does anyone know how many 80 series were sent out the door with the Collet bushing?
At least oneBTW, I have a '87 CE with the collett.
I don't carry my S80 w/collet bushing (I prefer my CCO) but I wouldn't be adverse to doing so simply because of the bushing. I have no intention of changing mine despite your (more than dramatic) warning.Colt made a mistake in using that bushing which is why they stopped using it. I changed mine out. If you are only going to the range no big deal but for self defense it is a NO....
Colts have always been like a box o' choc-olates. You never know what you're gonna get!Seems like Colt was not the model of consistency.
I'm really sorry if I sounded like I was producing "extra drama" - surgeons are better known for their down to earth attitudes - I was hoping I might save you from my experience of continuing to shoot - for no good reason other than I could do it despite reports from guys with experience - I knew best and hadn't had it break and knew it wouldn't happen to me. My Colt was made in 1970 and, while some weeks didn't get as many, I generally shoot about 50 rounds per week through it.wetidlerjr Quote:
Originally Posted by OJK
...I doubt anything I say will change your mind (my attitude before my breakage) but hope when yours breaks (and it will if you shoot it enough times -took several hundred rounds to break mine) , no further damage will be the result.
That pistol has more than "several hundred rounds"through it. But thanks for the extra drama.
As I have ALREADY said, I do not carry my Govt. Model S80/w collet bushing so anyone concerned needs to calm down about it's imminent disintegration. I am aware (and have been for some time) of the legitimate possibilities of the collet bushing failing. Being old enough to know better (but too young to resist), I think I can handle it.Collet bushings
L- standard solid bushing, R- Colt collet bushing
I often see threads started by members asking about so-called "collet" barrel bushings, usually in reference to Colt pistols. The collet bushing was introduced by Colt in 1970, and is easily identified by being made of spring steel with four "fingers" at the rear. The last batch of standard commercial Governments in 1970 incorporated the new barrel bushing and matching barrel (which has a slightly belled muzzle) as a test run. These pistols (approx. 1500 made) had conventional post-war commercial markings, but had a special "BB" marking underneath the serial number. Later that year the new system was formally introduced as the "Accurizor barrel and bushing" with the new Mark IV/Series 70 models later that same year, which included all 5" barreled pistols (Government Model and Gold Cup). The shorter 4.25" Commander models continued to use solid bushings. How they worked was that the spring "fingers" of the bushing were pushed out by the belled end of the barrel during lockup, and wedged between the barrel and inside surface of the slide to tighten the fit and improve accuracy. For the most part it worked great, as the accuracy of a typical box-stock Series 70 usually exceeded that of earlier commercial pistols with standard bushings. It was basically a means of improving out-of-the-box accuracy on production pistols without going through the expense of hand-fitting match bushings like those used on custom accurized pistols.
The collet bushings remained in use past the the introduction of the Series 80 models in 1983, but were eventually phased out around 1988 or so when the solid bushings were reinstated. The reason for them being discontinued was due to a rare but potentially serious issue with the bushings. During the manufacture of any mass-production item the matter of keeping within allowable tolerances is always an issue, and in the case of the Series 70 bushing system it was critical. As mentioned in Jerry Kuhnhausen's excellent book The Colt .45 Automatic, a Shop Manual Vol.1, if the slide inside diameter (ID) was machined too large the fingers of the bushing couldn't wedge between the slide and barrel snugly, and accuracy would be lackluster. If the slide ID was machined too small then the fingers would have insufficient room to expand during lockup, causing them to flex and buckle at a point just ahead of the pads that contacted the belled end of the barrel. Other contributing factors could be a slightly oversized bushing (creating the same clearance problem) or a lack of squareness at the front edge of the slide. Eventually one of the fingers could break off due to being overstressed, with the broken piece floating around inside the weapon. Since the pistol would continue to operate normally it would likely go unnoticed by the user, at least until it jammed somewhere inside the pistol, possibly locking up the pistol while it was still loaded. Gunsmiths weren't usually too happy to receive a still-loaded Colt that was jammed up in this fashion, especially given the fact that freeing it up usually involved putting the pistol in a vice, taking a rawhide mallet and banging the slide back and forth until things came loose. It wasn't healthy for the gun, and it wasn't healthy for the gunsmith either if there still was a round in the chamber.
There are many owners out there who say they've already put thousands of rounds through their pistols without experiencing a broken bushing. Odds are they won't, because the vast majority of pistols were manufactured within tolerances. It's just that hypothetical "one in a thousand" that may end up having a problem if the pistol was slightly out of spec and fired enough to overstress the bushing. But that is why I usually tell people to replace the collet bushing with a solid one anyway just to be on the safe side. Your pistol will probably never have a problem, but the fact is you really never know when it'll fail. It may a long time before the fingers finally succumb to fatigue and break off. Maybe after 5,000 rounds, maybe after 50,000. I've kept the one in mine simply because it's more a safe queen than a shooter, but if it were being used for competition or defense I'd replace the bushing with a standard solid unit.
One frequently-heard comment is that you should never pull the collet bushing off the barrel, otherwise you may stress the fingers further and cause them to break. Just my opinion, but I feel that this is not really the case, as you can be rest assured there are far greater stresses imparted on the bushing during actual firing than if you simply popped it off the end of your barrel! However it is true that when disassembling a Series 70 you should retract the slide at least 1/4" when trying to rotate the bushing, as you'll be releasing the bushing from engagement with the slide/barrel and thus making it a whole lot easier to turn.
And yes, to answer another frequently-asked question, a standard non-oversize solid bushing will work on an early Series 70 or 80 pistol. The belled muzzle on a Series 70 barrel is still the same outside diameter as a conventional "straight" barrel, so a factory Colt solid bushing should drop in without fitting. Aftermarket oversized units (Wilson, Brown, etc.) will of course require gunsmith fitting to the slide and barrel as with any other type of 1911 pistol.
Once again, the only factory pistols you're likely to see them in are Colt's Government Models and Gold Cups made from 1970 through 1988. Commander and Officers ACP models never used them nor did any of the so-called "clone" makers, although I am aware of some aftermarket companies (such as Bar-Sto) who offered collet bushings for Commander-sized pistols for a short time during the 1970's.
Well - yes - I really intended to say "hundreds of thousand rounds".wetidlerjr Quote:
Originally Posted by OJK
That pistol has more than "several hundred rounds"through it. But thanks for the extra drama.