1911 Question: Paging Tuner

looks like old fuff has the same kinda stuff tuner does.

i have really tried hard to be a student of 1911 pistols and i have now seen this exposed extractor exactly 1 time, this 1.

so i sign up here thinking im gonna be an ace, and these guys instantly impress the crap outa me.

you guys make me sick.

just kidding, look forward to increasing my abilities here.

now can i get you guys some coffee or anything. maybe a pastry?

I'll go ahead and beat Fuff to the draw on this one, since he's probably still tryin' to wake and shake after a long winter's hibernation in that cave of his.

OH BULL!!!!!

The Old Fuff has been up and (almost) awake since 0530... But he won't be around much today because his cave is about to undergo some major internal revisions...

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Funny stuff!

now can i get you guys some coffee or anything. maybe a pastry?

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Thanks for the offer, but beware of Tuner's Turbo-Coffee. It is known to strip blue, Parkerizing and hard chrome plate...

The Old Fuff is now back on line with a big new (to him) desk to put his compooter on...

beware of Tuner's Turbo-Coffee

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Hey! I've got one guy that drives down from Raleigh to hassle me on a regular basis...and he has yet to accept my kind offer for a cuppa Joe. I think he's scared.

Ain't callin' any names, but his initials are Hunter...

Maybe his insides are Parkerized...

+1 on SOME of the lightweights, or commander mdls having these cuts.

+1 on having seen SOME of the combats having them.

even though they didn't have the spring finger bushings or tapered bbl, com-coms from that era did have a "70" prefix to the serial#, but NO concise definitions about series 70 true meanings here. i can agree with ~either~ side of this coin.

whilst amidst a coupla older colt fans such as itself here, i remember a lotta anecdotal reports in gun porn mags about the series 70 bushings sheding "fingers" under long term usage when the design was new. have asked every old boxcar fan that i know who has/had self same bushings, and have zero reports of this failure....just pre-webnet trashers at work here?

tuner & fuff, what about you guys, seen any of these failures?

gunnie

even though they didn't have the spring finger bushings or tapered bbl, com-coms from that era did have a "70" prefix to the serial#, but NO concise definitions about series 70 true meanings here. i can agree with ~either~ side of this coin.

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Maybe I can make it a little more concise for ya.

The 70X prefix is just that...a serial prefix and nothing more. Pictured below is my pre-Series 80 Combat Commander with an 80B prefix. I assure you that there are no Series 80 firing pin safety parts contained therein.

Commanders and Combat Commanders that weren't equipped with the Series 80 internals were/are simply Commanders and Combat Commanders. The ones that were built in the 50s aren't called "Series 50 Commanders" any more than 1913-1919 Commercial Government Models are "Series Teens."

Here's the Combat Commander.

...have asked every old boxcar fan that i know who has/had self same bushings, and have zero reports of this failure....just pre-webnet trashers at work here? Tuner & Fuff, what about you guys, seen any of these failures?

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I have seen two, and heard of others. The problem is one of tolerance stacks and fitting. If a finger does crack it is next-to-impossible to get the pistol apart without damaging something, and so far as I'm concerned the bushing doesn't offer enough advantage to take this risk. One may last forever or break tomorrow.

Colt wanted to improve the pistol's accuracy, but not go to the trouble and expense of offering individually fitted barrel bushings. As so often happens where a bean-counter friendly change is made you can get unexpected consequences.

Suposedly what made a Series 70 a Series 70 was the modified barrel and bushing. The bushing on the Commander line of guns was too short (at least in Colt's opinion) to incorporate the fingered style. So serial numbers not withstanding, there isn't such a thing as a Series 70 Commander.

Tuner & Fuff, what about you guys, seen any of these failures?

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If you're referring to the collet bushing fingers breaking and tying up the guns...Yes. I've seen three. All three required destroying the slidestop to disasemble, by drilling the arm through to the pin and stepping up the drill sizes until the arm fell off. One gun suffered barrel and frame damage.

As Fuff noted...It might last forever, and it might break tomorrow. IMO, it offers no advantage over a well-fitted solid bushing...accuracy-wise...and could possibly result in expensive damage to a gun that is gaining collectible status. The simple measure would be to have a solid bushing fitted, and keep the collet bushing with the gun to preserve originality should you decide to sell.

For those of you, like me, who have never seen a collet bushing...





Found here: http://www.notpurfect.com/main/goldcup.htm

bogus....

have to look into replacement or stop shooting gold cup. i have put an ed brown "drop-in" bbl in my non series 70 com-com from the 70's. wasn't too much fitting. any recomendations as to other flavors that would be more accurate?

got a vast accuracy improvement in the combat, but it wasn't designed to be a paper puncher as issued. and most of the wrinkles were eroded from the OEM bbl from mucho shooting.

how much this really hurt accuracy is hard to tell without having same iron in hand new for before/after comparison.

gunnie