1911 collet bushing?

[Squeak]

I just read a thread on another forum that said the spring finger collet bushings on Colt 1911's have a reputation for breaking. That brought up a couple of questions for me: DO they have a reputation for breaking? And if so, does that render the gun un-shootable or does it just affect accuracy? Anybody ever had this happen? I have a high respect for the Colt brand & I can't imagine that Colt would let something like this go on for very long. Your comments?

[dad2thebone]

i never heard of that. and colt is a great gun.

[ka64]

It can happen, but not likely, I still have one in my series 80.
I also have a solid back up just in case, but the accuracy in a collet is excellent.

[Squeak]

OK, I might be on the wrong track here. Is the spring finger barrel bushing that I'm thinking of and a "collet bushing" the same thing. I am not that familiar with them to know the diffrence, but I'm also not too proud to ask. Thanks.

[hogger129]

They're only in the Series 70 and some of the early Series 80 guns. The early Series 70 ones had a knack for having thin fingers and so when the metal got fatigued, the fingers would break off and could jam up the gun really bad if it wasn't caught.

I would say if you're using it as a carry gun, change it out for a solid one. If you're not, then I wouldn't worry about it. Most of the ones in the later Series 70s and the Series 80 ones seem to be made stronger to the point where it probably won't break unless you shoot the gun a ton or put a lot of hot loads through it.

[Juker]

Good for you, Squeak, the best way to learn is to ask.

Go to this link; look at Part #2 in the diagram, and then look at the first photo below the diagram. It's commonly referred to as a Barrel Bushing.
http://www.coltsmfg.com/ShopOnline/t...0/Default.aspx

Some, like my 1980 Series 70 Govt Model, had a barrel bushing with spring-type flanges, meaning that instead of a solid "tube", the bushing has slits in it that give it a spring-like grip on the barrel. They can sometimes be a bugger to remove. Never heard of them breaking, but I haven't heard of everything. But, as ka64 noted, they're tighter, so they stabilize the barrel a bit more.

I bought the replacement, solid bushing and haven't noticed too much play in the barrel affecting accuracy. Note that Colt doesn't offer the other bushing any more.

[Juker]

To clarify, here are 2 pics:

[RJay]

The "legs " on the spring bushing can and have broken. It is not a every day event, but it has happened. On a gun used for range use only ( such as mine are ) it is of no great importance. If one breaks and jams the gun, well, when I get home I will repair it. However, there are those who like to carry the old war horse, in that case I would change to a solid bushing. Colt has erred before, check out the Colt 9MM 2000, I believe they called it the All American, introduced in 1992 with a lot of fanfare, dropped very quietly in 1994.

[Squeak]

Juker: yeah, that's what I'm talking about. So, if this thing breaks, I take it that the fix is to replace the "spring" bushing with a solid bushing. If I keep hanging around this forum I'll get almost as smart as my wife - - - nnaahh.

[Juker]

Roger that -

[todd51]

Squeak, I wouldn't lose any sleep worrying about that barrel bushing. While any thing can break at any time I have a Colt Gold Cup '70 Series that I have had for over thirty years and have put thousands of rounds through it and it still has the original "fingered" barrel bushing.

[Bigbill]

I have read about this breaking before. I don't think its happening on a regular basis. One read or hearing about in 20 years or more isn't an alarm to me. My colt goverment series 70 had it and it never gave me problem. Its spring tention was always good too. I just lubed it with moly not oil. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Anyway a fix would be to get a IAI national match barrel bushing from CDNN Investments and fit it, the cost is very affordable and its not that hard to fit. I fitted my first NM barrel bushing on my norinco 1911a1 project and it has 100% lockup in full battery with no barrel spring in both directions. Even with a loose slide to frame fit she shoots clover leafs with wolf 45acp ammo. The improvement over the std loose barrel bushing is well worth the little cost and work.
Bill

[Tekkaman]

Hello,

I just want to mention a few facts.

-First The collet Bushing it is prone to breakage, But...

-The collet Bushing is for use with a oversized muzzle barrel, therfore the 4 springs on this type of bushing, open and close, each time you move the slide back and forward, that`s why it tend to breakeage.

