Thread: 1911 - Disappointed

Preface:

As a long-time Glock user and quasi-gun enthusiast, I was longing to get a 1911 and finally did. On a budget, I bought the Taurus PT1911 stainless steel. I really enjoyed it. It ran flawlessly.

I couldn't help but think the Taurus wasn't a quality "battle" gun therefore I eventually splurged and bought a Para Black Ops (double stack) 1911 thinking this would be/operate better than the Taurus.

Boy was I wrong. Every 4 or 5 rounds it would fail to feed or eject. After finally getting in touch with their support, I was told of a $250 - 500 round break in period is. "normal" for 1911's! What?

Like I said earlier, I'm only used to platforms that simply run and run and gobble up any ammo I get my hands on. And my PT1911 from Taurus seemed to be no exception.

What's your experience with the 1911? I'm sure it's a stiff ejector, but for $1000, shouldn't it.... I don't know... work right out of the box?

Thanks,
~mike

I have a s&w 1911 with about 2.5k rounds thru it, only 2 FTE and that was with an aftermarket extended clip. My buddy has a kimber which seemed to be a bit finicky about which rounds it liked out of the box however after a few range trips it's smooth as butter. I understand exactly how I feel though I went thru a similar rage with my scar17 out of the box and dealing with issues i thought shouldn't be there

My dad has a Springfield that was FTF & FTE for a while. Turns out the feed ramp had to be reshaped just a bit. After that, loves all ammo. His Kimber took about ten mags to get going good. I love both of those things! I like my .45 cal ar15 better!

There is no excuse they should be smooth as butter, I have an old colt with over 50k thru it with minor repairs and mods, and I have a 500$ Springfield XP that has not had a misstep once in 4 k of rounds , now as stated maybe your black ops doesn't like the rounds , but I'd still be looking for them to clea n up my ejector system. Just my two cents. Tc

I currently own several 1911s. And I've owned a bunch more. Here is one. They all run flawlessly no matter what ammo I put in them.
I've owned a (firstgeneration) Glock 20. I carried it for a year, (no. not in Norway) and I've never had
as much trouble with feeding with any of my 1911 as I had with that one.

BTW the 1911forum - Yes, I'm a member there too, has it's own Para - sub-forum. There might be the right place to ask for advice.

I used to carry 1911s exclusively, including two of the original Kimbers. Once I got a Glock 19, the simplicity of it, accuracy and ease of use won me over. I gave the 1911s to my son to use. I do have a Colt Mustang .380 Lite which mimics the style of the 1911, but it is just as easy to work with as the Glock is.

I'm a 1911 junkie as well.

First off, the Taurus 1911 is actually a pretty dang good 1911...especially for the $. They have a bad rap I know, but the new stuff they are putting out is quality & they stand behind their warranty without question. I've had a PT1911 from when they introduced them and it outshoots several of my pistols that are double it's price. All I have done to mine is change the cheap grips on it and shoot the crap out of it. My experience with Para-Ordinance was about like yours. There was nothing smooth about it and after putting 1K rounds through it and it still not sure if it would make it through a mag or not...I traded it off like I would a auto that wouldn't keep running. Their customer service is lacking and honestly many look at he para almost like most do the taurus. I hate it you spent that much on it, but I found out the hard way too on this company. Now the good news is you can most likely get it going just fine with a few more bucks into it. Here is what I would do before I bothered with trying more "break in rounds". Call up wilson combat. Tell them what you have & order a new extracter, 2-piece guide rod, and spring. Spring weight depends on the ammo you will shoot, they will guide you through the process. These guys make good parts at a fair price & are just good folks to deal with. These parts are simple replacement parts. If that doesn't fix it, take all those good parts you put into it, get rid of it & buy a used springfield range officer or kimber.

Something else you should do is have someone who you respect as a shooter to watch you shoot. Why? To be sure you aren't limp-wristing. I've done some trouble shooting on pistols for friends before (1911's) and couldn't find out what was going on, only to go to the range and find out how they shot. Most of the time folks don't even know they are doing it & a little instruction goes a LONG ways. BTW, most of the time I have witnessed limp-wristing is from big & strong guys...

I'm down to just a handful of 1911's now & I'm OK with that...after just one more.

Lastly, if you aren't comfortable swapping out the parts, you can send the parts to me along with the upper slide and I will do it for you, just cover shipping.

This 250 round break in period is a more common policy nowadays. I heard the same from Kahr Arms and from Sig. Matter of fact IIRC even Glock has something like that in the brochure they furnish with a new pistol. It is frustrating to get all stoked and go to the range with a new pistol only to have it become a PITA. Were you shooting hard ball ? Hard ball usually runs through a 1911 type flawlessly IME. Another thing is cleaning any assembly grease and lubing it with a good gun oil/grease like militec or some such before you first take it out. We might not have had to do that years ago but times are changed.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I'm a 1911 junkie as well.
Something else you should do is have someone who you respect as a shooter to watch you shoot. Why? To be sure you aren't limp-wristing. I've done some trouble shooting on pistols for friends before (1911's) and couldn't find out what was going on, only to go to the range and find out how they shot. Most of the time folks don't even know they are doing it & a little instruction goes a LONG ways. BTW, most of the time I have witnessed limp-wristing is from big & strong guys...

Yea, it is the little things that bite you in the behind and that is one of them.

Bob