How Long Will A Conventional 1911 Last?

[BushmasterFanBoy]

Hey guys. I currently have a Kimber Warrior. After a couple trips back to Kimber for various fixes, it finally runs perfectly. I've put several cases of Winchester White Box through it and honestly I've lost count. I would say in the neighborhood of ~5,000 rounds.

Anyway today I took apart the pistol and noticed that their seems to be some pretty serious wear and tear on the frame. I check my manual and sure enough it's time for a replacement spring. At 16lbs, Kimber recommends that the recoil spring is replaced every "1500-1800 rounds". I've obviously gone way over that amount, oops .

The frame wear got me wondering, how long will a steel framed 1911 last? I haven't had that many rounds through mine yet and it is already looking pretty bad. Obviously the finish is horrible on the Warrior, but I am talking about the actual steel frame itself. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!

[TOrrock]

There are still pre-war (WWI) 1911's out there that are mechanically perfect, but people shoot a whole lot more now than they ever have.

Keep changing recoil springs religiously and it should give you a long life of happiness......

[Ed L.]

You might want to consider a heavier recoil spring--say an 18lb. That's heavy enough to give sufficient resistance but not too heavy.

[bullitt5172]

A properly setup 1911 will outlast any of us...

[SethB]

A friend of mine says that his pistols come back needing rebuilding after the 50,000 round mark.

Of course, lots of parts can break first, and the springs need to be changed every few thousand rounds.

I use 16 pound springs.

[bullitt5172]

A friend of mine says that his pistols come back needing rebuilding after the 50,000 round mark.

Of course, lots of parts can break first, and the springs need to be changed every few thousand rounds.

I use 16 pound springs.

50k shouldn't wear anything out on a 1911 other than extracters, ejectors and springs....

[ToddG]

Determining service life is difficult for a brand or model in general. It's impossible for a single sample.

Your service life is going to depend on a plethora of variables including but not limited to:

• Frequency of cleaning
• Detail of cleaning
• Frequency of lubrication (and type of lubrication)
• Frequency of preventative maintenance and parts replacement
• Shooting environment
• Storage environment
• Ammunition
• Frequency/rate of fire

... and so on. And we haven't even touched on the quality of the gun and all its component parts.

You also need to define what "service life" means. The most common definition is the life of the major components (frame, barrel, slide). So a gun shooting frangible ammo (which is horrible for barrels) is going to "die" a lot sooner than one that shoots nothing but RNLs, all else being the same.

Finally, look at it in perspective. Let's suppose you buy a fairly expensive semi-production 1911 for $2,000 (or spend $2k by the time you're done having it tuned & customized). Let's also suppose you get a screaming deal on ammo and can find .45 practice ammo for just $250 per thousand. In 20,000 rounds you've spent $5,000 feeding your $2,000 gun.

If you own a $20,000 car, that's the equivalent of 12,500 gallons of gas. That would be about 250,000 miles worth of gas. How many people are going to be upset if they need to buy a new car every 250,000 miles?

Personally, I'd rather shoot a gun to death and get a new one than worry about how long it's going to last me.

[Bigun]

My old Colt 1991A1 had over 30,000 rounds through it when I sold it, It is still going strong 5 years and probably 5000 rounds later. My Kimber Custom target 2 has approx 10,000 rounds through it and is still tight as it was new, I cheated a litle and had it hard chromed at the 5,000 round mark. Proper Lubrication and cleaning of the 1911 system will keep it running for a hell of a long time. Think of the 1911 like you would a AR it runs better wet. Good quality lube not sewing machine oil applied liberally will minimise wear. CLP is your friend.