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Worst 1911 you have ever owned

30K views 197 replies 176 participants last post by  IronFilex 
#1 ·
These days it seems like 1911's are all fairly high quality even the cheapest, but there was a time when such wasn't the case. So which 1911 that you have owned in the past claims the worst spot.

I'll start off with my AMT 1911 hardballer. The biggest pos in the 1911 realm I have ever owned. It jammed and when I got it fixed it broke at the frame.
 
#179 ·
My current ATI Titan. Weak recoil spring right out of the box. Lot of stovepipes until that was changed. Failed the recoil reverse plug. Slide stop batters up a burr on the slide. Empties eject right into your face. Barrel lockup is a joke. Sent it back to ATI where I guess it's currently gathering moss.
 
#180 · (Edited)
Colt series 70 Government in blue - bought new around 1985. Not very accurate and feed problems were insurmountable even after a number of gunsmiths worked on it. I gave up on it and traded it for a Ruger P90 two years later. That gun worked flawlessly.

Interestingly, the gun store was broken into a month after the trade and the model 70 was lifted from the case. The unsub(s) have no idea what they got into!

I Then traded the P90 for a Glock 27 and that started the 1911 drought for me until this year when I acquired a Dan Wesson Guardian in .45 ACP. This one is a keeper - flawless and very accurate.

Best,

JAS
 
#182 ·
Springfield MC Operator.
machine marks length of slide at bottom of rail, hammer was out of square with slide, only one edge of hammer would hit half of firing pin!
trigger was loose. awful. made in Imbel brazil, FI Brazil.
Friday pistol! That was 4-5 years ago

Just bought a Loaded, it is fantastic!
 
#185 ·
Was my brand new Ruger SR1911. Got it off GB listed as "new" never fired. When I got it, it looked new, was missing one magazine and was the TIGHTEST and ROUGHEST slide I've ever felt. Almost a grinding feel and sound. Slide was so tight it would actually "hang" 1/2 open.

Took it to the range and put a few hundred rounds down the pipe. First 50 were absolute torture. FTF, FTE, FTRTB...you name it. Brass didn't pop up and out, but dribbled the slide was so tight. Even lubed it at the range. Never have done that with ANY gun before.

Got, home cleaned it and it was a bad as ever (I even manually racked the slide a few hundred times the night before the range - raw left hand)

Called Ruger on a Monday, sent it on Tuesday (their nickel), they confirmed receipt on Thursday and UPS delivered it back to me the following Tuesday. 7 day turn around. Amazing service. They replaced the entire slide and all the components and refit the new slide to frame. Feels like perfection now. Range day tomorrow and hopefully a happy ending. Excellent customer service from Ruger for making it right. Feels like I have a custom gun now.
 
#186 ·
2012 Auto-Ordnance. Bought a new 1911a1 WW2 parkerized two weeks ago, only to find out that the standard GI and most aftermarket magazines will not work with it,only the supplied magazine will feed properly. I saved long and hard for the gun and magazines only to have this happen. Customer service, Richard and Jay basically told me that I'm outta luck. I'm pretty dissapointed with these guys.

The Phillipine High Standard .45 that I had previously was outstanding.
 
#194 ·
Negatory Jeep...anyone who'd make such a post on a Glock forum would be cast out in a orgiastic ceremony, beaten, tarred, feathered, then they would have their soul ripped from their body and fed to Gaston Glock...this not only explains why no one on Glock forums ever make such threads but why Gaston Glock is still alive...and why hardcore Glock owners are such zombie-like toadies.

Please, to Gaston and all Glockites, the following was in jest. Please do not involve me in the aforementioned orgiastic rites as I am quite fond of my soul.

On the actual subject of bad 1911s? Nope, never so much as a hiccup.

RIA GI
RIA Tactical

Both of them run great, the GI turned out to be more accurate than the tactical but a family friend had a Cx4 in 9mm and I wanted it bad and he wanted a 1911 bad. Don't regret the trade but I do miss that "cheap" GI model that on a good day would print 2" groups now and again.
 
#190 ·
Rock Island 4" GI model. Had feeding problems & sent it in for warranty work. They installed a stronger recoil spring, among other things. Feeding problems went away, but with about 400 rounds since the repair, it mushroomed the rear of the spring channel in the slide until you couldn't get the barrel out.

Local gunsmith said it was because the steel in the slide was too soft. I also fault the warranty shop for covering up whatever the true problem was by putting the stronger spring in it.
 
#191 ·
my 1911's from best to worst;

1. SA TRP AK not one failure and best fit and finish

2. DoubleStar Combat 1911 no failures to speak of, decent fit for a slapped together pistol, was rusted from poor storage when I bought it on the inside of the recoil plug and spring, I had spare parts that I use still, very accurate.

3. Dan Wesson V-bob Black Duty Treat, Had early slide lock issues, great fit, but some blems in the finish (non blem model I paid 1,900 for it)

4. Rock Island Tactical 5" everything was loose and it wasn't very reliable, the finish starting peeling back from the front sight to the ejection port after only 200 rounds and it started rusting doubly fast

5. Kimber TLE II too much money for too much headache, bad fit, great finish, barrel would get surface rust even when well oiled, very picky about which ammo it would eat.

They were all decently accurate, the TRP was dead on accurate cold bore with out having to adjust my grip or shooting stance, although the TRP was probably the best one I sold it and I still feel I sold it for the right reasons.
 
#193 ·
Both Kimbers I bought. FTE's FTF's and a host of other problems. Sent them back for repairs and they were never fixed properly. Covert custom and a Ultra CDP ll. Pieces of crap from the get go:barf::barf::barf:
 
#195 ·
Actually, my worst turned out to be my best. Bought an early edition steel Colt Combat Commander in late 1970 to carry in plainclothes replacing my Government Model. Fit, finish, trigger and accuracy were the worst I had ever encountered. A close friend had the same opinion of his and suggested we send the pair off to "Ed Browns Gunshop". Came back and was in use until 2008 when destroyed in a house fire. Best gun I've ever owned and got me hooked on Brown's.
 
#198 ·
Jeep- Glock currently has a big problem with their late 3rd gen G19/17 and most of all the current gen 4 G19/17. They redesigned the extractor and i think changed the recoil spring. Lots ofof fte and brass flying in the face. Along with some other issues. Funny thing is not all of them suffer from this. Some are 100% out of the box with the new mods. Others are sent back over and over. And from what ive read on M4carbine forum, Glock doesnt seem to be putting a whole lot of effort into fixing the issue. Weird. I have an older G19 that was a police gun and it runs 100%. I also just picked up a newer 3rd gen G17. Have yet to try it out. Hopefully its good but i bought it used and it looked as if it wasnt fired. It could have been sold or traded in for a lot of reasons. Im crossing my fingers its not because of the changes Glock made.

As for "worst 1911" it was my first. That would be the Para Worthog 10.45. Got it used and it already had a different slide from the factory. Apparently the original had cracked. That should have been my first clue, but it wasnt. After i bought it it didnt hand eject live rounds. Took it back to the store (they were great. Stood by what they sold. Sent it to Para as if from them, on their dime). It was sent out with 3the mags. Came back 3 months later with a note of what was fixed but only 1 mag. I lost conference in Para and sold the gun within a week.
 
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