I would agree with everything but the duckbill or beaver tail safety. Anyone doing any kind of serious training or shooting with a 1911 appreciates a well fitted beaver tail safety.
The Colt 1911 Guide to Modifications according to Jeff Cooper
I offer this without comment, take from it what you will! I do not remember the date of this list but it was a while back!
Cheers,
crkckr
THE COLT 1911 .45 ACP:
Guide to Modifications, according to Jeff Cooper
THINGS YOU SHOULD DO:
High Visibility Sights (including ramped front)
Dehorning
A crisp 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lb. trigger
THINGS THAT ARE USEFUL:
Adjustable high visibility sights
Solid bushing
Enlarged ejection port
Beveled magazine well
Extended thumb safety
Throated barrel and polished feed ramp
Round and polish bottom of extractor hook
Magazine floor plate pads
THINGS THAT ARE OK:
Trigger over travel stop
Deactivate grip safety
Flat main spring housing
Spring modification to magazine release
Combat accuracy job (slight tightening of slide; solid bushing, not too tight; fitting of barrel hood,
link and slide stop to barrel lugs; 3 to 5 inch groups at 50 yards.
Bobbed hammer
Press fit of firing pin stop
THINGS OF QUESTIONABLE VALUE:
Colored sights
Duck tail grip safety
Ambidextrous thumb safety
Custom stocks
Stainless steel parts
Recoil buffer
THINGS THAT ARE OBJECTIONABLE:
Sight rib
Optical sights
Trigger shoe
Extended slide stop
Squared or hooked trigger guard
Loaded chamber indicator
Double action conversion
Muzzle brake
Over-length barrel
Extended magazine release
Recoil spring guide
Long slide
Group gripper
Ejection port modified to drop brass close to shooter
Maximum Accurize job; hard fit, lapped, maximum tightness, groups of 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 at 50 yards.
Cheers,
crkckr
THE COLT 1911 .45 ACP:
Guide to Modifications, according to Jeff Cooper
THINGS YOU SHOULD DO:
High Visibility Sights (including ramped front)
Dehorning
A crisp 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lb. trigger
THINGS THAT ARE USEFUL:
Adjustable high visibility sights
Solid bushing
Enlarged ejection port
Beveled magazine well
Extended thumb safety
Throated barrel and polished feed ramp
Round and polish bottom of extractor hook
Magazine floor plate pads
THINGS THAT ARE OK:
Trigger over travel stop
Deactivate grip safety
Flat main spring housing
Spring modification to magazine release
Combat accuracy job (slight tightening of slide; solid bushing, not too tight; fitting of barrel hood,
link and slide stop to barrel lugs; 3 to 5 inch groups at 50 yards.
Bobbed hammer
Press fit of firing pin stop
THINGS OF QUESTIONABLE VALUE:
Colored sights
Duck tail grip safety
Ambidextrous thumb safety
Custom stocks
Stainless steel parts
Recoil buffer
THINGS THAT ARE OBJECTIONABLE:
Sight rib
Optical sights
Trigger shoe
Extended slide stop
Squared or hooked trigger guard
Loaded chamber indicator
Double action conversion
Muzzle brake
Over-length barrel
Extended magazine release
Recoil spring guide
Long slide
Group gripper
Ejection port modified to drop brass close to shooter
Maximum Accurize job; hard fit, lapped, maximum tightness, groups of 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 at 50 yards.
1 - 20 of 66 Posts
Cooper likely wrote that back in the early 1980s. Note that he considered a throated barrel and polished ramp optional. In other words, it was written back when most hardcore 1911 rockers used hardball ammo. Nowadays a barrel and feed ramp set up for hollow points is so essential that virtually every new 1911 has it now.
LB, I will agree with 100%! Akthough, I believe the "duck tails" in those days may have been a bit lower than the beavertails of today. Just don't hold me to that! Plus all my replacement parts are stainless. I also install recoil buffers when practicing but take them out for serious work. I've had them come apart and gum up the works before.
