Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns So who has a 1911 that doesn't work?

Come on, fess up...you know these things don't work. I mean, never mention that I've NEVER had even one malfunction with either of my 1911...I'm just a liar and can't be trusted anyhow.

All we ever hear from the Glock-a-holics is that 1911's don't work.

So who has a 1911 that:

A - Doesn't work
B - Malfunctions often
C - Malfunctions rarely
D - Just can't trust.

If you do, let's hear what the issue is?

I have had oodles of 1911's, and ones that have been to shooting schools and therefore "driven hard" over several days of heavy shooting. I've competed at the regional level with a number of 1911's; those guns were worked even harder than the one's that went to schools. Truth be told, back in the early '90's when I went to shooting schools and competed on a regular basis, the most common gun to go down on the range was Glock (all models but 17 & 19).

The ONLY 1911 I had real problems with was a Series 70 Commander I had back in the early '90's; it drove me nuts. I did EVERYTHING and just couldn't make it work reliably. A friend decided to drop a headspace gauge in and it wouldn't even enter the chamber...I was dumbfounded. The chamber was horribly under-cut. Once we corrected that issue (and I've never see that on any other pistol since...one time occurrence), that gun was a garbage disposal. Weird thing was, with a horribly under-cut chamber, it was still a tack driver...Bizarre!

One of the principles at work that keep Glocks running is that they have very generous chambers...that's not a bad idea for a serious gun.

On the other hand, I constantly run into a LOT of problems that need to be fixed with 1911s from every manufacturer, but once those problems are fixed they run well.

The various issues are too long to list, but it's almost a given that function issues, that are related to the pistol, most often arise from attempts to "improve" the original JMB design specs.

Issues with ammo and mags are often a result of the same principle, ie., making alterations to the original specs.

It helps to keep a 1911 clean and properly lubed as well.

I've only ever owned two 1911s, in .45 acp. Both of them were utterly reliable. Still have one.

Oh, and they were both Colts.

I've got a springfield mil spec from 1990 that never fails. It's box stock. I've got a Norinco milspec that's box stock. It never fails.
I ruptured the barrel in the Springfield doing double taps and I had a squib on the first shot. It took a bit of extra force but I got the slide open and the pistol disassembled. I ordered a replacement barrel from Midway and it dropped right in. No hand fitting required and it shoots and runs as perfectly as it ever did.

What's not to love.

My Ruger 1911 would choke on loads that fed every time through a Springfield XDm. I had loaded them a little too long and at least once in every magazine they would hang up on the feed ramp halfway into the chamber. And this wasn't a "quick rack the slide" clearance, either, sometimes I had to really haul back on the slide with all my might to clear it. A couple of times I had to tap the front of the slide on a wooden bench to get it loose.

I could take the bullet that jammed the Ruger, bury it somewhere in the Springfield's magazine and it would feed with no problems. Come to think of it, that Springfield's been 100% since the first shot - no failures to feed, fire, extract and eject at all. That one sits by the bed with 14 rounds ready to go.

Seating the bullets about .1" deeper solved the problem with the Ruger but it made me realize how even 1/10th" in ammo length jammed it up.

Had a Colt Series 70 standard 1911A1 that broke a collet finger, that jammed the slide up solid. Had some stovepipes with the Series 70 as well before a gunsmith lowered the ejection port.

A box stock "Colt Gov't Model" my father bought in 1969 was 100% but that was never fed anything but standard 230 FMJ ball ammo.

The only issue I've ever had is with an "Ultra" size Kimber (3" barrel). It won't feed SWC's. Other than that, all other 1911's I've owned have been flawless and that Kimber is flawless with everything but the SWC's.

I had to do some breaking in on a Kimber once, lost patience and finished my breaking in with some 400 grit sandpaper in a couple of places, but other than that my various 1911's have run wonderfully so long as the magazines were correct. That, plus ammo length and no bulges, are the chink in the armour of the 1911's - IF one can call it that - which can make them a tad bit frustrating until one understands how they run and what they need.

My inexpensive RIA in 10mm has been dead nuts reliable with good mags and ammo, plus stupid accurate.

I will take a little bit of magazine sensitivity and ammo testing needs to get a nice, crisp, clean trigger break and wonderful ergo's. Something that a Glock and most other krunchentickers (credit for the term to Jeff Cooper) cannot deliver.

Well,having started early with mil-spec 1911's,I discovered the Hi-Powers,now some of your guys are saying there are more pistols out there?

A friend had one of those Filippo pieces go full auto on him,the hammer and sear had rounded out at 400 rounds..buy junk,get junk

RIA is now US made, in case you had not heard. Manufacturing plants in several states now. And the hardness of the parts is excellent of late. How long ago did your friend have a 45 go full auto, and who diagnosed the problem? I have seen pre 70 series Colts go full auto when a non gunsmith did a 'trigger job' on them.

