1911 Barrel Bushing Question

[Hootiewho]

I have a good friend whom just recently picked up a Colt Government Model Series 70 1911 and was told it was all factory. I stripped the pistol down for him and found something odd.

I am not the most 1911 savy person out there, infact I am going to a Vickers 1911 operators class at the end of the month to try and make up for that, so excuse me if this is a dumb question, but..

The barrel bushing in this pistol was extremely hard to remove. Upon removal I found the bushing to be slotted in four places starting from the chamber side moving about 3/4 of the way to the muzzle side. Two of these slots are larger than the other two, and all four don't really appear to be precision cut, as they are somewhat uneven.

I will post a picture later on, but does anyone know if Colt ever made a bushing matching this description; or any other company for that matter?

Thanks in advance

[lindertw]

Sounds like an older Colt series 70 pistol with a collet bushing. Does it look like the bushing on the right?


*photo courtesy of coolgunsite.com

[Hootiewho]

That is exactly the part. Is that infact a Colt Factory Part?

Thanks for the quick reply as well.

[Steve_Morrison]

That is a collet bushing, as lindertw said- a factory part common on original Colt Series 70 pistols.
They are very prone to breakage and should be replaced with a solid type bushing, either a drop in from Colt or a quality aftermarket maker.

[Hootiewho]

I ordered a solid Colt bushing from Brownells this afternoon.

I had noticed that this particular pistol just didn't feel right when fired. It has a "spongy" feel when the slide returns to battery. Without a round loaded, the slide wants to hang up about 1/16" before going into battery. Like I said before, I am ignorant of these pistols, but wanting to learn. I just figured the problem was with the bushing, as it looks worn pretty bad.