Three 1911’s in class. All three are having problems on the third day.
Rob Pincus was right.
23 thoughts on “1911 failures”
The 1911, like any other man-made mechanical device, will fail at one time or another. What many people do not do is to properly lubricate their 1911’s and as such the pistol will go down.
I’m a 1911 ISPC standard division guy. when I was a new shooter guy I had to get schooled by my gunsmith on maintenance, after that it was all smooth sailing.
I heard Larry Vickers talk about this problem in a class he was giving (I was watching from a distance, not participating), and he said that in a class one should lube a 1911 up whenever possible; on a break for example.
Yes… I know who I sound like. *facepalm* I don’t mean to. I’m just repeating what I heard from a trainer. Seemed like sound advice.
For me the test–for self-defense purposes–is if at any given time you pick up a pistol and can fire two mags without a stoppage, not sustained use over days under hard conditions. Of course the likelihood of that occurring will increase if you can set off a thousand rounds without failure. 🙂
The problem is of course in the life of any machine, (like my 1100 Shawdow yesterday that’s carberator died!!), you never know when Mr. Murphy is going to wake up and tap you on the shoulder with his traveling finger of death. All you can do is play the odds. I have been a 1911 fan for nearly 50 years but I know from personal experiance that time and tech march on leaving any design behind. My dept has just recently re allowed 1911 as duty weapons and they are finding the same problems on the line as noted above by Ogre with all of the 6 authorized makes of 1911. Too be honest I have also had a Glock 19 become a single shot while sitting in my holster when the trigger return spring snapped! I do know one thing for sure, the break down WILL happen just when its needed least!
wonder if a permanent ST1 treatment would of helped?…just saying…the more and more I think about it the more and more I just want to ship all of my autoloaders out to Joe and have it done….especially after that Caracal video…
The USPSA club I used to shoot with had an interesting pattern of malfunctions. The Production guys had almost no malfunctions, an occasional handloading induced problem. Limited was similar, but Limited guys tended to be a little more gamey and the handloaders were closer to the edge of power factor so you got some more ammo related issues.
The Single Stack guys had a LOT more problems. I dont know if it was so much the guns or the number of home tinkerers that think they can work on their “stock car” of a fire arm. I noticed that in multi-gun their ARs tended to have issues as well.
Another odd correlation was that a very high number of the single stack shooters were Harley owners. I dont know if that is related, that they feel the need to mess with their machinary or something.
I once read an article by Larry Vickers saying that to run a 1911 you should be at least partially an armorer. Perhaps there are pitfalls to only being half an armorer also?
Darn 1911’s!! You know, thank goodness our boys were armed with Glock’s back in WWII. If they had been armed with basic, rugged, loose 1911’s, we may not have beaten Jerry.
In all seriousness, I think the whole “tight tolerance”, perfectly machined 1911 concept has made the platform less reliable for long term function. I had a Springfield GI that ran and ran and ran on any type of ammo. Some jazzed out Kimber might be good for a quick shoot out with some hooligans, but not for hard, daily, dirty work.
My GI Springer also runs very well. Unfortunately it has GI Sights which are less than ideal. Look, I love my GI 1911… I really do. But when there is a Bump In The Night, it’s not what I grab.
Okay, I grab my Shotgun, but still.
wasWhen I hear a bump in the night I grab my balls and pray, “God of all, please give me the courage to confront what I must with patience, wisdom and courage…and please get my balls up.”
I gave up on my Springfield GI precisely because the sights were terrible and the thumb safety was wanting. Other than that it ran like the guy who just won the Olympic marathon, but better. And for real close combat (5 to 10 feet), do we really need fantastic sights? I wish I kept the Springfield.
The 1911, like any other man-made mechanical device, will fail at one time or another. What many people do not do is to properly lubricate their 1911’s and as such the pistol will go down.
are they new gun users?
Rob’s cool
I’m a 1911 ISPC standard division guy. when I was a new shooter guy I had to get schooled by my gunsmith on maintenance, after that it was all smooth sailing.
however I also ogle them polymer guns.
