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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.
 
#59 ·
Of the four 1911s I've owned (SA 5" Loaded Lightweight, PT1911AR, S&W stainless with rail, and Sig Ultra), the only one that hasn't run well was the Taurus. Numerous light primer strikes, even after "repair." It's a shame, since when it fired it did so accurately, but I ended up swapping it on the S&W.
 
#187 · (Edited)
:biglaugh: For me, there was.

My 1911's have been...

1. Colt MKIV/Series 70 Government in 9mm (1977 vintage)
2. Springfield 1911A1 (precursor to the Mil-Spec)
3. Kimber Classic Stainless LE (1998)
4. Smith & Wesson 1911
5. Desert Eagle 1911G
6. Llama Max-I/CF (1911 "style", but not really a 1911, IMHO)

None of these were really bad guns, but the one that annoyed me the most is #1, the Colt. It flung brass straight back at my face. I'd get home after a shooting session with it, and I'd have little black spots all over my forehead from empty cases. Several times, I had cases fall into the top of my shooting glasses. That really hurts. One narrowly missed attaching itself to my cornea as it cooled down, and left a nice blister on my lower eyelid. A few years ago, I discovered how much this gun was worth, and I sold it for over 4 times its purchase price. That made it my favorite 1911 for a while.

The other 5 have been great guns...yes, even the Llama works for me. I had to detail strip the gun when it was new to clear a burr from the frame that was hanging up the trigger, but since that time, it has been 100%. Contrary to what another poster has said about his Llama's accuracy, mine will shoot with the Kimber, S&W and DE1911, all of which are wonderful, well made guns. They are obviously a cut above the Llama, but they were all about 3 times the price of the Llama.
 
#67 ·
STI Spartan: a good weapon, just not as good as the rest I own. I like the front optic sight, and the overall accuracy of it. It just doesn't have the salty feel my other weapons have. It may in time, but as of right now it's a newby and will have to earn it's place in my gunbag.
 
#68 ·
springfield Micro Compact. Wouldn't chamber a round unless you did it manually. Sent it back and it worked perfectly. However I sold it cheap a couple weeks later to get rid of it as I'd never be able to trust the thing.

EDIT: STill have kimbers and an auto ord with no issues.
 
#69 ·
Metro Arms American Classic Commander. The magazine catch placement was improperly cut too low on the frame at the factory, such that none of 5 brands of magazines and 4 brands of ball ammo would work in it. Every other round nosedived into the feed ramp. It could only feed an entire magazine by pushing up hard on the bottom of the magazine with the heel of my support hand, and holding.

(
I had this problem with a Essex frame, a high mag catch from EGW fixed it, really surprised me that was all it took.
 
#73 ·
Colt Officers ACP... It always has something wrong with it! But it is getting better every time I fix a problem or upgrade a part that is not quiet up to snuff.

On the bright side I get a lot of practice working on it!
 
#74 ·
Colt 1991 Government Model

I bought the gun during the Colt lockout. I think this was in 2004, if I remember correctly. This gun wouldn't feed cartridges from the magazine correctly. I shot one box of shells through it and every time I had to slap the rear of the slide to get it in battery.

Colt fixed the gun. I think it needed extractor work and a new barrel. I liked it so much, I sent it back to them for the Model O Package. I always wondered if this gun was sabotaged by a disgruntled employee. I couldn't be happier with it now.
 
#76 ·
I bought a new Taurus PT1911 when they first came out. I agonized between the Taurus and a S&W 1911. Both offered (what I thought at the time) good value for the features.... Taurus has the "lifetime" warranty... S&W had been owned by Brits... then installed the pistol lock to exempt themselves from the gun maker lawsuits...

I went with Taurus... then proceeded to suffer from hammer-follow. I sent the gun back and waited 6 weeks... they returned it and said "adjusted hammer"... it did the same thing... I sent it back again... 6 weeks later they returned it saying "adjusted sear"... it STILL did it.

My buddy (at the time) said he'd take a look at it and then broke the ambi-safety. I had him install a new beavertail from Wilson and he fixed the disconnect...

I don't trust it. I want to. I want to like it... the stupid thing is accurate when it's not trying to double tap a round... I want to have a full size 1911... but I think I'm permanently soured on the Taurus.

It's since been supplemented by a Dan Wesson VBOB... and I'm LOVE this pistol!!!!!
 
#77 · (Edited)
Springfield GI Micro. I think that's what it was called. The gun never made it through a magazine without some sort of failure. Sent it back to Springfield and they did not fix the problems. I sold it to one of those "experts" we all run across at the range. This guy is a real loud mouth that said he could get any 1911 to run and would prove it. He bought it with the known faults. Last I heard he was going to cut it up since he couldn't sell it with all the butchering he did. He never got that one to run.
 
#85 ·
I bought a Taurus 1911 in 9mm. It ate everything I fed it, just wasn't very accurate. Tolerances were just to far off for me to dump money into it. People seem to have better luck with the .45's
My Taurus PT709 is more accurate than that 1911 was. {go figure}
I'm 1 for 2 with Taurus. I think I'll leave it at that.
 
#86 ·
Norinco 1911 with timing issues:



I rebarreled it, but it has never been that reliable. I think I've finally got it tuned up to where it feeds reliably now (CMI Hybrid mags seemed to correct most of the FTRB problems), but I don't have enough rounds through it to say it is 'fixed'.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy it. I'd get an RIA or Springfield GI instead.
 
#87 ·
Star PD was my "worst". They were just too light to handle the recoil over time. The last one I had had completely chewed away the buffer.
 
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