"Colt Series 80 1911's, any thoughts..."

[exile]

I have been looking at 1911's, again! I have seen several Colt Series 80 1911's. They seem like nice guns, but I have heard negative things about trigger pull etc.,.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

exile

[pdawg_shooter]

Remove the firing pin block rod and they are fine.

[Dframe]

I have one with the block and the trigger is just fine.
Unless you are a serious bullseye shooter there is no need to mess with the trigger.
They are probably not as crisp or light as earlier ones but they are entirely servicable particularly if used for defence.

[pistolman44]

I build 1911's for a hobby. I have a few Colt series 80. The first thing I do is replace the barrel bushing and put in a hand fitted one that is oversize and fit them to your slide and barrel. That will definately shrink your groups. But if it shoots good leave it alone and just change all the springs for a better trigger pull. If I get a good deal on a factory Colt I strip it all down and put in all match grade stuff like trigger, ignition set, all springs. Put in a match grade fireing pin. Polish feed ramp. I'm left handed so I fit all my 1911"s with Ambi safetys. Go to the 1911 forum for tons of info on 1911"s. You'll find your answeres there. If you are going to carry a 80 I would not remove the fireing pin block.

[Char-Gar]

When the Series 80 came out there was much hul-a-baloo about the inability to get a decent trigger pull. Years later, we know that was nonsense, but rumors still persist. I have had several Series 80 Colts they have all been good pistol. I have a 2005 Colt GM that is as good a pistol as I have ever owned.

[NuJudge]

I have a Series 80 that I bought new, and recently sent back to Colt to have the ejection port lowered, collet bushing replaced and an adjustable rear sight installed. I was happy with it before, and am even happier now. The trigger pull was and is excellent.

CDD

[exile]

O.K., thanks. As far as price, how about $ 775.00 for a NIB Colt Series 80, brushed stainless, with 3 dot sights, two factory mags and box. It looks like a fairly basic pistol to me, no ambi safeties, no extended beavertail, no full length guide rod (thank goodness). Pistol is very tight when pulling back slide, working safety etc., so when he says NIB I believe him.

I have been looking for a 1911 for a long time, just about decided I want a Colt, and this seems like a good price, I just need to find the money.

Thanks for all your responses, this is about the fourth 1911 thread I have started. It is just so hard to make a good decision on a 1911 when you are a guy who has been shooting Glocks and Sigs all his life.


Thanks again.

exile

[MtGun44]

The issue with the Series 80 was that there was a failure mode. They solved that by selective
fitting of the firing pin stop. Note the number stamped into the stop just above the tail of
the firing pin. This solves the problem, but I can give you more details if you care.

No need to remove the bits, the system adds maybe 1 lb to the trigger pull. I can give you
a reliable 4 lb crisp pull with all the std Series 80 parts in place.

Bill

[NickSS]

I had a series 80 for many years of hard use. The only things I did to it was to install a millet rear sight. By the time I sold it I had nearly 50,000 rounds through it and it was a bit loose but still adequate for defense use and casual plinking. I never had any issue with the trigger as I never used it for formal target shooting as I had two customized national match models for that.

[exile]

Thanks guys. I learn so much here.

exile

[spqrzilla]

I'm less fond of the Series 70 spring finger bushing which is also on some Series 80's. Replace that with a solid bushing and you are good to go.

[Sprue]

I like mine - ORM. The triiger's been tuned so it's pretty nice. FYI, the local dealer here is asking 900 + for a new one..........

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/Colt45SeriesORM-1.jpg

[KYCaster]

I've seen the series 80 parts cause too many failures to fire to ever trust the system on any gun intended for defense or serious competition.

The series 80 system was designed specifically to defeat the California drop test and was added during the Strichman/Margolis years when Colt was at the absolute rock bottom in its corporate history.

As far as I know, Colt and Para Ordnance are the only manufacturers who use the series 80 system so it appears that several dozen other manufacturers agree that the system is unnecessary.

