Colt 1911 Government 45

[JTQ]

I have to use two punches, to depress the firing pin and the plunger, (having the firing pin spring loose!) to get the firing pin stop in place.

On the other hand, if your firing pin stop should happen to break, or slide out during recoil, your firing pin isn't going to launch out of the gun, because the firing pin safety plunger is going to trap it.

The plunger will also help avoid launching the firing pin during intentional dissasembly.

It's just an option. For those that like a firing pin safety on their semi-auto (and as I mentioned earlier, nearly all semi-auto's have one) they are available. If you don't like them, you can find a 1911 without one.

Relatively speaking, within the 1911 community, the Series 80 is much more popular, and has a much better reputation for reliability than the Swartz style used by Kimber.

 

[Slamfire]

On the other hand, if your firing pin stop should happen to break, or slide out during recoil, your firing pin isn't going to launch out of the gun, because the firing pin safety plunger is going to trap it.

If a part breaks, what happens afterward is very unpredictable. There are not enough redundancies in these things to allow back up systems in case of part breakage.

I don't like the series 80 system nor do I like the Swartz. The series 70 will fire if dropped on the muzzle with a round in the chamber, given enough height. That is a risk I can tolerate and I prefer the simpler mechanism.

Firing pin safeties are here to last in other designs. If the pistol is designed from the start with a firing pin safety I am certain the system can be made to be reliable. It is still an extra couple of parts which will get out of order, no matter how good the design. As Scottie said "the more complicated the plumbing the easier it is to plug up the drain"!

 

[phil dirt]

People have complained about the 80 series for ages. Not sure exactly why, I have 3 of them and I don't see anything wrong with the triggers. Functionally they feel the same to me. I'm not a competitive shooter so maybe the pros can tell the difference, but I can't.

Colt has been moving away from the series 80 for awhile now. They just reached the bottom of the parts barrel and changed it back.

1991 is a nice pistol. I have an original (1991) and a newer one. My newer one is tight as a tick and shoots very well for production pistol. Not saying they all will, just that I got a very good one. My dealer hand picked it for me from about 6 he had in stock.

Some people don't like the firing pin safety, In a 1911 I don't either.

 

[HisSoldier]

"I ask the guy how they would address the loose slide, “We put in in a big vise squeeze and hope it doesn’t crack”.

I did that on a 6" 1911 Longslide, the slide would move left-right .010" at the muzzle when in battery.

So I placed a hardened and ground plate on the platten of the hydraulic press, and a 1/16" phenolic sheet above that to eliminate scratches, then the slide on that and another phenolic sheet and hardened plate above. Then I placed a narrow block of steel in just the right spot so the pressure would squeeze the rails together and applied hand pressure, not power, but careful handle pressure, watching the gage. I did this at low pressure and tried the slide, then used more pressure on the dial etc, and again etc until it finally squeezed just enough to have a touch of drag on the frame. Then I shot it about 20 rounds and by the end of the 20 rounds it would function without a hitch and is the most accurate 1911 I own, or very close to it.
When I mentioned my fix to some professional's they mentioned the possibility of forcing a crack at the bottom of the deepest groove under the slide, the ejector groove. Mine has no crack but I didn't have to squeeze it but a few thousandths, probably less than .005".

As for series 80 FPS I tore that out of my Commander soon after buying it, and put a shim in to fill the gap. The risk of a drop shot is infinitesimal IMO.

 

[Rock185]

That is interesting, if Colt is actually doing away with the Series 80 FPS system. No doubt, most shooters would applaud such a change. I have Colts with and without firing pin safeties. I have not experienced an issue with either. Any FPS in any pistol could, and probably has, failed at some time, somewhere. That being said, I am not offended with carrying a pistol with a firing pin safety. I did so every working day for years. I bought my first Colt Series 80 Government Model just after they were released in 1983. I'd owned Colts for years prior, and just wanted to confirm my preconception that a Colt with the added FPS system would be inferior somehow. Turned out the gun was nicer in most respects than most of the several Series 70 Government and Gold Cup models I'd owned prior. Afterwards, I had no aversion to buying Colts, and later Kimbers, with a FPS. I never did get around to disabling the Series 80 system in any of my Colts so that I could use that Series '80 slot filler shim I bought so many years ago.

FWIW, I have never encountered a Series '80 Colt, or Kimber, with a problem related to the FPS in unmodified condition. I did encounter a fellow at a range one time attempting,without success, to fire his new Series 80 Colt. It would do everything, except actually discharge a round. Well, without having any real concept of how the S80 system worked, he had filed off the plunger lever in an attempt to do a "trigger job". So the FPS blocked the firing pin, just as it was designed to do. I have no reason to doubt reports of some issue with a 1911 type pistol with a FPS, but I have not seen it in my ~35 years in using S80 Colts........YMMV

 

[Graywolf686]

That is interesting, if Colt is actually doing away with the Series 80 FPS system. No doubt, most shooters would applaud such a change. I have Colts with and without firing pin safeties. I have not experienced an issue with either. Any FPS in any pistol could, and probably has, failed at some time, somewhere. That being said, I am not offended with carrying a pistol with a firing pin safety. I did so every working day for years. I bought my first Colt Series 80 Government Model just after they were released in 1983. I'd owned Colts for years prior, and just wanted to confirm my preconception that a Colt with the added FPS system would be inferior somehow. Turned out the gun was nicer in most respects than most of the several Series 70 Government and Gold Cup models I'd owned prior. Afterwards, I had no aversion to buying Colts, and later Kimbers, with a FPS. I never did get around to disabling the Series 80 system in any of my Colts so that I could use that Series '80 slot filler shim I bought so many years ago.

FWIW, I have never encountered a Series '80 Colt, or Kimber, with a problem related to the FPS in unmodified condition. I did encounter a fellow at a range one time attempting,without success, to fire his new Series 80 Colt. It would do everything, except actually discharge a round. Well, without having any real concept of how the S80 system worked, he had filed off the plunger lever in an attempt to do a "trigger job". So the FPS blocked the firing pin, just as it was designed to do. I have no reason to doubt reports of some issue with a 1911 type pistol with a FPS, but I have not seen it in my ~35 years in using S80 Colts........YMMV

They are still making the 80 series just not the Government model. I also bought the shim just in case have never taken it out of the package. They are great guns just as they are from Colt

 

[Graywolf686]

Here’s some interesting info on the series 70 and 80 a review by Doug Wicker rdougwicker.com/tag/series-70-vs-series-80/