I've had nothing but bad experinces with Colt's. Almost every one I fired for the first time jammed on the second magazine. The Springfield Armory 1911 I fired did not jam at all. Nor did the Remington WW2 1911 I fired.

in b4 the storm

I've never had a Colt that didn't run

What ammo?

How old of a colt, and what shape bullet?

Same here.  Four Colts from a 1911 made for the US Army in 1917 up through my Series 80 Government Model with a Combat Commander and a Series 70 Mk4 in between.  All worked.  That's why I've gone back to Colts when I felt the "need" for another one.

Could be just a part or two that are out of spec or not adjusted properly.



An explanation of the failures gives a clue as you what's causing them.

Make very sure your not limp wristing it, hold it very firmly.

Just winchester FMJ's. The cases split often, but it's never choked the other 1911's.

So your thinking is....... It's a problem indicative of Colts ?  Hhhmmm. Might be... Might not be. Might be the problem is ammunition related. Might not..... Might be shooter related. Might not......Might be this and might be that. One thing I'm sure it's not. It's not a Colt thing. It's a controlled feed problem and that you can take to the bank.

3 second Google find.

It's a neck bone connected to the tail bone thing. Miss a vertebrae and your 1911 can't feed. Simple as that. Different 1911 makers at various times in 1911 production have altered feed ramp angles. Barrel throat angles have changed and most importantly. It's hard to feed a round tailored for a push feed system to work in a controlled feed system and vice versa. So,so, many times the problem with a 1911 is a lack of understanding through education, Knowing what a mil-spec 1911 was designed to feed is important. Any 1911 can be altered to feed both push feed oal and control feed oal ammunition by changing feed ramp geometry. Any one can take a working stock factory Colt and make it feed like a well oiled machine gun with some understanding of bullet ogive and oal.

OAL= overall length.

Springfield tends to have correct feed angles out of the box but their extractors are problematic. Today's "O" model Colts tend to feed more types of ammunition than reject. Colt does seem to produce more to trial lawyer proof spec than shooter spec with tight chambers and supported throats. Now, whose fault is that I wonder ? Today's want my cake and it eat too mentality.

McDonalds coffee btw is still too fucking hot but they have a number for you to call now. 1-800-555-MOMA.

My first thought as well.

Winchester white box fmj is what most consider to be mil-spec and Colt's love this type ammunition. It's 1.260 oal with ogive just forward of case mouth. Pictures of split ?

As far as 1911's go, I've owned the following:

Remington Rand (Very reliable)
Colt Series 80 (Mostly reliable)
Colt Combat Elite (Reliable)
Springfield Armory GI (Very reliable)
Double Star w/ .22 kit  (least reliable because it is a .22 conversion)

I have fired the following:
Compact .45 Cut down Colt custom job (Not reliable at all)
Stainless Colt Series 80 (Reliable)
Original 1911 Colt (Not very reliable)
+ several others that I didn't get to shoot much

In general, I would say that Colts are very slightly less reliable than most other 1911's.  It is very close.  They absolutely are not more reliable.

I always thought the unreliable 1911 was mostly a myth until I bought my first Springfield.  Guess Colt has spoiled me.

I'm sitting at around 1200 rounds through my Combat Elite, and never a single failure.

Colt's built a name for itself... doesn't mean it's based on quality.

My friend bought a Gold Cup... sold it a month later...

It wasn't all that, and it rusted quick in the florida humidity. I was not impressed considering the price tag.

My  S&W PD Tactical has been amazing.
Cheapo SA GI 1911 has been Flawless as well.

But I'm not a 1911 guy, only fired a few colts. I personally would not cough up the high price tag for one.

That's funny - that was my experience as well.

Count me in here.  Over my several years of shooting 1911s, Colt has always run well for me.  JD

In the late 80's and 90's, I'd agree. Nowadays, since Colt started producing their stuff on new CNC machinery, they have had quite the reputation of good quality pistols.



I plan to own a couple as soon as I'm done with playing with my other 1911's.



For the record, I'm a hardcore Springfield fan. Colt makes a hell of a good 1911 nowadays.

You can't blackball the colt name due to one or two faults with pistols you have owned. Colt as a whole- puts out a great product that is hardly matched by any other mass production manufacturer. I'm not bashing any of the others that make a great handguns either- so no need to defend your purchases guys. But to list colt as " bad "- is a gross statement that has no founding or merit to it.

I have a Colt SP-1 which works fine, I just don't put much faith in their 1911's.

Originally posted by Ermac


Am curious what brand 1911 do you put faith in ?

You mentioned Winchester FMJ as the ammo.  What kind of Colt?  How Old?  What kind of magazines?  Has it had work done?  Is the jamming related to the split cases?  How many Colts is "almost every one"?

I've got 6 1911s at home - 4 Colts, a Springfield, and a Kimber.  Every one of them (except a pre WW1 Colt I've never fired) is very reliable.

Almost every Colt you've fired jammed on the 2nd magazine and split WWB cases that ran fine in other 1911's? That makes absolutely no sense.

That pretty much sums it up.



 

sounds like a bad mag to me. did you try any other brands or capacities??

Ditto.

I had a used ultimate stainless Gold Cup that had issues. I think it could have been corrected without too much of an issue. I had a lot done to it, paid good money for the work, and I think now some of it could have been done better. At the time I didn't know jack. My fault just as much as anybodies. I've learned a lot since then. The rest of the many Colts I've had have been very dependable. Stake your life on them kind of dependable.  I'll expect the newest addition, the Colt Rail Gun will be too once it is paid for. I enjoy my Colt firearms. I've never been turned off by them and Colt themselves have been supportive. I have no reason to seek out anyone else.

Mine run, too. My problems have all been cosmetic, and Colt takes care of it.