- #COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL CRACKED#
- #COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL SERIES#
- #COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL FREE#
Rival 1911 manufacturers now dominated the market. Due to a multitude of issues, Colt's financial situation had degraded to the point that their very survival seemed uncertain.
#COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL SERIES#
Colt of course continued to make only Series 80 pistols, as conventional wisdom dicated that once a manufacturer made changes in the name of decreased product liability there was no looking back.įast-forward slightly to the year 2001. Manufacturers such as Springfield Armory, Kimber, Norinco, and others made huge inroads on Colt with their non-Ser"clone" guns.
The arguments for and against the firing pin safety system are beyond the scope of this article, but suffice to say there was a strong market demand for 1911-type pistols without the FPS that rival 1911 manufacturers were all too willing to meet. Many gunsmiths groaned that the FPS made it that much harder to do a good trigger job on the piece, and some purists contended that the small parts that made up the safety system were fragile and thus prone to failure after extended use. Not everybody liked the new firing pin safety system Colt devised. As a result the original mil-spec barrel and bushing configuration was reinstated during that year, but the Series 80 firing pin safety was considered here to stay. In addition, it was felt that modern CNC manufacturing techniques had allowed tighter factory tolerances with the older solid bushing setup.
#COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL CRACKED#
Around 1988 it was decided that the collet bushing wasn't all it was cracked up to be, as there were a few reports of the bushing fingers breaking in use. The new pistols were all re-designated Series 80 models, and they replaced all of the older Series 70 models in Colt's lineup.
#COLT 1911 A1 STAINLESS STEEL FREE#
Two small sheet-metal levers working alongside the trigger pushed aside the plunger, which would then free up the firing pin to fire the weapon once the trigger had been deliberately depressed. The new setup involved a small plunger located inside the slide to block the firing pin against movement, thus preventing the pistol from discharging accidentally should the pistol be dropped or hit hard while fully loaded with a round in the chamber. Out of concerns for product liability, all of Colt's 1911-type pistols were redesigned internally with a new firing pin safety system. In 1983 Colt made an even more drastic change to their 1911 line. The new setup was successful enough that the full-sized Gold Cup National Match pistols also incorporated the finger collet bushings, although the shorter Commander models retained the use of their shorter solid bushings. While not as capable of superb accuracy as a true hand-fit barrel and match bushing, the new setup nonetheless allowed the typical mass-produced Colt shoot better than the older military-spec pistols with their loosely fit solid bushings and straight barrels. The new "Accurizor" barrel and bushing was intended to improve the intrinsic accuracy of the new Colt Government Model pistols, which were then designated the MK IV/Series 70 to differentiate them from all prior variations of the Government Model. Colt redesigned the barrel bushing from a solid cylindrical type to a spring-steel, "finger collet" bushing that gripped the end of the barrel, which had also been slightly redesigned with a slight belled end to accommodate the collet bushing. From 1911 until 1970 there were virtually no significant changes to the basic design, but the year 1971 saw the first mechanical "improvement" to the 1911-type pistol.
However, in its 90-plus years of production the design has seen many slight evolutionary changes in the name of improved (or cheaper) manufacture, product safety, and market trends. Ever since the design's military acceptance in March of 1911, and the beginning of production in January of 1912 Colt has never ceased manufacturing pistols based off the original 1911 design, known in commercial trim as simply the Government Model.
is well known as the original and most recognized maker of 1911-type pistols. I appreciate Dana's contribution to this site, and may I suggest you visit his site, an excellent resource on USGI pistols. This test is courtesy of our Forums Site member, D. Product Tests : Colt Series 70 Government Model
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