Don't be a hating but I've had two 1911's. The first was an STI Ranger that I loved up until it had about 75 rounds through it and it would jam. Clean it and all would be well again.

My current one is a Colt Combat Commander that had a weak recoil spring (I hope) that has failed to go into battery with factory WW ball ammo a couple of times. I've yet to shoot it after replacing with a Wolf standard power 18# spring, I have a 20# spring to try as well. I also had a bad mag that wouldn't feed but that's not the pistols fault.

I recently acquired a Kimber Rimfire Target 22 that has been reliable so I am trying to like the platform but it's awful funny that my M&P's run hundreds and hundreds of rounds between cleaning and I've never had an issue that wasn't ammo related.

I've also fired other folks' uber reliable 1911's that have failed. One was a Springfield that the buffer came apart, again not the pistols fault but it's taken me a long time to try one again.

My Colt Gold Cup had issues with standard ball ammo when I first got the Colt. It would stove pipe at least once for every fifty rounds but you never knew when it was going to happen. It also wasn't very accurate. This Colt was purchased about 25 years ago. I sent the Gold Cup to Wilson at the time and they got it operating tip top with their magic, a heavier re-coil spring, and a Group Gripper. Oh ya and they added a Colt ambi-safety that actually worked. Last year Wilson replace the rear sight with their low mount adjustable sight with a battle sight blade, Armor Tuff finish, and stainless steel match full ramped barrel. That Wilson?Colt hybrid works like a trooper. Any baubles is always due to operator error.

The biggest disadvantage with the 1911 especially with those of us who like tight fitting 1911s is they all have to be hand fitted and that cost money.

No need to waste the money. Just put the slide in a vise and squeeze it a tad. That'll make it nice and tight.

L.W.

I'm thinking that maybe TAK has quite a few..........might be wrong though.

MM

Of all the 1911's I own and have owned, a bunch, I've had only two that were totally unreliable and had many failures to feed.

Both were STI Shadow Models, which has the Officer's size frame and slide. Both of them would jam at least 2 rounds with every mag. Even with hardball ammo.
I don't know if it had more to do with the officers sized frame, or if STI's quality control just sucked at that time. But I'll never own another Officer's sized 1911, except for my Springfield EMP 9mm which has always worked flawlessly.

I'll stick with my Les Baer, Springfield, S&W, Ruger, Kimber,and Colt 1911's. And if I owned just one it would be my Les Baer.

LMAO

Had a $380 ATI Phillipine import- ran great and took aftermarket parts perfectly.

Had a Sig and a Springfield Loaded- flawless.

Had a Turkish one I tried, brand started with a "C" (can't remember)and I sold it to a friend who really wanted it for way less than half what I paid. It was junk, would not accept the most basic aftermarket parts like grips, but it did run with ball ammo. Of course my friend was warned, and he was cool with the "good" price of more than 60% off what I paid. Lesson learned (again) just buy the damn expensive one you want and keep it.

I'd still have that Sig 1911, was my favorite and everything you wanted in a 1911. Some guy on Hunt-WA forum was wanting one and was willing to trade a 1994 mint Weatherby Mk V Deluxe for the Sig which I paid under $800 for with tax. Gave him some .45 dies and $150 cash and the pistol. The Mk V is one of my treasures now.

Bigfish, was it a Caracal?

Had an AMT Hardballer 45 that was a jammamatic no matter the ammunition or magazines.

I can think of a Kimber 10mm (which I still own) which was fussy about what magazines it would like. Then I polished the extractor hook, and tuned the tension. That seemed to fix it, though it needs more testing.

My Sistema wants nothing to do with hollow point ammo, in limited testing. You might get half a magazine to feed, but it clearly doesn't like the stuff. There's a S70 Colt Combat Commander that I have not shot much, as it is nickel plated and unmodified. IIRC it is generally pretty good, but I purposely don't shoot it much. Both guns are collectible and won't be modified.

The Les Baer does not like weak ammo. I tried some commercial 230gr FMJ a year or so ago, and the LB choked on them. Then I realized the bullets were setting back in feeding, and decided the pistol was jut trying to tell me the ammo was bad It works perfect with full-tilt defense loads, or +P loads.

Out of 20+ 1911's most worked fine with their intended ammo. The ones that didn't sometimes needed tuning, different ammo, or different mags to run right.

The only one that was useless crap was an AMT hardballer, which once jammed so tight I had to beat it apart with a hammer. A couple of Colts from the bad days of the mid-1980's had significant issues, yet were either fixable or would work fine with certain ammo/mags.

The Systema is a hardball gun; I'd leave it that way.