1911 Pistols: Myth vs Reality And My Experience

[DonnyCommo]

Picked up a Springfield loaded last April and loved it till I had a case head separation. Didn't bung up the frame too bad, but after that getting it to run reliably was a trick. As of yesterday she has been traded off to a friend who knew what happened and he gave me his Colt series 80. So far I'm loving the colt more.

alas, all I've ever done was replace a sear spring with the loaded. The platform may have its inherent issues but I love it for the nostalgia.

[wctriumph]

My Colt, I don't see ever selling or trading this one, I have become attached to it as well as these other two.

[Byte Stryke]

I tried to like 1911's. My first was a Springfield, it was OK just took some work to feed HP's. Colts suck ass and I wouldnt take one if given to me, out of 3 new colt 1911's I bought new the cheapest one to make work was $275 at a gun smith I have never had a colt that worked right. I had a couple other brands that ranged from mild tweaking to sell that pos before it blows up. The best one was an old worn out kimber I bought, It looked like ass but it actually worked. 1911's are to heavy and to low capacity, not worth trying to make them work right.

John Moses Browning Called from Heaven because he said you cannot take a hint. He wants me to tell you he hates you

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

The two questions are not analogous. A standard 1911 pattern gun, whether it's built by Colt, Kimber, Springfield or anyone else, follows the same blueprint in terms of the operating parts. A barrel that fits a Colt should fit another 1911 as should most any of the other parts. There may be differences in terms of how those parts are put together with allowances for fitting but a gun from one company should be pretty much interchangeable with a gun from another company.

Parts from a Chevy won't fit a Dodge or Ford. The blueprints and parts for each vehicle are entirely different. They're only the same in terms of general appearance which could be said for almost all semi-automatic pistols as well.

I agree, should.
I'm a 1911 fanboy myself, but mostly at the range these days. Did carry one or another full size kimber for years, though. Almost no issues.
I had a Springfield "GI" - and this gun had a TON of issues. The 'should' part of your post that caught my attention was that the slide didn't appear centered on the frame. I wish I had a picture. The [professional] gunsmith who swapped some parts for me said never again. It also got worse and worse in terms of goofy malfunctions over time to around 1500 rounds.
It went back to Springfield Armory THREE times trying to fix it. They actually cried uncle and offered me a replacement or cash. The cash became a TLE.
I loved that Springfield, but the thing would just not work.

[Robb]

My 1911 issues have almost all been caused by... me.
Cheap mags have been the number 1 issue for me, crap mags and/or cracked/broken feed lips etc. And of course trying to improve on the design (blasphemy!) by running shock buffs. They didn't help a damn thing.
The only real faiures I've ever personally experienced were shooting off a front sight of a S70 I bought new in the box, and a used gun I purchased had a broken slide stop when I bought it. Both Colts.
Dumbest 1911 mistake was being frustrated in my youth because my 1st 1911, a gunshow WWII RR wouldn't shoot cheap wadcutters reliably! That may have been mag related too. Dumbest gun move ever: I traded it off on a NIB S70 Govt. Still have the S70 but wish I had kept the RR too.

[Ronin13]

I'll bite, although, admittedly, I'm not really a 1911 fanboy, I do appreciate a good firearm that served our nation well and continues to be a cornerstone of the pistol market. I also think that you can't call yourself a gun person without owning one.
2010 I bought a Springfield 1911 GI Champion. Great gun. Probably put 2,500 rounds through it and the only issue was a few FTE because I didn't realize one of my mags got wet once and the spring needed to be meticulously cleaned, then it never had a problem again.
My brother has owned a Wilson CQC- fun to shoot, great gun, but for the price it's not much better than a full size Springfield, IMO. Then he got rid of it for a Nighthawk Custom GRP. Fan-fucking-tastic firearm. I love to shoot it and would be hard pressed between a Lippard or a Nighthawk if I had the $3,500 to just willy nilly spend on a custom 1911 (although the Lippard would win out in the end).

Here's the bro's GRP- I love the FDE frame and black slide, looks very cool.
That being said, some of the really expensive guns you can pretty much get the same out of a quality Springfield or Colt.
However, again IMO, the hands down, end all, be all, best 1911 money can buy would be a Lippard custom like the CQBP 1911 (biased because I've met and chatted with the man and view him as equal to Mr. Colt himself or Mr. Browning)

[10x]

Every Series 70 Colt I ever had, some 25 over the last 40 years, has been a reliability and / or accuracy problem. I've had to work on every one. These Colts are magazine sensitive, only use genuine GI or Genuine Colt 7 round mags with hybrid feed lips, absolutely can't use mags with wadcutter feed lips like Wilson or McCormick. Other reliability problems were caused by poor fit or poor quality control from Colt. I've had to repair replace or work on extractors on most of them. Other issues on other guns. Accuracy issues were generally cured with Group Grippers when needed. The series 70 was the beginning of the bad reputation for the 1911.


Having said that, I got into Colts a long time age when they were the most accurate target gun you could get. I am X ring capable and the Gold Cups are X ring capable, that is why I enjoy them. However, there are better choices for carry and self defense.

Colt made its reputation on the pre series 70 guns and they are great. The latest productions guns are better than the series 70 and the series 80 of the 1980s and 1990s.

I will use series 70 Colts for target work, not for SD.

[hollohas]

I have only owned one 1911...a Kimber Ultra Carry II and it is by far my favorite handgun I own. After thousands of rounds I have had no stopages/failure to feed. Mostly FMJ 230g reloads but also hundreds of different denfensive varieties too. Although it ran great out of the box I cannot call it perfect because it had two very minor flaws.

#1 - the finish on the safety and grip safety wore off almost immediatly. I mean in like a month or two of buying it new, carrying it and practicing with it (a lot).

#2 - The mag release was a little off. If I got carried away and pushed it too hard, the mag would stick in the well. Letting pressure off the release would let the mag drop freely. After lots of practice I stopped pushing it too hard. That solution worked but made me uncomfortable that I would have a problem in high stress. Only took a few minutes to remove the release and fix it.

[SideShow Bob]

My Colt, I don't see ever selling or trading this one, I have become attached to it as well as these other two.

Thought the first picture was of "The Stove Pipe From Hell"

[SamuraiCO]

Kimber Pro Covert. Finish is wearing off in and I need to have recoated. Thumb safety broke off so upgraded to Wilson, no problems since. Only use Wilson mags. Guns broke down and cleaned after every use.

That being said it is my carry weapon. It shoots and shoots and shoots. 230's no problem. HP no problems. My reloads no problems.

My first but not my last.

Wife has Springfield 3". No issues with it.

As I have stated before the weapon sits in my hand at the same angle as my Katana. Grips are the same. Something there is just magical how two weapons from different times have so much in common.

If they are good enough for Jeff Cooper they are good enough for me.