If you're really concerned about dropping the gun on the muzzle, an extra power firing pin spring will accomplish the same thing without the detrimental side effects of the series 80 system.

Jerry

BTW...I also think the grip safety is another useless addition to the original JMB design and was added only because the US Army demanded it.

[exile]

Thanks for all the responses. Having never owned a 1911, I have been doing a lot of research on the internet.

The only 1911's I have fired recently have been two Kimbers. I originally wanted a Kimber, but now am liking the Colt better. For what it is worth, this gun will not be used for carry or competition, the only time it might be used is for home defense, but I doubt it. There are just too many other options that are better suited for my wife's limited experience with firearms for that purpose.

For the most part, I will simply shoot it for recreation and to simply enjoy loading and shooting cast boolits out of the 1911 platform.

From the research I have done, the only part I would seriously consider replacing right off the bat would be the extractor, and probably eventually the barrel bushing.

exile

[Lloyd Smale]

I agree with charger. Ive had a couple and the triggers can be easily done to 2.5 lbs. My gold cup is as accurate and tight as any 1911 ive owned. I did have one of the base models though that was as loose as a babys rattle. Fed and functioned fine but accuracy was about dismal in it. But in all reality it was no less accurate or more loose then the 70 series 9mm i had.
When the Series 80 came out there was much hul-a-baloo about the inability to get a decent trigger pull. Years later, we know that was nonsense, but rumors still persist. I have had several Series 80 Colts they have all been good pistol. I have a 2005 Colt GM that is as good a pistol as I have ever owned.

[Moonie]

I was recently changing to a very light 12lb spring in my Taurus 1911 that came with an extra power firing pin spring that there is what appears to be the 80 series parts in there. None of my previous 1911's had it. So what is the downside with removal?

[MtGun44]

If you drop the gun the floating firing pin can hit the primer. This is a very rare event but
it is why the firing pin stop was put in place in the Series 80 guns.

There were some failures on very early S80 guns, so Colt started fitting the firing pin stops and
the problems went away. If your gun has a number like "2" stamped on the firing pin stop,
just above the rear of the firing pin, it is the new style selectively fitted firing pin stop
and is going to be OK. The issue was tolerance build up that could let the extractor move
out of position. The extractor retains the firing pin lock plunger in the Series 80. If it
was loose, and it occasionally was before the fitted firing pin stops were introduced, the
plunger could move out of position, jamming the gun. With the selectively fitted
FP stop, I have never seen it happen.

The firing pin lock plunger spring will add about 1/2 to 1 lb to the trigger pull wt but a
proper trigger job can still be done and most will never notice anything. Some claim
that there could be legal liability if the firing pin block is removed and an accident
occurs. I do not know if that it true, but do not recommend removing it. They do
not cause problems any more.

Bill

[Butler Ford]

<-irrelevent removed->...
From the research I have done, the only part I would seriously consider replacing right off the bat would be the extractor, ...


Why??

[exile]

I read a very good review of a stainless Series 80 pistol and the guy had none of the usual complaints but he did say that the extractor was MIM or cast or something, I don't remember and that he replaced it immediately. Since this will not be a defensive pistol for me, I will probably leave it alone, especially with what someone else said about the extractor being tied in with the firing pin safety / block, but it is just a thought.

exile

[exile]

Back to the gunshop today. Handled a Remington R1 1911. The guy said he thought they were the best buy out there right now. I got back and did a little research, apparently cast frame, forged slide, series 80 firing pin safety, MIM parts, stainless barrel, black oxide finish, frame and slide not made in USA but assembled in New York. Priced at $ 679.00.

Very nice looking pistol. Has anyone fired one of these, if so what do you think?

Thanks,

exile

[gray wolf]

Most manufacturers today have gone to MIM parts. They are much cheaper to make.
Not only extractors but hammers, sears, hammer struts, --just about all the small parts.
I don't think this is a problem with the 500 round a year shooter, but I do think problems can show up with folks that shoot 4 to 5 thousand rounds a year in a 45 as I do.
Yes things happen even with the more expensive tool steel parts, but I think there is less of a chance with the better made parts. I try to stay away from the injection molded parts.

