Auto Ordinance

Bricker · July 4, 2006, 08:53 AM

Has any one had any issues with Auto Ordinance .45's? I've been looking for an entry level 1911. Any input would be appreciated, I don't want to spend hard earned cash on a low quality gun

Hal · July 4, 2006, 09:41 AM

Two of the makers I was told to avoid:

1.) Auto-Ordnance
2.) AMT

I listened to the advice.
The reasons varied from "junk" to "there's better for the money".
That was a number of years ago. Things may have changed.

DonR101395 · July 4, 2006, 11:44 AM

Auto Ordnance is hit or miss. I have been shooting one since 1988. The only thing I did to it the first 16 years is change the sights to trigicons, add a wolf 18lb recoil spring, and add an ambi safety since I'm a lefty. Two years ago I changed the barrel after close to 25,000 rounds. I replaced it with a G.I. barrel. I've never had any issues with it and used it as my CCW from 88 until 03. My carry ammo in the early days was Speer 200 gr HP and PMC Starfire. The last year or two I carried it I used Cor-Bon 185 +P. It always goes bang the only thing it wouldn't fire was Federal Match, but that was because of the 18 pound recoil spring. My advice, is look it over very good and only buy it if it's priced very good. Otherwise, look at the Springfield Armory mil spec.

Mister_Dinky · July 4, 2006, 12:34 PM

I'm going to agree with Don on the AO. After polishing the feedramp and replacing the supplied mag with Wilsons it's been 100%.

care-less · July 4, 2006, 12:44 PM

The old AO had a bad reputation which was well deserved. They were parts bin guns; sometimes all the parts fit and worked well, sometimes not. Since Kahr has purchased AO and installed all new state of the art machinery; the guns are very well made. Mine has never failed to feed, fire, or eject, and is the most accurate 1911 that I have ever owned.

wolfdog45 · July 4, 2006, 12:47 PM

I've owned a Auto-Ordnance 1911A1 for 7 years now and the only problem that I have had with it was when the extracter wore out.
I replaced it and the ejector at the same time and it performs flawlessly.
I have fired all kinds of ammo through it and it eats them up just fine.
Over the years I have replaced the grips and I have put a full length guide rod on it.
It is my main carry gun. I keep it loaded with Federal EFMJ's.

Sarge · July 4, 2006, 01:16 PM

Just bought a new WWII model in January; bought it cheap because the thumb safety would barely engage. Front leg of the MIM ejector was broke off, straight from the box, extractor was iffy, firing pin stop was also undersized allowing extractor to clock during operation. Lotsa other stuff; barrel had chatter marks in the rifling, hammer/sear pins were undersize, grip screws/ bushings were soft- overall cheapness of the small parts was as plain as the nose on your face.

The frame was perfect, and the slide was pretty darn good. They are making better main components since the "Kahr change."

No biggie- I bought it to rebuild in the first place. I replaced all the critical stuff with Ed Brown goddies, and A/O replaced all the junk stuff, no questions asked. I kept the gun and just had them ship me the parts. They even sent me a real decent barrel. It turned into a real shooter in the end, and has gone well over 1500 rounds of ball/SWC/JHP with only two malfs, directly attributable to the ammo

Full story in these threads-
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=133638
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=138466

Actually, it has become one of my favorite 1911's ever.

Bottom line? You might get one that runs like a champ, or you might get a dog. The Springfield GI is a much better gun IMO, unless you can build one yourself from the frame out. The A/O is American made, and probably follows the WWII blueprint closer than anything except Colts repro of those guns. It will take GI surplus parts including firing pins and barrels.

BigBill · July 5, 2006, 09:06 AM

I went looking for a low budget 1911a1 for a shooter, beater, carry gun. I was looking for a S.A.M, or Charles Daly or a Rock Ilnad Armory. My local dealer had a stack of the new Auto-Ordnance Army 1911a1 WW2 copy for $389. I cleaned it and installed the full length guide rod with the #18 recoil spring and lubed it up with moly and off to the range we went to test fire it. We ran about 250+rds thru it firing it between the three of us. The new Auto-Ordnance Army WW2 copy is the very first 1911a1 to function flawlessly for me right out of the box its perfect. Since the 70's I have had a few higher priced 1911a1's that never were dependable enough to carry. My hats off to the people at auto-ordnance for manufacturing a dependable, reliable and affordable pistol.