New gun users? Not at all, and not new 1911’s either.
Were they mini-1911’s? Less than 4″ .45s? They seem to have been the focus (no pun intended) of Pincus’s rant.
Not one of them.
In fact, one is a Springer TRP.
I heard Larry Vickers talk about this problem in a class he was giving (I was watching from a distance, not participating), and he said that in a class one should lube a 1911 up whenever possible; on a break for example.
Yes… I know who I sound like. *facepalm* I don’t mean to. I’m just repeating what I heard from a trainer. Seemed like sound advice.
Lubrication is critical.
There’s a reason I switched from my 1911 to a S&W M&P 45.
What’s the round count and environmental conditions? For curiosity’s sake.
George,
How about a few details?
Make Model Failure Mode?
Geoff
Who is curious.
*cough* *glock* *cough*
For me the test–for self-defense purposes–is if at any given time you pick up a pistol and can fire two mags without a stoppage, not sustained use over days under hard conditions. Of course the likelihood of that occurring will increase if you can set off a thousand rounds without failure. 🙂
The problem is of course in the life of any machine, (like my 1100 Shawdow yesterday that’s carberator died!!), you never know when Mr. Murphy is going to wake up and tap you on the shoulder with his traveling finger of death. All you can do is play the odds. I have been a 1911 fan for nearly 50 years but I know from personal experiance that time and tech march on leaving any design behind. My dept has just recently re allowed 1911 as duty weapons and they are finding the same problems on the line as noted above by Ogre with all of the 6 authorized makes of 1911. Too be honest I have also had a Glock 19 become a single shot while sitting in my holster when the trigger return spring snapped! I do know one thing for sure, the break down WILL happen just when its needed least!
no cough, sig p226, no cough
wonder if a permanent ST1 treatment would of helped?…just saying…the more and more I think about it the more and more I just want to ship all of my autoloaders out to Joe and have it done….especially after that Caracal video…
I think it would have helped. ST1 the inner slide, barrel, and bushing. Then SS Grease on the rails.
The USPSA club I used to shoot with had an interesting pattern of malfunctions. The Production guys had almost no malfunctions, an occasional handloading induced problem. Limited was similar, but Limited guys tended to be a little more gamey and the handloaders were closer to the edge of power factor so you got some more ammo related issues.
The Single Stack guys had a LOT more problems. I dont know if it was so much the guns or the number of home tinkerers that think they can work on their “stock car” of a fire arm. I noticed that in multi-gun their ARs tended to have issues as well.
Another odd correlation was that a very high number of the single stack shooters were Harley owners. I dont know if that is related, that they feel the need to mess with their machinary or something.
I once read an article by Larry Vickers saying that to run a 1911 you should be at least partially an armorer. Perhaps there are pitfalls to only being half an armorer also?
If you are going to run a 1911, you really do need to know how to do more than just Field Strip it.
Darn 1911’s!! You know, thank goodness our boys were armed with Glock’s back in WWII. If they had been armed with basic, rugged, loose 1911’s, we may not have beaten Jerry.
In all seriousness, I think the whole “tight tolerance”, perfectly machined 1911 concept has made the platform less reliable for long term function. I had a Springfield GI that ran and ran and ran on any type of ammo. Some jazzed out Kimber might be good for a quick shoot out with some hooligans, but not for hard, daily, dirty work.
My GI Springer also runs very well. Unfortunately it has GI Sights which are less than ideal. Look, I love my GI 1911… I really do. But when there is a Bump In The Night, it’s not what I grab.
Okay, I grab my Shotgun, but still.
wasWhen I hear a bump in the night I grab my balls and pray, “God of all, please give me the courage to confront what I must with patience, wisdom and courage…and please get my balls up.”
I gave up on my Springfield GI precisely because the sights were terrible and the thumb safety was wanting. Other than that it ran like the guy who just won the Olympic marathon, but better. And for real close combat (5 to 10 feet), do we really need fantastic sights? I wish I kept the Springfield.
Good reason to have one of what you pack be a revolver. 🙂
But when a revolver goes down, it goes down HARD.