Exactly. Cartridge approach angle and height is so much better on a modern auto loader. That’s the thing that can’t be changed by new mag designs and such.
Have you ever (or know anyone who has) checked the differences in this area? I’d be interested to see what they are.
if they are so bad and unreliable then why did the marines spend so much time and money investing into it for there MEU weapon. I agree the 1911 has become more of a fashion statement and has been slowly drifting away from what it was meant to be. A fighting weapon. These crazy tight tolerances and having to use wrenches to break down one is what makes this weapon shy away from being a combat pistol. But in the end whether it be a glock or 1911 shit can still hit the fan. so if your worried about it just carry one of each. there are so many situations being a police officer where having either a glock or a 1911 would fail. but that is the nature of the beast. for combat operations or LEO work a tuned 1911 THAT IS TAKEN CARE OF! can work as well as a glock or any other weapon. Thats another problem, nowadays people don’t want to take the time to actually clean there weapons. I overdue it but i field strip and lube my 1911 every night after duty. call me old school but my 1911 works and if something breaks i fix it. Even Lambo’s and luxury cars break.
I will say that this thread is good for a laugh. :jester:
On Topic: I have never “broke in” any of my Colts and have had very, very few problems with any 1911 I have owned. Ignore the naysayers (they wear plastic underwear) and enjoy your new Colt. 
To the OP:
Was it truly a double-feed? That’s two live cartridges trying to enter the chamber at the same time. As Robb said, that’s a mag issue (Usually feed-lip separation or weak spring) Shitcan the factory mags and get some Wilson ETM’s, Tripp’s, or CMC’s. Or was it a failure to extract? That’s empty brass still in the chamber and a fresh round butted up against it. If that’s the case, welcome to the world of profiling and tuning extractors!
It was 2 live rounds trying to enter the chamber at the same time. I went out and bought a couple of Chip McCormick mags and will see how they work. Sorry, I stopped following the thread when it went off topic.
Is it folly to rely on a 100 year old design? Are the new plastic pistols more reliable? There are too many variables. What I do know is the US military fielded the 1911 for what? 80 something years and some still choose to carry it. We have yet to adopt a plastic framed sidearm for military use (that I am aware of)…though I really don’t know why…I have a theory though that in about 100 years the plastic will get brittle and poof!..that’s how they plan to disarm us :sarcastic: Really though, my 1911 as never failed me on zero firefights…never have had an issue at the range either…and that’s running supplied Colt branded mags…McCormicks and generics…never a single malfunction…I do not have thousands of round through any of 'em and these are newly manufactured Colts…Gov’t…Commander and New agent…now I did have a feeding problem with an XD45…so what does it prove? nothing…
That’s why I tried to reel it back in…
Chip Mccormick’s are O.K. Having said that, I don’t use them anymore. I had two different mags that the welds failed on. They were good about replacing them, but I don’t trust them anymore. Yours will probrbly work fine. I think the “Match Grade” or the “Power mags” are the models to get. I used to use Wilson 47D’s also, but have switched over to the ETM’s. The ETM’s have better tube geometry, and seem to resist feed-lip separation better. They are also a tad longer. That allows for easier tac-loading with a closed slide. I also use S&A magwell’s, and the ETM basepads work perfectly with them.
Good luck with the Colt, I want one of them myself. I don’t have a railed 1911, YET.
Hmmm. So I’m wrong to carry a 1911 on the streets of Houston?
Agreed with the magazines as the culprit. Measure the feed lip width and check for weak springs. Wolff has some 5% extra power springs that have saved many a ‘junk’ mag.
I love too much old stuff and tinkering to NOT love the 1911. I drive old cars, don’t own a smart phone, and enjoy the simpler is better mentality. In the year 2057 I will still be shooting my AR’s. Will you?
i dunno about anyone who says the 1911 is “inherently unreliable”, my Brown is currently working on it’s 21,000 round mark and has yet to have any trouble whatsoever. I care for it and maintenance it the way it should be, but the only issues I’ve ever had with the gun have been mag-related, and not an issue with good quality mags.