Lastyear I picked up a used chinese norinco 1911a1 45acp and after shooting it I found out what a reliable and dependable gun these can be when they function properly. When these 1911a1's are right they rock.

I still have a springer thats still in the box from the early 90's that still doesn't function properly to this day. It sure is purdy but it don't work. But then again in the 70's I had two new colt 1911a1's that wouldn't function too. I can't say anything bad about the new auto-ordnance army 1911a1. My point is if the chinese can copy our 1911a1 and make it right why can't the company who invented it in the USA? Have we lost something? You bet we have we lost the real tradesmans who built these years ago we have lost the 1911a1 guru's and the knowledge wasn't passed on to the younger guys. So know we have to buy a new 1911a1 and plan on reworking it to get it right after paying big bucks to buy it and that sucks. I feel it should work properly right out of the box like the chinese and the auto-ordnance does.

He also had the Springfield Armory GI copy too for $419 I purchased that one too but i haven't test fired it yet. Its made in Brazil and has a key start.(safety)

I only shoot the russian wolf 45acp ammo too at the range.

I tweeked in my well used chinese norinco 1911a1 with a national match barrel bushing, rubber wrap around grips (CDNN) a new barrel and full length guide rod from sportsmans guide. After fitting and assembling the gun with moly she shot 3 clover leafs 3 times at 25yds and shot flawlessly for 250rds.

July 4, 2006, 01:16 PM	#7
Sarge Senior Member Join Date: May 12, 2002 Location: MO Posts: 5,457	Just bought a new WWII model in January; bought it cheap because the thumb safety would barely engage. Front leg of the MIM ejector was broke off, straight from the box, extractor was iffy, firing pin stop was also undersized allowing extractor to clock during operation. Lotsa other stuff; barrel had chatter marks in the rifling, hammer/sear pins were undersize, grip screws/ bushings were soft- overall cheapness of the small parts was as plain as the nose on your face. The frame was perfect, and the slide was pretty darn good. They are making better main components since the "Kahr change." No biggie- I bought it to rebuild in the first place. I replaced all the critical stuff with Ed Brown goddies, and A/O replaced all the junk stuff, no questions asked. I kept the gun and just had them ship me the parts. They even sent me a real decent barrel. It turned into a real shooter in the end, and has gone well over 1500 rounds of ball/SWC/JHP with only two malfs, directly attributable to the ammo Full story in these threads- http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=133638 http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=138466 Actually, it has become one of my favorite 1911's ever. Bottom line? You might get one that runs like a champ, or you might get a dog. The Springfield GI is a much better gun IMO, unless you can build one yourself from the frame out. The A/O is American made, and probably follows the WWII blueprint closer than anything except Colts repro of those guns. It will take GI surplus parts including firing pins and barrels. __________________ People were smarter before the Internet, or imbeciles were harder to notice. Last edited by Sarge; July 4, 2006 at 08:26 PM.

July 4, 2006, 08:53 AM	#1
Bricker Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Hall County Posts: 41	Auto Ordinance Has any one had any issues with Auto Ordinance .45's? I've been looking for an entry level 1911. Any input would be appreciated, I don't want to spend hard earned cash on a low quality gun __________________ A man is only as good as his word.

July 4, 2006, 09:41 AM	#2
Hal Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 1998 Location: Ohio USA Posts: 8,563	Two of the makers I was told to avoid: 1.) Auto-Ordnance 2.) AMT I listened to the advice. The reasons varied from "junk" to "there's better for the money". That was a number of years ago. Things may have changed.