[excess650]

I had a SS series 80 GM and put about 50K rounds:Fire: through it before I had the slide/frame tightened and a match barrel installed. The firing pin block was never an issue, and I had a light, sweet trigger pull with some aftermarket bits. I still have an 80 Series Officer's Model, and no problems there with the firing pin block.

If it were me, I would buy the SS Colt (forged)over investment cast stuff made by other manufacturers.

[MtGun44]

I have a dead stock series 1 Kimber that has about 40,000 full power loads thru it over the
last decade or so. All MIM parts are original and intact. There is absolutely nothing
wrong with MIM parts other than the mold parting lines on some parts make a minor but
irritating appearance issue. I seriously doubt that MIM is appropriate for a 1911 extractor,
and I doubt that this is used on that kind of a part.

MIM parts are slammed by people without any technical background or relavant experience
because it is new and different. This is just silly. My tehcnical training and quite a bit of
personal expereince with newer S&Ws and the Kimber show that MIM is a very viable new
technology which is keeping gun prices low while the quality is high. A very experienced
S&W gunsmith has told me that the quality of current S&W MIM internal parts is far more
consistent than in "the good old days". He has worked on them all for decades.

Bill

[exile]

O.K., back to a different gunshop today. Saw something I had never seen before, Springfield G.I. model in stainless (miniscule sights, no lowered or flared ejection port.) I KNOW someone answered this question for me before in a previous thread, but does a a pistol with no lowered or flared ejection port dent your brass? I really like the way the WW II pistols look, this looked just like one but in stainless, again, no three dot sights, no lowered or flared ejection port. I looked for the previous thread I started on 1911's but could not find it. Thanks again.

exile

[exile]

Anyone?

exile

[35remington]

Exile, I am one of the unwashed few who shoots several 1911's without the lowered and flared ejection port.

I have very little problem with dented brass. Every once in a while you'll get one that's a little flatter on one side but the full length sizer rounds it right out.

Absolutely no problems with ejection, either. About the only real advantage to a lowered and flared port is not in the lowering and flaring, I think, but in the relief cut out of the front to let longer OAL length rounds or bluntnosed rounds live eject easily. This can be handy with the sometimes strange bullets a caster uses but it's not absolutely necessary either.

Since I know what OAL's and bullets produce this problem I avoid those lengths with those bullets. I can easily handle any factory JHP or ball or SWC without live ejection issues. The shapes in moulds commonly used for 1911's work well also.

[KYCaster]

It's the scallop at the rear of the ejection port that prevents the dent.

Visualize the empty case rotating around the extractor hook...when the case mouth contacts the slide where does it hit???....at the back of the ejection port, right at the sharp edge where the flat side meets the rounded top of the slide. Cut a 1/2" dia concave surface there and...no more dents.

Good luck.

Jerry

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

It's the scallop at the rear of the ejection port that prevents the dent.

Visualize the empty case rotating around the extractor hook...when the case mouth contacts the slide where does it hit???....at the back of the ejection port, right at the sharp edge where the flat side meets the rounded top of the slide. Cut a 1/2" dia concave surface there and...no more dents.

Good luck.

Jerry

Like this:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Colt%201911%20Combat/Slide2.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Colt%201911%20Combat/Ejector.jpg

[NuJudge]

As I said in an earlier post, I recently sent my Colt Series 80 back to Colt for the ejection port to be lowered and flaired. Up until that time, I had serious case mouth flattening on one side, which rounded out nicely in the Full Length sizer. I also had some jams. Since the modifications, no jams.

CDD

[bob208]

i have a remiongton- rand a 1927 argentine a pre ww1 and a model 70 searies. none have been opened up and none beat up the brass.

[MtGun44]

The unlowered port puts a scrape on the side and often (not all guns) puts a dent in
the mouth of the brass as it hits the angled edge of the port and is deflected upwards.

Bill