A pawn shop score – Colt 01911C – in .45acp – I’m going to take a comparative look at this “government” model- when I did the serial number thing through Colt’s website, I found this was made the same year as the M1991A1 – I admit I was quite surprised to find it to be that old and almost zero rounds through it.
No deep scuffing anywhere – bushing to barrel – barrel hood – slide to frame – very low round count. I just can’t wrap my head around buying a firearm and not firing it. That just doesn’t fit in my head . . .
Perfect parts fitment just isn’t possible – even on high end 1911’s – “scuff” marks show up with just a few rounds – bushing to barrel – slide to frame – even with the “best practices” lubrication with enough use – finish wear spots will start showing up. Reality is a bitch!
New or used – no real difference – spray the piece down with Breakthrough Battle Born solvent – Check It Out <<<HERE>>> – thorough scrub down and then a light spray down – let it sit for a day or two – then go back and do it again – New – gets all the little kibbles and bits left over from manufacturing and gets the shipping oil cleaned out / used gets any firing gunk cleaned out of the cracks and crevices . . .
Folks – this thing is 31 years old, and I have to admit I can’t wrap my head around the lack of wear – very low round count.
as dry as the pistol was when I got it – I don’t think it was fired when new – rather just put up in a closet shelf and found during clean out for an estate sale – had a few rounds put through it and then sold . . .
the wear you see is it – no real “high” spot wear – just light scuffing . . .
very light wear on the rails . . .
no feed ramp wear to speak of . . .
very light scuff marks on the back end of the ejector – tiny bit on the front of the rail . . .
The bluing was real flat looking – So I spent the day soaking down the bluing with CLP – then wiping dry – then soaking it down again – 4 trips through that and the bluing is starting to show some depth – actually something the bluing department would claim – LOL!
just keeps “floating” dirt up out of the finish . . .
If you think of all the mating surfaces in your gun as “bearing” surfaces – similar to the main bearings of your car engine – you can start to wrap your head around what is going on inside a gun when firing. In your car engine there is NO metal-to-metal contact – everything rides on a film of oil which is refreshed by an oil pump and filtered and used again and again. A film of oil on the mating surfaces of your gun will only stay intact for a few cycles – and then your metal-to-metal. In order to mitigate that accelerated wear issue I use a thin film of Breakthrough Battle Born grease – Check it out <<<HERE>>> – the stuff will pretty much stop the wear cycle on a used gun and a new one? If the gun is built accurately and kept clean it will go hundreds of shoot/clean/lube cycles and barely show scuff marks on the wear surfaces – no metal wear to speck of – just finish wear.
Case in point: here is the slide out of my CZ 97 BD – right at 3500 rounds through it . . .
Ain’t the little darlings pretty together?
I hope to get out to Gary’s Guns and shoot the newest member (the 1911) of the family – I’ll run about 50 rounds through it – bring it home and clean / lube it.
as good as the bluing is coming out, I will probably be reluctant to stuff it in a holster and carry it – and that’s just wrong – it deserves to be carried!
And a quick shout out to Great Plains Pawn – a good assortment of stuff and very competitive prices!
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Guns, Fun, Food and More 