What would be a good test for a 1911(Govt.) to evaluate reliability? I’m not thinking of dragging a gun through the mud/sand and shooting it. Just a test for evaluating a new gun or even an old one with new parts/mags/work in an indoor or outdoor environment.
Maybe something along the lines of buying and shooting 1,000 rounds at a range.
Obviously 100% is what we all go for but it’s a 1911; what is an acceptable reliability percentage?
What over-the-counter ammo would you shoot (price within reason, not $1 a bullet stuff), but something with good quality control as not to throw off the numbers?
How many rounds would/should you shoot between cleanings?
Any other advice is more than welcome.
Thanks Guys,
Dave
Here is a very good article detailing just that:
I think 1K would be good. It kind of depends on the intended use of the pistol though as to what type. If it’s a target pistol maybe wadcutters or semi-wadcutters, carry hollow points of the grain you will carry, or FMJ if that is what it will see. I stay with 230gr for both FMJ and hollow point carry ammo. Maybe some winchester personal defense jhp or similar? I like and carry Federal HST and it was about .50 a round last I bought some.
If you have had trigger work done and you are testing for safe and reliable operation, there is a test to be done for that. If it’s just new to you take it out and run it like you would fight with it.
You don’t have to freeze it, or through it in a stream or anything. If you are dropping your mags on the deck doing combat reloads, you are going to introduce some contamination into the system, and I think a more reasonable amount than dunking it in the mud. Be sure to keep it lubed though. I don’t clean alot. Certainly not every 1000 rounds, but I wipe it down and lube it and it runs.
I would really suggest taking it to your next class or at least a match or something. The higher rate of fire, with added stress will reveale alot of issues pretty quick if they are there.
I honestly do not expect any weapon to be 100% reliable, because the guy behind the trigger isn’t and he can induce a lot of malfunctions. And it’s a machine that wears. It will malfunction eventually. Gasp, even my GLOCKs have malfunctioned!:eek: That’s why we train in malfunction clearance. But it shouldn’t malfunction once a mag, or every hundred rounds, etc. If it does, something is broke and needs to be fixed.
Good luck in your testing!
-RD62
For a function test, I would shoot 600-800 rounds of the dirtiest, cheapest ball you can get your hands on, and then also a couple hundred rounds of your chosen carry ammo. Keep the pistol lubed but don’t clean it. I did this over the course of a couple of range sessions when I purchased my Colt Series 80 and I haven’t looked back. That gun didn’t get anything more than a field strip and wipe until approximately 2000 rounds, and I’ve yet to have had a malf that wasn’t related to known bad ammo (I had a box of hollowpoints that were loaded to a very long OAL and I couldn’t cycle them through my 220 so I thought I’d give the 1911 a try too). That ammo would get hung up on the feed ramp and a light tap on the back of the slide would send the gun into battery.
Just don’t press the gun into service until you are 100% confident in it. I would accept no malfunctions in the testing stages.
Isnt that an oxymoron? 
No matter how much you test, it is only a snapshot in time.
Thanks for all the info so far.
This is not for a carry gun. I don’t use a 1911 for CCW, but I just like to make sure that the 1911’s in my safe will run if I need them to, and especially if I buy another one.
Testing a 1911 of any maker is silly because each and every 1911 is different. The 1911 isn’t like the modern pistol where one is exactly like the next hundred or thousand made before it.
Finding a 1911 that will run for 1000 rounds without problems only tells you that THE test gun will perform this way. The very next gun made could crap out in less than 50 rounds.
All true…1911’s that run 100% are like good women, good mules , and good coon dogs…they are hard to find, and getting harder.
I am a 1911 guy…my CCW is a Baer Stinger…was it 100% out of the box? NO
It is 99.9% now (over 10,000 rounds since the last stoppage that was the guns fault)…and thats as good as it gets for any man made machine…they can all fail.
1000 rounds would be a sufficient reliability test I think…
Something that will go a loooong ways towards making a 1911 run 100%…good mags…I recommend Tripp Research Gen II CobraMags.
I completely agree with you. I just want to knock the dust of my 1911’s when I get back and evaluate them again; I was just looking for some good ideas on how. One of them is an early model Warrior (That actually runs :eek: ).
I never listen to the gun writers they seem to claim every kimber(or every gun they write about) runs 100% out of the box…
I have some, I also ordered some of the new Wilson Combat Elite mags.
Kimber has been, by far, the most problematic pistol in the relatively small number of pistol classes I’ve had.
The other day I got to wondering…
I wonder if the Japanese could make the 1911 platform reliable? 
I mean… Americans still can’t build a freaking car that’s worth a shit. Turn the 1911 over to the Japanese, and I bet they’ll make the thing hum! 
200 rounds is my test.
I shoot 200gr. lead semiwadcutters through them and run till it quits. This is a dirty load with lead, bullet lube, and powder residue that gets on everything.
A couple guns that I have done this on:
Pre-II Kimber Custom Target went three range sessions, probably 500 rounds, before it started having issues that were cured with cleaning. With jacketed or plated bullets this gun will run all day long.
Dan Wesson Bobtail Classic. Shot 250 rounds before hanging up. The gun has a tight chamber and when the lead/powder fouling started building it would only feed about 10% of the time. I cleaned it and shot two mags each of 165 and 230 grain Hydrashoks with no failures. Good enough for me to CCW.
My old faithful Norinco would probably run 1000 rounds with these loads but it is much looser in all areas. I have never shot it more than 500 rounds between cleanings and it didn’t seem to care, even with a half broken ejector. It’s built just like John Browning intended with no frills.
Springfield Champion. This gun was finicky about what loads it liked and wasn’t very accurate. It got the boot about a year after I bought it.
Most of todays 1911’s are tight and when you start to introduce fouling into those tight areas is when you will see the problems arise. Some of the guys I shoot with have the $350 Rock Island 1911’s that rattle when you shake them. They don’t have the accuracy of a tight 1911 but the reliablity is there.
I respectfully disagree…I have a Baer (the tightest of the tight)…none of the minor break in problems had anything to do with it being tight.
They were all due to weak springs…mag springs to be exact.
I thought we were talking about reliability? 
My point is that you add dirt/carbon to the equation and you will see reliability drop. If you are like me and don’t care because you clean the gun every 500 rounds then it’s a non-issue. If it will run with cruddy ammo for 200+ rounds then I am happy because it will run even better with good stuff, the stuff I depend on for my life.
I agree that a lot of the problems with 1911’s is magazine related. My personal choice is Chip McCormick Shooting Stars.
We are…It sounded like you were saying that a tight built pistol will be unreliable.
Speaking from my own limited experience…2,000 rounds without cleaning, and that Baer of mine never missed a beat.
Tight is okay if it’s also properly fit. The problem is, most guns that are “too tight” are not properly fit in some area (or many).
Agreed…
No, what I am saying is a tight pistol will choke on dirt before a loose gun will.
Obviously there is nothing wrong with your Les Baer if it will run for 2,000 rounds without cleaning. That’s a higher round count than I would go between cleanings, or at least adding a little oil, but shows what a well built 1911 is capable of. 
I did add a little CLP from time to time…every 200 rounds or so.
Some of you unwashed godless heathens think the Chinese already did