Series 70 machined off center

Another member here had the exact same problem as you. He sent his pistol back in, and Colt fixed the problem for him. I'd advise you to do the same.

Send it back to have the slide replaced. Another member here had the exact same problem with his, and Colt replaced the slide under warranty.

Hey look, an echo.

I wonder if there was a batch of these things produced. Perhaps one of the machine operators had an incorrect setting dialed in on a particular day and no one noticed? You'd have thought the QC inspectors would have picked up on it, though.

JTWard said:

You'd have thought the QC inspectors would have picked up on it, though.

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Folks, I think here lies our proof. A single slide leaving the plant without being caught by QC I can understand. But the fact that there's now at least two of these reported on the forum means there's bound to be others. You can't tell me the QC inspectors never saw this. They knew damn well the slides had a flaw, and they sent them out anyway since it didn't affect function. This is why a lot of folks also complain of all the other flaws we've been seeing. They weren't missed by Colt's QC- they were ignored.

"Send them out the door anyway so as to not to take the loss or slow down production. In the slim chance the the customer actually notices or complains we'll fix it for them then."

JTWard said:

You'd have thought the QC inspectors would have picked up on it, though.

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Good one!!!!

after reading this thread. I checked my 1991a1 that I bought in march. It is machined off center too. I thought I had inspected throughly at the dealer. I guess I was wrong. I go to the range twice a week and have detail striped it three times. I can't believe i missed it! It is going back to colt .

I purchased one of the new 70 series reproductions about two weeks ago, and it is also off-center. Everything else about the gun is great, it's a shame they aren't more careful. I also contacted Colt about the problem and they said to send it back. I haven't sent it in yet, but probably will do so in the next two weeks. I just hope it comes back as nice and tight as it is now. :bawling:

I failed to mention that I bought it second hand but it was brand new and never fired. Do you think that will affect the warranty?

I wonder if it is gov't models only. never heard of commanders having this problem or any xses, or gunsites.

patosully said:

after reading this thread. I checked my 1991a1 that I bought in march. It is machined off center too. I thought I had inspected throughly at the dealer. I guess I was wrong. I go to the range twice a week and have detail striped it three times. I can't believe i missed it! It is going back to colt .

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Seems like this problem is not limited to series 70 custom shop 1911's. I bought this gun more as a collectors peice than a defensive pistol. It's just kind of dissapointing. I'll send the gun back to Colt, but I'm worried about how much i'll have to pay for a new slide considering I bought it second hand in new condition.

Stand your ground. It's a manufacturing flaw and they should fix it.

The thing that really bothers me is the fact that when I bought my last SS S70, I looked it over really good before buying. In fact, the gun shop had two in stock and I looked them BOTH over before selecting one of them to take home. I examined every area I was aware of that Colt has been screwing up, so as to make sure I didn't get one with an anomaly such as dust cover rubbing, uneven slide rollmarks, or any of the other warts I've been seeing lately. But as it turns out I was still playing luck of the draw, because I would have never thought to look at the recoil spring plug cutout to see if it was centered in the slide! Turns out mine is okay, but I simply won the game of chance with Colt YET AGAIN.

I've now gotten so completely paranoid that maybe I had better take this thing COMPLETELY apart, and start looking it over really good to see if there is anything else that might be machined incorrectly.

The funny thing is I bought this Colt because people have been saying Colt's QC has been great recently, and they've been putting out some of their best stuff in years. If thats true, then I'd hate to think what their guns were like years ago. I don't think Colt is terrible, but I see they have plenty of room for improvement.

dsk said:

"Send them out the door anyway so as to not to take the loss or slow down production. In the slim chance the the customer actually notices or complains we'll fix it for them then."

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You meant send the inspectors out the door didn't you?

Oh yeah and Colt needs to own up to the problem and send out notices to the owners. They probably have a pretty good idea which machine/inspectors by now. I mean if its been on the forum twice there are probably a hundred or more that have already been returned and presumably fixed by now...

Mike'sgooddeal said:

Oh yeah and Colt needs to own up to the problem and send out notices to the owners. They probably have a pretty good idea which machine/inspectors by now. I mean if its been on the forum twice there are probably a hundred or more that have already been returned and presumably fixed by now...

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Unless you knew where to look, you'd never notice it, and it probably wouldn't affect functioning in the least.

That said, you call them, they'll own up to the problem and fix it.

I am glad I read this forum. That's another inspection point that I'll be sure to make before putting any cash down on a blued or stainless Series 70.

Spec said:

I bought a new series 70 not too long ago and just noticed something weird. The slide appears to be machined off center. If you look at the hole where the spring plug goes, you'll see one side is thicker than the other.

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Can you guys post a general range of serial numbers that were affected? I have a model in the 900's and it looks perfect.

stfram said:

.....That's another inspection point that I'll be sure to make before putting any cash down on a blued or stainless Series 70.

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Maybe DSK would build a sticky with all the known Colt inspection points.

nickcarr said:

Can you guys post a general range of serial numbers that were affected? I have a model in the 900's and it looks perfect.

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My Series 70 with the off center machined slide is 71B23XX. It was ordered sight unseen throuhg my dealer from the wholesaler in June of 05.