DSK, I believe you are correct about the timeline but my memory isn't near good enough for things like that! While 99% of the stock 1911's out there will feed my carry ammo (Lehigh Xtreme Defender in all calibers) I would still want my 1911 to feed HP's, Gold Dots in particular! I guess it wouldn't be necessary if I were rich and could just shoot Underwood's all the time but that sure isn't the case! Although, back in those days I usually had my 1911's loaded with the Speer Lawman 230's, the "Flying Ashtrays!" Honestly, I don't know how those bullets would fare against todays ammo, but I akways felt that even if they didn't open up, they still made a decent sized hole!
Cheers,
crkckr
DSK, I believe you are correct about the timeline but my memory isn't near good enough for things like that! While 99% of the stock 1911's out there will feed my carry ammo (Lehigh Xtreme Defender in all calibers) I would still want my 1911 to feed HP's, Gold Dots in particular! I guess it wouldn't be necessary if I were rich and could just shoot Underwood's all the time but that sure isn't the case! Although, back in those days I usually had my 1911's loaded with the Speer Lawman 230's, the "Flying Ashtrays!" Honestly, I don't know how those bullets would fare against todays ammo, but I akways felt that even if they didn't open up, they still made a decent sized hole!
Cheers,
crkckr
True I remember those duck tail safeties and how they angled downward so I can see where he is coming from. But most of that is still true to this day. The reliability of 1911’s during the late 70’s and early 80’s was questionable at best depending on who and what day of the week it was manufactured. We are fortunate today with as many makers of 1911’s we have and custom shops available. Although I had a 1920’s commercial colt that was so well built and would eat just about anything that I questioned why people would complain about 1911’s reliability and accuracy.
LB, I too often wondered about that as well. While most of my 1911's over the years (I honestly don't have a clue how many but I've not been without at least one 1911 since I was 19 and often had a couple or more! I'm 70 now and only have 4, although the Llama Officers Model has been wearing a .22 conversion slide since 1998!) have worked just fine out of the box, I intentionally bought some that were, let's say picky as to what they would eat (and thus cheap!). In most cases all I ever did was polish the feed ramp and try a different mag, which in most cases fixed the problems. A couple (never Colt) needed a bit more work but all did ok eventually. I really don't know what's going on with all the "bad" 1911's out there but it has not been my experience!
Cheers,
crkckr
Cheers,
crkckr
Almost everything on his objectionable list is commonly done these days.
Time passes, that list is definitely from the eighties. But take it in context. In the eighties, the 1911's available consisted of Colt commercial units, which in the eighties were of dubious quality, being produced on worn out tooling and machinery, along with some Springfield Armories, Sistemas, and a few other imports. In other words, the quality of the base guns was not high. Duckbill safeties began to change in the early nineties mainly due to the Col.'s criticism of the way they pushed the hand down out of alignment.
Given the time frame and the base materials available, I find his list was extremely reasonable. In 1992 I purchased a Gunsite Service Pistol from the smithy. It was built on a Springfield Armory pistol, and lived up to those specifications listed above exactly. It was and still is one of the best in my 1911 collection.
Cooper Commentaries Description of GSP;
Excerpt From the GUNSITE GOSSIP VOL. VI Nov. 1986
"Last month we announced the availability of the Gunsite Service Pistol. It is constituted as follows:
Springfield Armory Parts
Hi-vix, fixed sights
Trigger Job (tested and proved)
Throat job
Extractor job
Speed safety
Oversized solid bushing
Bobbed hammer
Press-fit firing-pin stop
De-horning
Bull matte-black finish
The price is $545, including two magazines (and a pinned grip safety if desired). The only extra-cost option is a starboard-side safety.
Call us. We won't call you."
Note the tested and approved on the trigger job. At that time, no GSP left the ranch without the Colonel testing it personally. If the trigger didn't meet his standards it went back for more work.
Given the time frame and the base materials available, I find his list was extremely reasonable. In 1992 I purchased a Gunsite Service Pistol from the smithy. It was built on a Springfield Armory pistol, and lived up to those specifications listed above exactly. It was and still is one of the best in my 1911 collection.
