[ZEEE]

The frames and slides were cracking. How does a company that has been building 1911s for 100+ years put trash like that in the hands of Marines, in combat?????

 

[ex13F]

I haven't owned a Colt 1911 in several years. I have a few 1911s ranging from a DW Valor to a Cimarron (Armscorp) 1911. The only thing with a prancing pony that I have currently is the new model Python. So far no problems.
I bought a Tisas US Army model a couple years back when they were first gaining attention. Shot the snot out of it with every kind of ammo I had or could find and it never coughed or hiccupped once. A fellow old veteran saw it and wanted it so it went home with him. It's the only gun in quite a while I almost called him and offered to buy it back. I would buy another Tisas but sad to say not a Colt 1911.

 

[Andylate]

I'll take my Dan Wesson 1911's over any Colt or cheap, Turkish copy any time.
View attachment 777946
View attachment 777947
View attachment 777948

I think most here would agree the quality and price of the Dan Wesson copies puts the brand at a completely different tier than Colt or Tisas.

Its like saying you'll take an Acura over any Ford or Hyundai.

Andy

 

[Bones45]

Reminds me of the Honda vs. Harley argument, I will say, after 5 Sturgis tours I only saw one Honda tattoo! ......what ever floats your boat

 

[br549arkie]

I've owned 3 or 4 Colts through the years. I currently own 7 1911's and none of them are Colts. Honestly I prefer Tisas and Springfield Armory.

 

[lphilpot]

after 5 Sturgis tours I only saw one Honda tattoo

In all fairness though, Sturgis is probably not a representative sample of the whole market. But not being a biker I have no Harley (nor Honda!) in that race. LOL

 

[INV136]

I have 23 Colts in my collection, more than any other brand by far. How is that hating them? I love my Colts, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be a blind fanboy and refuse to admit that they can do better than they're doing.

I agree. When I first started out buying guns back in the 80s I loved my Colt 1911s. In 2014 and 2015 I discovered my NHC and my DW 1911s and sold off all of my Colts and Kimbers and replaced them with 10mm DWs and my NHC. I don't hate Colt 1911s. I just don't have the same respect for them that I had back in the 80s, before I discovered better 1911s. I still love my Colt revolvers and AR15s.

 

[INV136]

Here’s my kimber custom ii gfo 10mm I bought new.just like my rock island it has been flawless since the first shot. View attachment 777956

I agree that Kimber makes a better 1911 dollar for dollar than a comparable Colt 1911. I had several and they were all good reliable 1911's. I discovered the Dan Wesson 1911s and they are better than Colt or Kimber.

Here's a 10mm Kimber TLE/RL II, the last Kimber that I had before I went with DW and my 10mm NHC.

 

[INV136]

I think most here would agree the quality and price of the Dan Wesson copies puts the brand at a completely different tier than Colt or Tisas.

Its like saying you'll take an Acura over any Ford or Hyundai.

Andy

I wasn't aware the comparison was only between Colt and Tisas. My apologies. I will exit this thread now.

 

[Doubs43]

Hope you all feel better when you get the Colt hate out of you.

IMO no one hates Colt. I do believe that most are disappointed in Colt and have lost faith in the company. It's tragic when a pistol costing 1/3 to 1/2 half the price of a Colt is considered the better pistol. A product can only go so long on it's reputation when the quality is demonstrably going downhill. That applies to any brand. Tisas, OTOH, seems to have improved their quality by eliminating all MIM parts and using only forged or machined tool steel parts. I own several Tisas 1911 pistols in .45acp, 10mm and a DS 9mm. All have run flawlessly and are accurate enough.

 

[Bones45]

In all fairness though, Sturgis is probably not a representative sample of the whole market. But not being a biker I have no Harley (nor Honda!) in that race. LOL

The point was 'if you're happy with your choice, isn't that what really matters?' .....Love my Harley, love my Colts......but I do own a Tisas

 

[CrystalClear]

The cheap Rock Islands tend to run great as well. Notice a pattern? Cheap but reliable Tisas, Norincos and Rock Islands. Expensive and troublesome Colts and Kimbers. Before we can Make America Great Again we need to make American workers and CEO's Give a Damn Again.

I think I would get lost on that long acronym..MAWCGADA.... In best Southern, Pronounced Mock Guh Duh..

 

[CrystalClear]

I picked up my first Colt uh... ColtHawk in early 2024. It is a nice resto-mod 9mm Commander. Yes no historical provenance was harmed in the update. The funny thing I got a kick out of, It has the Colt Rattle. It sure does shoot well. I just wrapped up a Kimber project that budgeted $1k has been met. I've seen some Tisas being fully modded and Pricey. I call those Love projects. In reality the ColtHawk is too. It carries well and makes me smile.

"My Little Pony"

No, Stock I would not consider a Colt. Kimber, Springfield and Tisas challenge Colt's Quality out of the box especially with an eye towards projects.

"Tinker-Toy"

"Fly Boy"

"Matilda"

I like the Traveller's views. He is entertaining. The other fella.. Just remember he is the guy that made the splash with his Steam Punk Colt, that got a lot of Reactions positive and negative. Entertainment at its finest though.

 

[Mad Dog Earle]

I've been building 1911s out of various make parts...Tisas among them such as slides and barrels. They've been pretty good and require some bit of fitting which is to be expected. But...when I find a Colt made barrel and/or slide...they go together easier and with far less...if any...fitting involved. The Colt made parts simply go together with less hassle and make for a smoother operating pistol.

 

[Lanyardloop]

The frames and slides were cracking. How does a company that has been building 1911s for 100+ years put trash like that in the hands of Marines, in combat?????

Military 1911 and 1911A1 slides and frames have cracked and peened since they adopted the design. The hardened slide didn't show up until the tail end of WWII.

