I could swear that the Pachmayrs on the used Commander my dad picked up did have the plunger tube support, which surprised me. I may take a look again at dinner tonight.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
D&L and EGW offer thumb guards for 1911s the LT side ones include an integral plunger tube.
Example: https://www.dlsports.com/1911_guards..._housings.html
Oil to keep it sliding.
Good ammo.
Quality magazines
'Bout it for me.
That's cute, but I suspect completely unnecessary.
If your plunger tube comes loose frequently enough to require such guard - either it isn't being staked properly, there isn't Loctite in there to help keep it in place, or you have plunger tube mounting holes that are too large.
The latter problem could be fixed the "cheap" way, by using one of EGW's bolt-on plunger tubes. But I would prefer either welding up and then re-drilling the plunger tube holes, or welding the tube into place. But frankly, if that's really the issue, then you're probably going to need to scrap the frame and start over, 'cause I'd guess there are other out-of-spec places on the frame.
Plunger tubes don't regularly come loose.
In all my years I've had one exactly one loose one, and it was on a brand new Series 80 Colt.
A loose plunger tube is uncommon, but as farscott indicated in post #29, if it fails in a certain way, the thumb safety may not be able to operate. The tube's attachment to the gun should be monitored, just like any other critical area. Grips won't keep the tube from loosening, but they can keep the pin from entangling the safety.
I maintain that the gun is still very durable and robust. And even with something askew, may still run. I know the point of RR's thread isn't to declare how reliable anyone's 1911 is, but to identify failure points and weaknesses and how to address them, through preventative and service maintenance.
Most of the things I talk to people about prevantative maintenance wise are typically things I've heard anecdotally and decided to harden my 1911 against.
The only REAL things I've found to be reliability issues in my experience has been insufficient extractor tension, and (in the case of a cheap RIA) an extractor that was dimensionally incorrect and grip screw holes that weren't threaded. To fix that gun would have required extensive machine work that I didn't possess, so my advice is typically to avoid those guns.
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