all the time and needs constant attention, with tires that go flat all the time so that I need to carry a stack of them lashed to my trunk just to get me where I'm going...



(but I know what ya mean)

Was hopin' that the CMP 1911's were goin' to be just that.

Swing/miss, thank you, Collectors.

Collecting Firearms - is a mental disorder.




GR

 

[12Bravo20]

How reliable are "real" GI 1911A1's? Well, when the pos m-16 locked up like a back vault out of battery, the Remington-Rand 1911A1 (I think those were WWII era guns) worked perfectly. I'd say that gives , that one at least, 100% reliability.

The last GI 1911A1's were made during WWII. The one I carried during Desert Storm shot accurately and functioned quite well in the desert environment even after a 4 day dust storm.

 

[CapnMac]

Well, I'm likely well north of 150K rounds through 1911s (I lost track of the roundcount on the Series 70 about 2004, at over 9K). Owned about 15 1911 over the years, including AMT, Norinco, and AO (the GI AO is only up to about 2500, still rocking--not bad for $400). And I can only guess at how many rounds I put through issued ones.

So, I've seen about every stoppage there is (including breaking a collet bushing finger, which just required long enough to get the busted bit of finger out to resume firing). I grew up with arched MSH, and don't shoot flat ones very well, so most of the other brands out there don't have a lot of appeal to me.

Far too much of what is "common knowledge" is just bilge.

 

[Old Dog]

The last GI 1911A1's were made during WWII. The one I carried during Desert Storm shot accurately and functioned quite well in the desert environment even after a 4 day dust storm.

During my twenty-plus years on active duty, I came to believe that how well a unit's 1911s worked was directly correlated to the expertise of the unit's armorer. I was fortunate to have been issued a few supremely reliable 1911s, and been places with guys who really knew how to work on the ol' Gov't Model. Typically our only problems were when the supply folks tried to cheap out on the magazines.

But I suspect much of the prejudice against the 1911 on the part of former servicemembers stems from having (a) bad experience(s) with 1911s they were issued. Which is too bad, because my military experiences were what made the 1911 my first and lasting love ... Everybody remembers their first time, right?

I grew up with arched MSH, and don't shoot flat ones very well, so most of the other brands out there don't have a lot of appeal to me.

Was beginning to wonder if I was the only dinosaur left who felt like this.

Far too much of what is "common knowledge" is just bilge.

Yep.

 

[12Bravo20]

During my twenty-plus years on active duty, I came to believe that how well a unit's 1911s worked was directly correlated to the expertise of the unit's armorer. I was fortunate to have been issued a few supremely reliable 1911s, and been places with guys who really knew how to work on the ol' Gov't Model. Typically our only problems were when the supply folks tried to cheap out on the magazines.

I guess I got lucky since every 1911A1 that I was issued while in the Army worked as it should and every one was accurate enough for me to qualify expert every time. And every single 1911A1 I had was the typical "rattle battle" with a loose slide to frame fit. The barrel to slide fit was always good.

 

[CapnMac]

As noted above there are/were Military Specifications for everything. "MilSpec" is just a contract stipulation.

 

[Larryk19D]

I purchased via the old DCM for $17.50 as did many other NRA members in 1963 a GI .45 that came straight from an arsenal in Alabama. You could shake it and it would rattle. An 8lb or so trigger and it used FMJ ammo that worked 100%. It had perfect finish that suggested it have been rebuilt. It was a a 1916 frame mated with a WWII slide.

Wish my "new" CMP only ran $17.50. But for a 1943 Ithaca receiver and 1943 US&S slide, with about 500 rds so far, flawless. As rattly as my issue pistol in the late 80's. I love it.