Poll Reference New or Newly Purchased Colts

[rhtwist]

Hello,
I am instituting a poll in reference to new or fairly new Colt 1911 pistols. I am trying to get quantitive information about an issue that many have different view points on. This poll will not be about the issue being a problem, BUT about if the firearms that the responder's have exhibit this issue.
The issue is, does your Colt immeditately start wearing the shoulder of the recoil spring plug, leaving chatter marks and removed bluing, where it is held in by the barrel bushing. My past and present new Series 70 Reissue does and as the recoil plug has a detent in it, this seems to cause the plug to rotate and will eventually damage the entire shoulder. On one pistol there was also damage shown on the bushing, the other not. Thanks for your responses, the more the better.
rhtwist

[Hill]

You want to ask: " Does your recoil spring plug have a small indented catch that screws it onto the spring, keeping it from flying away if you lose control over it during disassembly and also keeps the plug from rotating under the bushing during operation of the pistol? "

Isn't that a lot simpler? :)

[rhtwist]

Hello Hill,
I'm trying to ascertain the quantity of new or newer guns that show the damage described. My other 1911 GCNM does not after 12 years. the 2 Series 70 Reissues show the problem immediately upon firing for the first time. They both have the indented catch, but I purchased an Ed Brown recoil spring plug without the catch and it was damaged also, although not to the same extent as the factory originals. Thanx for responding Sir.
rhtwist

[rhtwist]

Howdy,
Got a clue from Colt. Use emory cloth to take the sharp edges of the spring end and that should keep the recoil plug from rotating. At least keep the scratched area in one place.
rhtwist

[Driver1]

Yes, my 1970 series reissue also has this wear.

[OD*]

About all of my 1911s show some wear at the plug.

[rhtwist]

Hey OD*,
The wear I'm mainly concerned in is the shoulder shows chatter marks where the bluing is under the bushing. It is not smooth and no blue. As my plugs rotated this wear eventually encircle the shoulder down to bare metal. I have a Gold Cup that shows no wear, not even a scratch. Of course it is of an older vintage. Also the wear shows up immediately ( within 50 rounds ).
rhtwist

[OD*]

Hmm, can't say mine have any *chatter marks*.

[Sinbad]

Mr Twisted, in answer to your query, I noticed this after the first 50 rounds
through my new 0491 Commander, less than 60 days since I purchased. If this hasn't been a problem with the older models it is probably a problem with the hardness of the newer recoil plugs. It is something that Colt should explore with their vendor and if it is something that might cause a problem then it should be REPLACED!!!!!!!
I just twisted the plug so that it would wear uniformly. I have not contacted Colt....yet.

Suggestions.

Ken M

[OD#3]

All four of my newer Colts exhibit this finish wear as well. I don't have any older ones, so it never struck me as odd. Evidently, my spring somehow always ends up rotationally in the same place on the recoil spring guide, because when I capture the spring with the plug detent, the finish-worn area of the plug always ends up under the bushing fingers. So externally, the worn finish isn't noticeable. Thanks for bringing it up though. Now it will aggravate me every time I reassemble it, because I'll be trying to make sure that it stays in the same place rotationally.

[texagun]

The issue is, does your Colt immeditately start wearing the shoulder of the recoil spring plug, leaving chatter marks and removed bluing, where it is held in by the barrel bushing.

Yes, in my '70 Series repros and my WWI repros. I used to use cold bluing on them when cleaning, but gave up on it. My older guns don't do that.

[clughog]

Noticed it the first time I fired my Series 70 Reproduction. And I see lesser signs of it on my older Colt's. I attributed it to a change in the metal they use in the new plugs. Incidentally, I see it on an Ed Brown plug I installed as well.

[Rio Vista Slim]

About all of my 1911s show some wear at the plug.
Noticed it the first time I fired my Series 70 Reproduction. And I see lesser signs of it on my older Colt's. I attributed it to a change in the metal they use in the new plugs. Incidentally, I see it on an Ed Brown plug I installed as well.

rhtwist,
No "chatter" marks on the two blued Colt pistols equipped with the recoil spring plug, although the blue is gone on both guns. I don't have my older Colts anymore to do any comparison. To be frank, I just don't worry about it.

As clughog correctly states, the metal is probably different than what was previously used, and even high-end after market items have shown a tendency to suffer the same fate.

[wichaka]

Can you post some pics of the problem you're referring to?

[clughog]

And to clarify my post, the only thing I see is the bluing worn off. NO other damage. As my friend Rio Vista Slim says, I just don't worry about it.

[rhtwist]

There is not much to do about it. But I will try to get some photos. Colt sent me a second one for my first Series 70 Reissue and it did the same.
Oh well.
rhtwist

[Justin]

Again most all my 1911's exhibit wear on the plug no matter whom manufactured the pistol.