Cooper Commentaries Description of GSP;
Excerpt From the GUNSITE GOSSIP VOL. VI Nov. 1986
"Last month we announced the availability of the Gunsite Service Pistol. It is constituted as follows:
Springfield Armory Parts
Hi-vix, fixed sights
Trigger Job (tested and proved)
Throat job
Extractor job
Speed safety
Oversized solid bushing
Bobbed hammer
Press-fit firing-pin stop
De-horning
Bull matte-black finish
The price is $545, including two magazines (and a pinned grip safety if desired). The only extra-cost option is a starboard-side safety.
Call us. We won't call you."
Note the tested and approved on the trigger job. At that time, no GSP left the ranch without the Colonel testing it personally. If the trigger didn't meet his standards it went back for more work.
Actually he came up with the bulk of that list in the 1960s, and it was printed as a handout by the time API (Gunsite) opened in 1975.Cooper likely wrote that back in the early 1980s. Note that he considered a throated barrel and polished ramp optional. In other words, it was written back when most hardcore 1911 rockers used hardball ammo. Nowadays a barrel and feed ramp set up for hollow points is so essential that virtually every new 1911 has it now.
I've likely done everything to a 1911 that is on all of the lists (most before I even attended Gunsite). I still find some of the objectionable stuff to be fairly egregious, in fact I long ago termed an extended slide stop a "suicide switch" because I saw so many problems in use (once I saw Jerry Usher foul up really bad because he had a Hoag with one of them). I've had numerous problems with extended mag catches and FLGRs and shock buffs but that often varies with the holster I'm using.
The only "trigger shoe" I put up with is the one on my Bob Chow B.E. gun and it is not wider than the trigger guard.
I'll admit, some of the things on the last section I do not find all that objectionable - for instance, I have a couple of concealable holsters for 6" long slides and I carry them occasionally.
Just Ramblin'
Riposte
I think I'll still have to along with just about everything on the Objectionable list with the exception of optics, which of course were nothing then like they are today. Especially the extended slide release. Yeah, I know it's a slide stop but I've been using them as a release since I first started shooting 1911's and after over 50 years, I'm not going to change anytime soon!
I've shot a couple with trigger shoes and they just didn't feel good to me. Kinda got used to them as they are except mine are all extended with an overtravel stop. There isn't anything else on the objectionable list I would want. Personally, when I replace parts on my 1911's I almost always go for stainless, mainly because of the satin silver color of the NP3, plus there's never much of a rust problem (which is why I got the NP3 in the first place!). The only thing on the Do list I didn't do was the ramped front sight. Both of mine are squared off. Doesn't to cause any problems with any of my holsters or my draw stroke so I don't get that one.
Otherwise, I've got just about everything on the list covered except the accuracy and the trigger. I pretty much leave my triggers completely stock except to polish everything. I have not changed any geometry at all. It's the one thing that scares me as I've seen a lot of guys have their self tuned 1911's go full auto in the middle of a match! Instant DQ!
Cheers,
crkckr
I've shot a couple with trigger shoes and they just didn't feel good to me. Kinda got used to them as they are except mine are all extended with an overtravel stop. There isn't anything else on the objectionable list I would want. Personally, when I replace parts on my 1911's I almost always go for stainless, mainly because of the satin silver color of the NP3, plus there's never much of a rust problem (which is why I got the NP3 in the first place!). The only thing on the Do list I didn't do was the ramped front sight. Both of mine are squared off. Doesn't to cause any problems with any of my holsters or my draw stroke so I don't get that one.
Otherwise, I've got just about everything on the list covered except the accuracy and the trigger. I pretty much leave my triggers completely stock except to polish everything. I have not changed any geometry at all. It's the one thing that scares me as I've seen a lot of guys have their self tuned 1911's go full auto in the middle of a match! Instant DQ!
Cheers,
crkckr
Yep, those were the days. How lucky we all are today to be able to buy full-featured 1911s or basic models to pretty closely meet our perceived needs and wants and, the majority run quite well. CNC machining has been the biggest advancement in firearms manufacturing in decades allowing for degrees of fit without a lot of custom work only dreamed of in the past. It still takes some skill to assemble a quality 1911 but it's easier than it used to be, and features offered are off the chart. As far as what you need, to each his own; but Cooper was pretty close to covering that.