Ditto on the mags being the culprit. I have 3 1911’s, a WWII safe queen passed down from my grandfather, a Les Baer SRP (mostly safe queen) and a Para Ordinance LDA high capacity that is my duty gun. I am working up a “in-the-near-future” tinkering project of building up my own Caspian.
In each instance that I have ever had FTF issues with 1911’s (usually a 3 point bind), it was mag related. I have found the culprit was usually that I failed to replace the mag spring when I first noticed it was loosing it’s strength. Replaced them with new Wolff extra power springs and the issue disappears. As for your double feed, that’s probably more than just the spring… more than likely bad feed lips.
As for all those plastic guys… Don’t get me wrong… I have tried most of the newfangled plastic guns… and to date they just don’t cut it… for me. Insofar as the newfangled plastic guns being better and not experiencing problems… I own a 2 month old S&W M&P and a 1 year old SA XDM, both of which experienced some FTF when new (3 point bind). I did not experienced FTF issues with my department’s issued sidearm, the HK USP, when I carried one… but I think the USP sucks in terms of shootability!.. I keep trying those plastic wonders… but they just aren’t as shootable as the 1911 format when in my hands… Thus I carry a 1911 variant!
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Funny, my 6 Colts run just fine…
it has been alluded to by others here- when the 1911 first came out:
it was not expected to feed anything but hardball,
from 7 round mags,
and accuracy standards were rather lax
and only one company was making it with one set of specs and drawings.
today:
every one expects the 1911:
to be reliable even with hollow points
accurate enough to shoot 3 inch groups at 50 yards (even though most range ninjas I see never shoot further than 15)
feed out of any of multiple brands of 8 round mags
use any drop in part from multiple makers
even during ww2 there were problems encountered with interchangability of parts and issues that had the full weight of the ordnance corps behind the fixes.
so many makers so many parts so many “specifications” so many demands it is amazing the 1911 can do half the things it does well.
I DO think it is not the best general issue combat gun,but in the bigger picture what handgun has been able to:
serve in multple wars
be tuned to bullseye accuracy
be the front line gun for ipsc competition
serve in law enforcement
answer no other semi auto-
My WWII surplus works great and it feeds CCI flying ashtrays with only a polished feed ramp. It eats 200 gn lead semi wadcutters without a hickup. No MIM parts . There are more modern designs that I really like. In another 100 years lets see what still works.
regarding the meu weapon- it was getting modded with whatever parts were on hand to include WW one era frames because it is what they had on hand to work with- since adopting the beretta and having other resources the 1911 is fading from military use-for a lot of good reasons. work on tricked out 1911’s for special ops types started in the 1970’s and maybe even the 1960’s. in the context of what was available back then the choices were some sort of euro 9mm, a smith first gen 9mm or a 1911,so not much to choose from today whole different story.
Ok. Here we go…
The 1911 platform requires COMPETENT usage. There, I said it. You can’t expect ANY weapon platform to operate with any degree of reliability if you dont lube, clean and maintain the said weapon. It still pisses me off when people talk of how good all other weapons are, and are more reliable than the 1911 because of use of new material, new design, etc. It works with COMPETENT usage. Has for 100 years. Why piss on it at any given oppurtunity?
You wouldn’t take a “whatever”, and bury it in sand, mud, shit, etc… pick it up, shake it off, and go to war with it.
CAVDOC, you have made the most valid points I have seen in a while. It is not perfect. It has its particulars.
Are Glock and HK good? No, they are friggin great. But I dont see what they do better. I own and have owned glocks. I really think they are one of, if not the toughest pistol I have owned. Maybe I’m just a dinosaur. Or need an update to my programing(koolaid).
Ok, I’ll stop now and get the verbal shit kicked out of me.
ETA: Sorry OP, I think the colt mags are at best hit and miss. Willson, ChipMcCormick. Only things I would trust, after extensive testing. I run 5 different mags and 500 rounds at least to see about how it operates.
Funny, same thing I do with my glocks.
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