USGI M1911A1s not as "durable" as modern 1911s?

[RECCE556]

After reading this thread, http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=38385 and seeing the mention of modern steel and heat treating, I had a question...Are vintage USGI M1911A1's with their hardened areas on the slide not a good gun for shooting a lot of hardball with? Even with modern springs and a buffer?

I have a poorly refinished Colt 1942 M1911A1 that I wanted to do something like this to (actually, just put back the original style finish and replace a few of the more modern replacement parts the previous owner installed) but I also wanted to shoot it a bit. I have read elsewhere that USGI M1911A1s aren't as durable as modern day 1911's but are we talking about 10K round before they take a dump or 100K rounds?

[Brewer]

Well, here's a data point for you:

My '44 Remington-Rand has 125,000 rounds through it and it'll still keep 5 shots in a fit-sized group at 50 feet. I'd say WWII USGI .45s are plenty durable :D

Brewer

[RECCE556]

Wow, 125K rounds. Yeah, I'd say that durable. :)

[1911Tuner]

USGI slides weren't hardened, other than in key areas, and the WW1-era slides didn't even have that. In or around 1936 or early '37, they underwent a modification to the breechface with the installation of a hardened steel insert to forestall peening around the firing pin port that occurred when the case rim slammed into the breechface under recoil.

The barrel fit...upper lug vertical engagement...and horizontal equalization is a big determining factor in how long the slide will last...but the bottom line is that the slides were pretty much considered to be like any other wear-prone part, and replaced whenever anything didn't check out to spec. The US government probably had 4-5 slides in reserve for every pistol delivered.

I've seen slide lug damage/deformation occur as early as 25,000 rounds, and I've seen'em take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. It's all in the way the gun's dimensions stack up.

[RECCE556]

As always, thanks for the detailed answer Tuner!