Of those things listed, I had a 1911 that I was fortunate enough to get some modifications done by the Gunsite gunsmith back in the early 80s.
High Visibility Sights (including ramped front)
A crisp 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lb. trigger
Solid bushing
Enlarged ejection port
Beveled magazine well
Extended thumb safety
Throated barrel and polished feed ramp
Round and polish bottom of extractor hook
Deactivate grip safety
This was after it had a trip to Robar (Robby Barkman's company) for a two tone finish.
I wish I could remember the name of the gunsmith.
High Visibility Sights (including ramped front)
A crisp 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lb. trigger
Solid bushing
Enlarged ejection port
Beveled magazine well
Extended thumb safety
Throated barrel and polished feed ramp
Round and polish bottom of extractor hook
Deactivate grip safety
This was after it had a trip to Robar (Robby Barkman's company) for a two tone finish.
I wish I could remember the name of the gunsmith.
I agree with most of his assessment. My Tisas Service checks most of his boxes out of the box. The sights are basic GI and could be improved, but it still prints ~4" groups from a rest. The trigger was "OK", but it was improved 100% just by dropping in a Harrison sear and disconnector. I replaced the heavy mag catch spring with a weaker one.
I wish they'd offer a "slim" spur hammer vs. the "wide" one, because the wide one does tend to bite me.
If I were a gunslinger, I might carve the grip safety stud to disable it, but I prefer mine to function as intended.
Thanks for the post!
I wish they'd offer a "slim" spur hammer vs. the "wide" one, because the wide one does tend to bite me.
If I were a gunslinger, I might carve the grip safety stud to disable it, but I prefer mine to function as intended.
Thanks for the post!
You know what Jeff Cooper would be doing today if he were alive?
I only assumed it was the early 1980s because he mentioned beavertails, which really weren't a thing until then.Actually he came up with the bulk of that list in the 1960s, and it was printed as a handout by the time API (Gunsite) opened in 1975.
I have an early Colt Series 80 with the first-generation Wilson/Clark #66 beavertail on it. It's actually very comfy and I prefer it aesthetics-wise over the current ones. It just doesn't let you grip the frame as high as modern ones.
He called them "duck tail", but we all get it...6 of one, half dozen the other.I only assumed it was the early 1980s because he mentioned beavertails, which really weren't a thing until then.
I have an early Colt Series 80 with the first-generation Wilson/Clark #66 beavertail on it. It's actually very comfy and I prefer it aesthetics-wise over the current ones. It just doesn't let you grip the frame as high as modern ones.
He also harped on "solid" barrel bushings, which was a repudiation of Colt's collet barrel bushings at or around that time.
Though the "Duck tail" was a style of grip safety that Colt used, and while different than a GI grip safety, it isn't a beavertail.He called them "duck tail", but we all get it...6 of one, half dozen the other.
Shooting. Beautiful day here in the Southwest.You know what Jeff Cooper would be doing today if he were alive?
I get where he was coming from for that time. Today, for me, it's all about what you're going to do with your 1911. If you're going use it for carry gun then go simple, comfortable and reliable. If it's a range toy or competition gun, then make it look and run the way you want. If it's rare or collectable model, then leave it the hell alone.
I don't think there's any "one" way to do anything. For me, I like to tinker on stuff including 1911s. I have a couple that I've done nothing to but change the grips ... I have others that I changed damn near everything in one way or another. Getting cool custom parts or doing some polishing and fitting is part of the fun of the 1911. I've picked up a couple of "gun show specials" just the purpose of having a new bench project.
I say just enjoy your guns and don't let someone else tell you what to do with them.... it's my money, it's my time ... and get off my lawn!! ... 😮
I don't think there's any "one" way to do anything. For me, I like to tinker on stuff including 1911s. I have a couple that I've done nothing to but change the grips ... I have others that I changed damn near everything in one way or another. Getting cool custom parts or doing some polishing and fitting is part of the fun of the 1911. I've picked up a couple of "gun show specials" just the purpose of having a new bench project.
I say just enjoy your guns and don't let someone else tell you what to do with them.... it's my money, it's my time ... and get off my lawn!! ... 😮
1 - 20 of 66 Posts
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