Colt 1911 with hollow points????

[P99AS9]

Im thinking about getting a 1911 and I'm leaning towards either the Series 70 or 1911A1 government model. I know these guns generally do well with ball ammo, but how do they do with hollow points?

[luvsasmith]

most 1911 designs will need some work for Hollow points to function in them reliably.

[45_Shooter]

most 1911 designs will need some work for Hollow points to function in them reliably.

This was true about 25 years ago. Since that time the vast majority of 1911's have been manufactured with a feed ramp appropriate for hollow point or semi-wadcutter ammunition. The new production Colt Series 70's are properly throated as is 99% of their line. The only notable exception is the WW1 reproduction pistol, which remains true to form with a hardball feed ramp.

If you are getting into a used pistol from the mid '80's on back, then you may get into an issue where you have to plop down the $40 to have a gunsmith grind an appropriate feed ramp for aggressive bullet profiles. Not exactly the end of the world even if you stick with the hardball ramp; in my experience the older ramps tend to work pretty well with many of the hollowpoint bullet profiles available today.

[RickB]

If you use quality magazines, and stick to bullets with a rounded, rather than truncated cone profile, hollowpoints may feed just fine. I shot some older Sierra hollowpoints through a 1913 Colt, and it ran perfectly. I just hand-cyled magfull of Winchester SXTs through my 1918 Colt, and while that's hardly a thorough test, there were no problems.

[B. Lahey]

My Colt WWI repro feeds HPs and wadcutters just fine. Didn't expect it to, but it does.

I don't think it's much of a problem these days.

[Redneckrepairs]

I have yet to see a 1911 that has a problem with hydra shock if it will feed ball . However federal and corbon both make an answer for ya that duplicates ball dementions ( with a plug ) that are actually hollow points . Point is that if your pistol will feed ball , nowadays there is a hp out there it will feed as well . Now note that the particular hp may not expand as well as maby some other designs , but what the hell it aint gonna shrink .

[brucea4]

Brudda, do the ramp yourself with a piece of emory cloth if your pistol doesn't shoot the round you want.

[spamanon]

My Kimber feeds everything I have thrown at it, including 4 different brands of hollowpoints. No work needed.

[michael t]

All 11 of my 1911's shoot HP fine Newer ones are HP friendy I wish the need some work myth would just go away.

[Webleymkv]

In the past couple of years, I've had experience with both a M1991A1 Commander and Series 80 Gold Cup, neither had a problem with Federal HST, Winchester SXT, or WWB 230grn JHP.

[armsmaster270]

I have a 1913 vintage 1911 and in the 50 years I've had it It has eaten everything i've fed it.

[Bill DeShivs]

"Brudda, do the ramp yourself with a piece of emory cloth if your pistol doesn't shoot the round you want."

I notice everyone is ignoring this remark-as well they should. Leave the feed ramps to professionals, and certainly don't use emory cloth!

[CDH]

I'll add to the mix and say that all three of my Colt's (stainless full size, stainless Commander and Lightweight Commander XSE) shoot anything I've put through them with no problems at all.

My round of choice at the moment is the Federal HST, but I've shot a bit of WWB hollow point and Gold Dots as well, and none have given me any trouble.
All three of these pistols are out-of-the-box with no mods whatsoever.

The only magazines I've used with them are the original 7-round as supplied by Colt, and the Wilson 8-round mags. All do fine.

[Kreyzhorse]

My Springfield TRP will fire any ammo that I put through it, ball or hollow points, cheap or expensive. I think its more rare to find one that doesn't feed hollow points than finding one that does.

[TacticalDefense1911]

My Springfield TRP will fire any ammo that I put through it, ball or hollow points, cheap or expensive. I think its more rare to find one that doesn't feed hollow points than finding one that does.

+1. Modern 1911's are designed to use hp ammunition. It would be rare, rather than the norm to have one that does not feed any type of hp reliably.

[SilentHitz]

^^ +2 I have a dozen 1911s and they all feed whatever I give them. Only thing I haven't tried in all of them are the flat wadcutters. I had a case of old Remington WC years ago, and most were fired in my Colt combat commander, the rest in the tommy gun...no problems.

I've only seen 1 1911 that had feeding problems with HP , and after I looked at the feed ramp...I concluded the customer must have "polished" it with a rat tail file!:rolleyes:

[P99AS9]

I ask because my father had a Series 80 Officers model and his had many problems, one of which was that it was not feeding HP's. I'm really interested in Colt's 1911A1 Government model because I love the classic Colts and I was wondering what kind of experience you guys had with them.

[cjw3cma]

When I got my USGI 1911 model (built to spec. with a trigger job / frame to slide fit / and improved sights) I just continued with the CorBon Pow'RBall carry muntion that I use in the 40S&W / .380 / 38sp guns. Feeds and does what it is suppose to do. Have not tried any "standard" HP's yet.

[Webleymkv]

ask because my father had a Series 80 Officers model and his had many problems

Officer's models are known to be a bit more finicky than the larger guns. Also, feed reliability is often dependant upon which HP you're using. Generally, JHPs with an ogive similar to hardball will feed the most reliably. Fortunately, most newer .45 JHP's are designed to have an ogive that is similar to hardball.

[Tom2]

I would agree that actually recontouring or reshaping the feed ramp is a pro job, but just polishing out any rough spots is not a big deal. I use something not super aggresive like Cratex rubber bits in a Dremel, and then finish up polishing with different compounds on one of those buffing tips. Can make a feedramp shine like a mirror without going nuts and changing the shape. Does slick up feeding even if the ramp is sort of made for HP but finished to "machine bit medium fine" or somthing less than perfect.

[Dobe]

All 11 of my 1911's shoot HP fine Newer ones are HP friendy I wish the need some work myth would just go away.


It won't anytime soon. This gives the distractors something to throw, and the parrots something to parrot.;)

[hdawson228]

My SA GI/milspec 1911 shoots anything and everything. And shoots it well.:cool:

[tomh1426]

All 3 of my current 1911's feed anything (colt 80,S&W,Taurus)
I "had" a Springfield GI that wouldnt feed HP's even after a trip back to Springfield but that gun was just a lemmon IMO

[Brian48]

Colt began throating for hollowpoints a long time ago, however in the last 10 years or so, they've gone a step further. All new Colts from about 10 years back has been using the new "dimple" throating on the barrels that supposedly allows feeding of all hollowpoint AND provide the necessary case support for hot loads. Previous Colts prior to that had the traditional throating for hollowpoints, which does allow for feeding, but did not always provide enough case support to guard against case rupture for really hot reloads. To be honest, my Gold Cup is over 15 years old and has the older throating method. I've never had a problem with hot loads.

[jerryd]

My Duty Weapon, Kimber STS carries win ranger 230 gr hp, as does my Kimber ultra or my Colt 70, never had a problem!!!! Only when shooting my reloads swc, did i have a problem, till i got the OAL correct.

[WESHOOT2]

Regardless of brand, or throat, or bullet, success will be determined only from the one in hand; only.