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I always heard and thought that anything shorter than a commander length 1911 sacrificed reliability. However, I have heard good things about the reliability of the Colt Defender. Is this pistol the exception to the rule?
I love the size and width of the pistol for carry use, but if it can't be counted on to work...
It seems that the latest issue of the Colt Defenders are very well put together and run with much fewer issues. Some of the big name trainers (Hackathorn IIRC) has said on more than one occasion the Colt is GTG.
But with any 1911 YMMV.
I'd start off with looking at as many of them as you can, or as many as your local FFL's will tolerate you fondling. Check them for fit and function. Look for such things as extractor clocking when you dry fire it. These easy to spot issues will tell you a lot about the possibility of problems out of the box.
Once you find one you like, start with a steady diet of nothing but factory 230gr ball ammo and the standard Colt OEM mags. See what type of performance you get before changing up to say Wilson Combat etc... officers mags
Then stick with 230gr HP's for your carry ammo.
I have found Defenders anywhere between "good to go" and "good place to start".
They are really well built, but universally have bloody awful sharp edges every where, sometimes poorly installed sights, they are not factory zero'd.... you know, like most handguns from most manufacturers. Typically they need a little tuning for feeding.
But as I have often said, I honestly believe that if you went to the gun store and bought a brand-new current production Colt Government and the same in a Defender, the Defender would shoot tighter groups.
Very true that the shorter ones have a smaller window of function. My approach is use milder ammo. I like the 185 Barnes but some places are loading it right to the edge and that's not necessary with that bullet. Barnes will tell you it's good to 750 and below, so no need to try and bump it up to 1125. You and your Defender will work better together with something milder and have less noise, flash, and recoil to deal with. Wilson Combat Pinnacle offers ammo tailored for guns like this and is my preferred load for "little" .45's.
I bought one late 2016. Forgot all about it until reading this. Suppose I need to shoot it.
@Ned Christiansen
How do they fare in 9mm?
Never worked on one in 9. As well or better I would think.... better being a wider window of function.
The first time that I shot my 9mm Defender, the guide rod literally shot out the front of the pistol on to the table in front of me. It left a live cartridge in the chamber. There was no way to eject the live cartridge from the chamber, so I had to figure out a way to fire it without the guide rod in place. I taped the pistol up so that the slide couldn't move to the rear and fired it. I was then able to remove the spent case. I sent the broken guide rod assembly back to Colt and they replaced it with a new one. I've fired 231rds since then. It has had two failures to feed and the slide locked back once with a cartridge left in the magazine. Not carry worthy at this point, but I have not really shot it much.
Before shooting:
https://s22.postimg.cc/jx7kmyrip/Col..._left_view.jpg
After shooting:
https://s22.postimg.cc/hfvtfozwh/Col..._left_view.jpg
Now with Pearce Grips:
https://s22.postimg.cc/rd6u8rmxt/Def...arce_Grips.jpg
Whatever you do, don't buy one in .40. I could go on forever about mine, and about Colt's abysmal customer service. There's a reason that Colt (and Kimber, and others) don't make shorty .40s any longer.