Colt Defender Questions

[Gunmeister]

I have my eye on a used Colt Defender at the local gun shop, I'm not sure of the year of manufacture.
A couple of questions.
I have heard/read that some Colt compact .45acp's are not really great guns. True or false?
This one has a stainless slide and I'm guessing that the frame is alloy. The frame, which I think is glass beaded, has become rather dingy looking and doesn't ad anything to the guns appearance. Anyone know a method to clean it up?
I don't want a 1911 semi-auto that requires constant gun smithing and switching OEM parts for "better" after market parts to make the piece run right. Is the Colt Defender a bad choice for me?
Your opinions both pro and con are appreciated. Thanks, JW

 

[dfariswheel]

Like most all Colt firearms, the Defender is a very good, top-quality pistol.

There are no "issues" specific to that model that I know of, other than like all the small "mini" 1911's, they can be picky about ammo.

Other people's experiences will tell you nothing of any value.
Person A will tell you it's the best gun ever built.
Person B will tell you it's the most awful piece of junk ever sold.

Each gun MUST be judged on it own individual merits, and the only way you'll ever known what you have is to actually SHOOT it.

The grubby looking frame will likely clean up with some solvent, paint thinner, or just some hot soapy water and a toothbrush.

 

[1911Tuner]

Defender

The early Officer's Models were hit and miss as far as reliability went. They shot very well, on average...when they fired. Most of the problems stemmed from the short, light slides and the necessarily high-rate recoil springs.

The dozen or so Defenders that I've had the opportunity to handle and shoot have been a pleasant surprise. With one exception, reliability was very good
to excellent, and was in the 98% bracket across the board for all. A few never gave a problem at all, and a few gave minor problems which were a matter of adjusting extractor tension or replacing a magazine spring to correct. The one exception required a replacement extractor, mainly because it was one of the MIM parts that although probably could have been tweaked into submission, really wasn't worth the effort...so I replaced it for the guy and cleaned up the throat a little. He's reported no further problems.

The new generation of 3.75-inch 1911 variants seem to be pretty good, on the whole...or at least what I can glean from the few that I've handled. The engineers got it together on the short blasters...finally...and things are much better. Earlier guns were very finicky, and required mucho attention on many
just to get'em to run. Things have changed. It's still possible to get a lemon, just like with anything else that's mass-produced...but the chances are that a given Defender will be good to go, or at least require only a minor
bit of tweak and tune to make it so.

As with all the others: Good magazines with proper springs...A good extractor correctly tensioned...Decent ammo...and not necesarily the high-dollar stuff either. The tripod of reliability.

 

[ulflyer]

Person A.......

Gunmeister, I bought a used one a few months ago and its been flawless. Shoots a variety of SWC and flat point lead reloads of mine and WWB factory.

The alloy frame, according to what Colt told me, is nickle plated and teflon coated so I wouldn't advise using too harsh a chemical on cleaning it. I must admit tho that I've sprayed mine with brake cleaner with no ill effects (yet). Might want to stick with the spray stuff made specifically for guns, as some brake cleaners are clorinated and the can may not tell you. At best, its not a particularly bright frame. I would have thought the nickle would show up better.

 

[imas]

I had one and carrried it for a long time. I let it go a while back to fund another purchase. I miss it. It had good sights, great trigger, just liked the feel of it. Always fed reliably after about 600rnds I had a few extraction problems so I did a little tweak on the extractor and it was back to 100%. The only other problem I ever had with it is it didn't like some Israeli semi-wadcutters. I didn't like them either.

 

[The_Shootist]

Defender?

Easy to conceal, strip and damn accurate. Just too bad that mine (I got one of the early ones when they first came out) wasn't reliable - I usually got 3-5 jams per 50 rds. I suspect it would be reliable enough with ball ammo - but thats no fun

 

[jamz]

This is a quick BUMP TTT to continue this and ask another question- I too am looking at a colt defender, does anyone have any info on serial numbers that would indicate the earlier years versus the later years?

The one I have on hold now looks nice, 98% condition, going for just under $600.00.

-James

 

[ulflyer]

Serial Nrs

Not sure when mine was made...I think it was an earlier one; serial nr is
DR2091*, if that means anything. FWIW, I don't recall ever reading anything about early vs late models being any difference other than a change of sights. I paid $650 plus shipping for my used one earlier this year, so $600for a nice one sounds good to me. Below are a couple of pics.

 

[bearmgc]

The Defender is my favorite carry piece. I bought mine used 2yrs ago for $500
It has been dead reliable. I had read that the Defender was one of the most reliable of all the small 1911's , so I went with that and have not been disappointed. My ser# is DR24...