I'm pretty sure that when my beloved yet hidebound and reluctant to change USMC went with the Colt submission in that last ditch effort to cling to the 1911 pistol , they didn't say "Oh, and since this thing has cuts on the slide and other modifications from the old M1911A1 standard, plus whatever has changed in the past six decades manufacturing wise, can you take a batch and dump many tens of thousand of rounds through them to see if all that will cause issues, please and thank you". Maybe they should have but apparently not.

I'd bet on Colt's side, they didn't say "Honored to have your money and tacit endorsement, can you hold off until we dump many tens of thousands of rounds through a batch just in case we can find a reason for you not to go with us out of the goodness of our hearts?"

The Marine Corps I knew was infamously supplied with worn out gear made by low bidders. They were probably thrilled to get something new, and didn't consider that some of the stuff that sells on the commercial side might adversely impact high round count usage with service ammo in the hands of Marines who may use them a little harder and with less care than someone who buys them with his own dough.

I don't think Colt is uniquely bad for providing what was selected, and when changes needed to be made they made them.

 

[igli]

Reminds me of the Honda vs. Harley argument, I will say, after 5 Sturgis tours I only saw one Honda tattoo! ......what ever floats your boat
[/QUOTE

I can out-weird that. I have a Triumph tattoo.

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

 

[igli]

I can out-weird that. I have a Triumph tattoo.

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Now that I think about it... Triumph, like the entire British motorcycle industry, was crushed in the 80's. Foreign imports, Labor force strikes, economic issues, hidebound management mistakes, and simple inability to adapt.

Much like Colt.

Yet Triumph was a British Icon. Loved by their faithful, even when it was hard to be a fan as the brand spiraled into oblivion. The factory finally was closed down, after painfully struggling to avoid it. It didn't just look bad, it looked over.

But then...

A self-made millionaire named John Bloor bought the property the factory stood on. And with it, the rights to the name. He was a motorcycle guy, and a maverick. Nobody in their right mind would loan money to a British motorcycle business, they knew it to be certain, horrible financial suicide. But John Bloor was in a position to do it without the usual red tape. He wrote a check, and pulled the trigger. Nobody even knew what he planned to do with the worthless acquisition.

They found out. What he planned to do was : Do It Right.

Triumph now ranks at near the top. Innovation, adaptation, and a hand on the wheel that knows how to make it work. They were written off as dead, but now are universally acknowledged as a class act. Bloor rolled the dice, and put in the work.

I hope that Colt can, too. They sure as hell need to. Do they not see this? It may take an outsider to step in and shake things up. Who has the money and balls to do it? It isn't safe. Nobody would advise doing it.

But somebody might. Who would be a good candidate?

 

[JBabcock]

That is a great analogy. And so apropos.

 

[Mad Dog Earle]

Military 1911 and 1911A1 slides and frames have cracked and peened since they adopted the design. The hardened slide didn't show up until the tail end of WWII.

I'm pretty sure that when my beloved yet hidebound and reluctant to change USMC went with the Colt submission in that last ditch effort to cling to the 1911 pistol , they didn't say "Oh, and since this thing has cuts on the slide and other modifications from the old M1911A1 standard, plus whatever has changed in the past six decades manufacturing wise, can you take a batch and dump many tens of thousand of rounds through them to see if all that will cause issues, please and thank you". Maybe they should have but apparently not.

I'd bet on Colt's side, they didn't say "Honored to have your money and tacit endorsement, can you hold off until we dump many tens of thousands of rounds through a batch just in case we can find a reason for you not to go with us out of the goodness of our hearts?"

The Marine Corps I knew was infamously supplied with worn out gear made by low bidders. They were probably thrilled to get something new, and didn't consider that some of the stuff that sells on the commercial side might adversely impact high round count usage with service ammo in the hands of Marines who may use them a little harder and with less care than someone who buys them with his own dough.

I don't think Colt is uniquely bad for providing what was selected, and when changes needed to be made they made them.

The USMC requested Cerakote on the M45A1…Colt advised against that as…as many attributes Cerakote has…durability under military isn’t one of them. But the Marines decision makers insisted on Cerakote and that’s what Colt gave them.

It turns out Colt’s recommendation was correct as pistols used heavily in trading and actual combat did not have the Cerakote finish wear well and the change was made to IonBond with Colt taking back the earlier guns.

While I’m not aware of all the issues…Colt gave the Marines what they wanted. It’s certainly possible the specs in the contract may not have been optimal…maybe they were. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a military supplier’s product didn’t live up to the promise…no matter where the responsibility lay.

 

[Chainsaw_FL]

I'll let you know. I'm going to see how well I can fit various parts to one of my Tisas. I recently ordered an "engraved" grip safety for one. I was leery about the part but figured I could return it anyway. It was a cast part with excessive smoothing over the cast "engraving" so I returned it. If I was going to put it on a Showings, Ruger, Kimber, Colt, or something like that I would have kept it because it was kind of nice but my Tisas is all machined steel so I returned it to not compromise anything.

What I observed, three outta three, is that the separation of the grip safety and mainspring housing is considerably "lower". That is, if you put in a new grip safety, and keep the OEM mainspring housing, you find a gap, and within that gap, the little tabs at the bottom of the new grip safety will "just barely" catch on the mainspring housing. It works, but is unsightly and now it ought to be.

I resorted to EGW mainspring housings which have a little bit extra meat to fit in that area.

The secondary issue is the slight relief made in the rear of the receiver to give room for the grip safety's width. Your replacement safety will fall a little short of the length of the relief cut, and the new mainspring housing will stick up a little bit past it. Result, it works, and its ugly and doesn't quite look right.