The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[SwampDweller]

Yes. Some of the 1911s I've owned chambered for 45 have worked just fine out of the box.

But on the other hand, I've owned more than one high-end 1911 that needed some extractor tuning or some other fine adjustment. I am willing to accept that, and I always plan to "wring out" a new 1911 to make sure it is squared away before putting it to serious use.

I didn't have to do anything to my Professional Operator other than shoot it to get over the bumps. The gun was pretty tight when I first got it and it has probably loosened up just a little.

I have a Colt Special Combat Government 45 that has fired many thousands of rounds without a single malfunction.

I see the Special Combat Government 45 is at roughly the $2k price mark (but not in stock anywhere I can find). Does it involve hand tuning from the factory to help ensure reliability?

[03RN]

I had a similar issue. Were you using SWC loads? I got a batch of 200gr SWC loads that would just not feed at all. They didn't feed in any of my 1911s and not even in my g21 or G30. Tried different OAL, crimp...I just couldn't figure it out.

Damn though they were accurate for two or three trigger pulls tho.

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Yea, 200gr swc. It was weird. I couldn't really figure it out. I just had to weed out the bad rounds. It's been a long time since I've had an oversized round though

[45dotACP]

I see the Special Combat Government 45 is at roughly the $2k price mark (but not in stock anywhere I can find). Does it involve hand tuning from the factory to help ensure reliability?

Hand tuning is not necessarily a difficult thing to learn. It sounds a lot harder than it really is. We don't need the elven smiths of Lindon to tension an extractor and adjust the deflection.

A small file and a few hours on the internet (I definitely spend a few hours on the internet) is all that's needed to get a functional 1911 assuming the gun doesn't have some dimensional problem.

Unfortunately I don't really know how to tell if the gun is dimensionally messed up. I usually just shoot the gun and hopefully after I did my extractor work there aren't problems. If there are, I just sell them.

I'm no Hilton Yam but I have 1911s that have run more than 3000 rounds without malfunctions of any type. My RRA poly 1911 and Springfield RO have gone thousands of rounds and excluding the horrible SWC rounds that never chambered in a Glock 21 or 30.

My Caspian build was not reliable from the start (it was my first 1911) and is very reliable now. The PSA 1911 that I built for my brother has not malfunctioned in its existence....but my brother is more of a M&P guy. He's maybe fired a thousand rounds through the gun in its whole life.

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[SwampDweller]

Hand tuning is not necessarily a difficult thing to learn. It sounds a lot harder than it really is. We don't need the elven smiths of Lindon to tension an extractor and adjust the deflection.

A small file and a few hours on the internet (I definitely spend a few hours on the internet) is all that's needed to get a functional 1911 assuming the gun doesn't have some dimensional problem.

Unfortunately I don't really know how to tell if the gun is dimensionally messed up. I usually just shoot the gun and hopefully after I did my extractor work there aren't problems. If there are, I just sell them.

I'm no Hilton Yam but I have 1911s that have run more than 3000 rounds without malfunctions of any type. My RRA poly 1911 and Springfield RO have gone thousands of rounds and excluding the horrible SWC rounds that never chambered in a Glock 21 or 30.

My Caspian build was not reliable from the start (it was my first 1911) and is very reliable now. The PSA 1911 that I built for my brother has not malfunctioned in its existence....but my brother is more of a M&P guy. He's maybe fired a thousand rounds through the gun in its whole life.

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Any advice on resources for learning how to tune a 1911 to get it to run reliably? If I could just get a Colt Gov't Model or something and do a little tweaking before I take it to the range and it be reliable, that'd be grand.

[Rex G]

If I could just get a Colt Gov't Model or something and do a little tweaking before I take it to the range and it be reliable, that'd be grand.

Taking a 1911 to the range is necessary, to discover some of the tweaks that may be necessary. Some things, such as extractor tension, can be obvious, without a range trip.

[Robinson]

I see the Special Combat Government 45 is at roughly the $2k price mark (but not in stock anywhere I can find). Does it involve hand tuning from the factory to help ensure reliability?

My particular SCG did not require anything to be adjusted, tuned, or otherwise fiddled with in order to run reliably. It was hand built and tuned by the Colt Custom Shop. They often come up for sale on places like Gunbroker, but they aren't cheap.

[Trooper224]

A few months ago I had the first malfunction, in thousands of rounds, in my Dan Wesson Valor. This was due to an oversize handload. It was bad enough that I broke the extractor getting it out, which improved my mood to no end. It caused me to acquire a case guage which I've lived without all these years, so that's a positive I guess.

I currently have three 1911s: the aforementioned Dan Wesson, a CZ1911A1 and an SA Range Officer in 9mm. All three have been very reliable. None of them are stock, but the only tweaks have been personal preference issues.

The only jammamatic 1911 I've owned, that lived up to the reputation was a Colt Officers Model back in the mid 90s. Everything else, with the exception of the 9mm RO, has been of the traditional five inch .45 format and have run without issue.

Some folks might call that a clue.

[Squib308]

@Trooper224

Similar experience for me although no extractor breakage. I’ve started using one of these 7 rd chamber gauge as it doesn’t slow me down too badly like a single round gauge.

https://www.egwguns.com/case-gauge-a...-45-acp-7-hole

[45dotACP]

Any advice on resources for learning how to tune a 1911 to get it to run reliably? If I could just get a Colt Gov't Model or something and do a little tweaking before I take it to the range and it be reliable, that'd be grand.

I tend to hang out over at 1911forum for technical advice on extractors. They've got a sticky in their gunsmith section that's basically a treatise on extractor fit.

Otherwise I think Hilton Yam of 10-8 performance probably sells a more digestible version on a DVD. I think he calls it a "duty tune"

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[19852+]

Any advice on resources for learning how to tune a 1911 to get it to run reliably? If I could just get a Colt Gov't Model or something and do a little tweaking before I take it to the range and it be reliable, that'd be grand.

I would take a Colt Gov. to the range first. My, example of one, ran right from the word go. I did tune it later, I ran experiments with it, but with good ammo and mags it runs. The only time it didn't is when I tried extra light springs, soft ammo, cool new guide rods, cheap mags, etc..

The great thing about a 1911 is that it can be tuned to one's taste, I like mine the way it is but someone else might not.