July 4, 2006, 11:44 AM	#3
DonR101395 Senior Member Join Date: October 30, 2005 Location: NWFL Posts: 3,031	Auto Ordnance is hit or miss. I have been shooting one since 1988. The only thing I did to it the first 16 years is change the sights to trigicons, add a wolf 18lb recoil spring, and add an ambi safety since I'm a lefty. Two years ago I changed the barrel after close to 25,000 rounds. I replaced it with a G.I. barrel. I've never had any issues with it and used it as my CCW from 88 until 03. My carry ammo in the early days was Speer 200 gr HP and PMC Starfire. The last year or two I carried it I used Cor-Bon 185 +P. It always goes bang the only thing it wouldn't fire was Federal Match, but that was because of the 18 pound recoil spring. My advice, is look it over very good and only buy it if it's priced very good. Otherwise, look at the Springfield Armory mil spec.

July 4, 2006, 12:34 PM	#4
Mister_Dinky Junior member Join Date: July 18, 2002 Location: In one of the 50 Posts: 191	I'm going to agree with Don on the AO. After polishing the feedramp and replacing the supplied mag with Wilsons it's been 100%.

July 4, 2006, 12:44 PM	#5
care-less Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 2004 Posts: 127	The old AO had a bad reputation which was well deserved. They were parts bin guns; sometimes all the parts fit and worked well, sometimes not. Since Kahr has purchased AO and installed all new state of the art machinery; the guns are very well made. Mine has never failed to feed, fire, or eject, and is the most accurate 1911 that I have ever owned.

July 4, 2006, 12:47 PM	#6
wolfdog45 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2005 Location: Tennessee Posts: 324	I've owned a Auto-Ordnance 1911A1 for 7 years now and the only problem that I have had with it was when the extracter wore out. I replaced it and the ejector at the same time and it performs flawlessly. I have fired all kinds of ammo through it and it eats them up just fine. Over the years I have replaced the grips and I have put a full length guide rod on it. It is my main carry gun. I keep it loaded with Federal EFMJ's.

July 5, 2006, 09:06 AM	#8
BigBill Member Join Date: May 21, 2006 Posts: 53	I went looking for a low budget 1911a1 for a shooter, beater, carry gun. I was looking for a S.A.M, or Charles Daly or a Rock Ilnad Armory. My local dealer had a stack of the new Auto-Ordnance Army 1911a1 WW2 copy for $389. I cleaned it and installed the full length guide rod with the #18 recoil spring and lubed it up with moly and off to the range we went to test fire it. We ran about 250+rds thru it firing it between the three of us. The new Auto-Ordnance Army WW2 copy is the very first 1911a1 to function flawlessly for me right out of the box its perfect. Since the 70's I have had a few higher priced 1911a1's that never were dependable enough to carry. My hats off to the people at auto-ordnance for manufacturing a dependable, reliable and affordable pistol. Lastyear I picked up a used chinese norinco 1911a1 45acp and after shooting it I found out what a reliable and dependable gun these can be when they function properly. When these 1911a1's are right they rock. I still have a springer thats still in the box from the early 90's that still doesn't function properly to this day. It sure is purdy but it don't work. But then again in the 70's I had two new colt 1911a1's that wouldn't function too. I can't say anything bad about the new auto-ordnance army 1911a1. My point is if the chinese can copy our 1911a1 and make it right why can't the company who invented it in the USA? Have we lost something? You bet we have we lost the real tradesmans who built these years ago we have lost the 1911a1 guru's and the knowledge wasn't passed on to the younger guys. So know we have to buy a new 1911a1 and plan on reworking it to get it right after paying big bucks to buy it and that sucks. I feel it should work properly right out of the box like the chinese and the auto-ordnance does. He also had the Springfield Armory GI copy too for $419 I purchased that one too but i haven't test fired it yet. Its made in Brazil and has a key start.(safety) I only shoot the russian wolf 45acp ammo too at the range. I tweeked in my well used chinese norinco 1911a1 with a national match barrel bushing, rubber wrap around grips (CDNN) a new barrel and full length guide rod from sportsmans guide. After fitting and assembling the gun with moly she shot 3 clover leafs 3 times at 25yds and shot flawlessly for 250rds.