-And last i can assure you the use of this Collet Bushing, if you use it on a standar barrel (with not a oversized muzzle), is not so tight but you feel a remarcable diference on the lock up, with out putting much pressure on the 4 spring.

I have use it that way long enough with out problems.

P.D. Believe it or not, both type of barrels have almost the same muzzle size

[Double D]

Originally Posted by Tekkaman

Hello,

I just want to mention a few facts.

-First The collet Bushing it is prone to breakage, But...

-The collet Bushing is for use with a oversized muzzle barrel, therfore the 4 springs on this type of bushing, open and close, each time you move the slide back and forward, that`s why it tend to breakeage.

-And last i can assure you the use of this Collet Bushing, if you use it on a standar barrel (with not a oversized muzzle), is not so tight but you feel a remarcable diference on the lock up, with out putting much pressure on the 4 spring.

I have use it that way long enough with out problems.

P.D. Believe it or not, both type of barrels have almost the same muzzle size

??

[aa1911]

Ed Brown has a beautiful match barrel/bushing combo if you are wanting to replace both barrel/bushing. It's fitted (the bushing/barrel, not the barrel to slide) and is some of the best quality I've seen for a very reasonable price thru Brownells. Bought their commander size for the last one I built, very impressed with it.

You could also just do an oversized bushing like mentioned above, would be the way to go if your barrel is still good; hand fit it or use the reamer tool to get a good fit on lockup, it's not too difficult to do and pretty safe area to work on.

It's good to have spare parts, although only thing that's busted on me with 1911's is a firing pin spring, (still shot fine, discovered it after cleaning it) nothing else I can think of. pretty solid piece

[ka64]

Originally Posted by Tekkaman

Hello,

I just want to mention a few facts.

-First The collet Bushing it is prone to breakage, But...

-The collet Bushing is for use with a oversized muzzle barrel, therfore the 4 springs on this type of bushing, open and close, each time you move the slide back and forward, that`s why it tend to breakeage.

-And last i can assure you the use of this Collet Bushing, if you use it on a standar barrel (with not a oversized muzzle), is not so tight but you feel a remarcable diference on the lock up, with out putting much pressure on the 4 spring.

I have use it that way long enough with out problems.

P.D. Believe it or not, both type of barrels have almost the same muzzle size

[hogger129]

What year is your 1911 that you're running the collet bushing in? Unless it's one of the earlier models, odds are it's built strong enough that you shouldn't have a problem with it. I have only heard of them breaking from shooting too hot of loads through it. Even there, solid bushings can break too. I have a collet bushing that I acquired awhile back for a trade for a defective Wilson barrel/bushing and I haven't had any problems with mine, granted I rarely shot it. I kind of just use it as a spare part.

Don't lose sleep over it. If you're afraid it might break, get yourself a Briley spherical bushing fitted up. I have my Springfield set up with a Kart NM barrel and a Briley spherical bushing and the accuracy is phenomenal.

[hogger129]

Originally Posted by Tekkaman

Hello,

I just want to mention a few facts.

-First The collet Bushing it is prone to breakage, But...

-The collet Bushing is for use with a oversized muzzle barrel, therfore the 4 springs on this type of bushing, open and close, each time you move the slide back and forward, that`s why it tend to breakeage.

-And last i can assure you the use of this Collet Bushing, if you use it on a standar barrel (with not a oversized muzzle), is not so tight but you feel a remarcable diference on the lock up, with out putting much pressure on the 4 spring.

I have use it that way long enough with out problems.

P.D. Believe it or not, both type of barrels have almost the same muzzle size

Odds are that unless you have one of the early Series 70 models where the fingers are thinner, the collet won't break unless you're shooting hot loads all the time which will fatigue the metal.

Both barrels don't have the same muzzle size. I would think they vary barrel to barrel. For example, one might measure .580" at the muzzle while one could measure .582" for example. The same goes for a standard barrel. The Series 70 barrels had a slight flare at the end to create tight lockup. The reason Colt quit making them is that it required for the slide and barrel to be machined parallel enough otherwise those fingers would bind up and break. Therefore it wasn't really any cheaper or easier to do than just fitting up a regular bushing.