[rhtwist]

Thanks JustinTime for responding. Is it possible you could display a photo of the wear on the Les Bauer I assume you own, and maybe a Colt. Thanks again for voting.
rhtwist

[BMR]

Noticed it the first time I fired my Series 70 Reproduction. And I see lesser signs of it on my older Colt's. I attributed it to a change in the metal they use in the new plugs. Incidentally, I see it on an Ed Brown plug I installed as well.

Yes, I saw that with my blued Series 70 repro, too. It did it with a stock plug and with a replacement Ed Brown. I took it to a gunsmith, Alex Hamilton in San Antonio, and he did a quick fix (don't remember what) and it has not occured again. I have not seen the same problem with my Ed Brown Executive Elite nor my stainless Series 70.

[rhtwist]

Hello BMR,
This is something I expected. I certainly would prefer Colt to take care of it though. Probably not as they told me it has always happened to all Colt recoil spring plugs??????!! Thanks for your response.
rhtwist

[rhtwist]

Hey wichaka,
This is about the best photo I can get at the moment. The other plugs were worn completly around the shoulder.
rhtwist

http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t356/rhtwist/th_DSC02549.jpg (http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t356/rhtwist/DSC02549.jpg)

[BMR]

I take back what I said about my stainless Series 70. The plug does, in fact, have the chatter marks. They were just not as readily apparent because of the absence of blueing.

[paul45]

OK.....somebody post a GOOD, in focus, pic of a "chatter mark" on a recoil plug thingybob.

What the heck is a chatter mark?

I'm slow witted .......went to work at 0330 this morning...............

[rhtwist]

Hey paul45,
What I'm refereing to as chatter marks are tiny gouges and scratches covering the flat metal of the shoulder on the recoil plug, as oppossed to the metal being smooth with the bluing just rubbed off. I too would like to see a better picture.
rhtwist

[sff70]

ALL the plugs on ALL my 1911s rotate and wear in the area shown in the pic.

Any metal to metal contact will wear through a finish, ***especially*** bluing, teflon, and poly based finishes.

Some have even gouged the metal slightly.

It's not something that causes a problem.

IMO, this is not worth worrying about.

[rhtwist]

Thank you for your response sff70. My question is mainly about new or newly purchased Colts. It may not be a problem but within 50 rounds a new gun qouging the recoil plug is not IMHO up to Colt's older standard. Because I've only got a 12 year old Stainless GCNM with no qouging or really unexpected wear, my experience is limited. The poll seems to show currently that quite a few people do not experience the posted problem. BTW did you vote :D ?
Take care.
rhtwist

[sweet45]

The gouge marks being seen on the recoil spring plug, may be from the barrel shifting the bushing around under recoil. I always install a match barrel bushing for a solid fit to the slide.

[rhtwist]

That could be! The Gold Cup I have shows no signs of it, probably a better quality barrel bushing on them then.
rhtwist

[d90king]

No not on a single pistol.

[rhtwist]

Howdy back again to gather more information. Thanx to all that have voted and those who will vote.
rhtwist

[rhtwist]

Continuing to gather responses. Thanks for those who did. Appears if the issue is greater than those without. Colt tried to grind flat the end of the spring bearing on the recoil plug as a possible fix. Noting the inside of the recoil spring plug again I noted concentric or spiral milling marks, wear the spring bears against the plug. On a 95 Colt recoil spring plug, that area is flat and finished smooth. Thanks for your responses
rhtwist

[rhtwist]

Hello to all,
Continuing poll and thanks for all responses.
rhtwist

[aluminum]

i have these marks on 1/2 of the piece, but it seems like as long as i install the spring on the guide rod with the end in the same place every time, the plug marks correspond.

have noticed also that i dont even have to be firing the gun, it will spin just racking the slide a few times.

[aluminum]

checked...and my older one, does show signs of spinning or at least being installed in different places each time. but its more a peening appearance than a gouged appearance.

as a few said...wear marks i think are normal, other hand like you have pointed out, gouges arent normal, so i would think the hardness of the plug(or lack of) would be the answer to that. just an uneducated guess, but im gonna make sure the backside of the bushing has no burrs, because regrdless of hardness issues the only thing that can gouge the plug would be a non chamfered or gnarly looking bushing???

[dakota1911]

I answer as another person who is not exactly sure as to what you mean by "chatter marks" and would like a better picture. The wear on the new ones looks pretty much like the wear on the "old" guns I bought new in the 70's. Of course I discovered the "super lubriants" with Teflon, etc. early and always clean and lube my pistols.

The fact that you think you are having damage to the barrel bushing is disturbing. I don't know your situation, but I have a gunsmith I would run something like by him/her before sending it back to Colt.

The third thing I may have missed in this thread is how does the gun shoot? I have had some "nasty" looking 1911s over the years that shot great, even amazing.