Combat Commander Overhaul

[AllenM]

This is a follow-up to this thread: https://www.indianagunowners.com/threads/need-help-troubleshooting-a-1911.508193/#post-8786924
BigRed3588 Sent me this pistol to see about getting it sorted out.
It's been a while since i have done a photo walk through so I thought this would be a good candidate. I may not have time to complete it all at once since there are a bunch of pics but here is a start

Once i received the pistol I made a range trip with it to see how it did. I did not have any failures to feed with the ball ammo I had but I did have the slide lock engage on me, safety was very loose and had hammer follow once.
Pistol was "Combat accurate"...

Speaking with BigRed3588 I offered to do just what it needed to make it run but suggested much more. and he agreed that while i have it to do it right.

Here are some pics and a couple videos of what I found. From the looks of the bluing I would say it has not been shot much, or it has been reblued.
This one may have been a problem child even before whoever worked on it in the past.

Biggest issue was barrel fit

this is the barrel play with the gun fully assembled



This video is with the barrel link removed but slide stop still in the gun



The barrel bushing fit was no better.

Barrel lugs have never been touched by the slide stop

20210701_055910 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Riding the link

20210701_055924 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Yuk

20210701_055903 by Allen Moore, on Flickr


Factory tooling marks in the feed ramp

20210701_060932 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

More Colt Tooling marks

20210701_060955 by Allen Moore, on Flickr


Soft Ejector

20210701_061706 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210701_061715 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Extractor clocking

20210701_061740 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210701_061748 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Nothing Smooth inside

20210701_061506 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210701_061335 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Trigger pull was not gross

20210701_061157 by Allen Moore, on Flickr


I ordered all Nighthawk internals and a Kart NM gunsmith fit barrel for the gun.

20210701_061834 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

 

[AllenM]

20 pic limit

I wanted to get the biggest part out of the way first. Fitting the barrel and bushing

Measuring slide opening

20210702_054402 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Fitting the hood:

Making sure barrel lugs ae located in center of the slide before measuring the hood

20210702_053740 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Determining how much material to remove from right side of hood. Some numbers you see here may not be exactly what I show on the mill pics because holding the tools and taking a picture wasn't always accurate.

20210702_054038 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_054104 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_054514 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_055611 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_055614 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Figuring out how much to take off left side of hood

20210702_055739 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_060245 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_060249 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Now hood length

20210702_060413 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Hood length measuring stick

20210702_060538 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_060612 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_060821 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210702_060825 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Snap

20210702_060825 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Fitting lower lugs to slide stop
I need room for .1995 or .200 stop

20210703_040038 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_040108 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

.021 excess material to cut off barrel lugs

20210703_040145 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

like so

20210703_042533 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

 

[AllenM]

Hood clearance is fine so no adjustments needed there

20210703_040255 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_040321 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Slightly smoother the Colt

20210703_044756 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Fitting barrel bushing

20210703_050557 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_050432 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

and the inside

20210703_051130 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Barrel fit complete

20210703_051322 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_051331 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_051336 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Yes I will polish the hood

20210703_051603 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

Next addressing feed ramp

Since the feedramp was so rough I decided to use the mill to check angle and do the cleanup instead of trying to do it by hand. I removed as minimal amount as possible so I didn't have to modify the barrel feed ramp but I will if I have too. The frame had to be slicked up.

20210703_051625 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_053925 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

starting to take shape 1 thousandth at a time

20210703_055038 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_055439 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

now I can finish by hand

20210703_055526 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_060407 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_060419 (1) by Allen Moore, on Flickr

 

[AllenM]

I'll take 1911 drop in parts for $10,000.00 Alex

20210703_061537 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_062212 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_062441 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_062910 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_063953 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_071609 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

20210703_071613 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

reassembling now

20210703_073330 by Allen Moore, on Flickr

 

[Colt556]

Fantastic work as usual. Guy has a brand new pistol built the right way.

 

[churchmouse]

I am saving this for the next guy that argues as to the merits of the Colt 1911.
Not a direct knock on anyone that owns one. Just dont go Fanboy on me.

Great work as always Allen.

 

[DocIndy]

I love the “I want a custom 1911 so I ordered ever drop in part made in Brownells book” and nothing fits or works. This is the perfect example of “drop in isn’t drop in”. If you want it to work, it needs to be expertly fit and Allen is just the guy to do it. Great job documenting the process.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I am saving this for the next guy that argues as to the merits of the Colt 1911.
Not a direct knock on anyone that owns one. Just dont go Fanboy on me.

Great work as always Allen.

Exactly.

It does make me curious about how old this pistol is though.

Any chance we could find out what year it was built?

 

[drillsgt]

Rip those old Trijicons off and put some good sights on it.

 

[AllenM]

Exactly.

It does make me curious about how old this pistol is though.

Any chance we could find out what year it was built?

When I get a chance I can look up the year

 

[drillsgt]

Exactly.

It does make me curious about how old this pistol is though.

Any chance we could find out what year it was built?

According to Colt's website and others it's a 1977 manufacture.

 

[BigRed3588]

I am saving this for the next guy that argues as to the merits of the Colt 1911.
Not a direct knock on anyone that owns one. Just dont go Fanboy on me.

Great work as always Allen.

This was my first Colt 1911 and it didn’t exactly set a great first impression. To be fair, some of the issues weren’t Colt’s fault but it appears some definitely were. I’m surprised to hear those are Colt tooling marks; I figured the previous owner had taken a file to those parts when Allen first sent me the pictures. I’m starting to think I’m cursed when it comes to used 1911s. The last one I bought used was a Springfield that also had to go to Allen for a significant overhaul.

Anyway, I’m hoping my FFL dealer receives it today. Can’t wait to get it to the range!

 

[AllenM]

Side stepping here a little and I don't know why I am going here but maybe someone can explain it to me.

Here is what I don't get, the internet loves Colt is full of dislike for Kimber, but when I take a Kimber apart their machining and barrel fit up is top notch. Tooling marks are almost non existent and everyone of them I have had or shot have been accurate.

I am missing what happened to make people dislike them so much. My only real complaint is the internals are lower quality then I would expect for the money. But I think the cost is in the fitting

There are many others I like more then Kimber and I am not trying to hype them up it is just something that I don't understand when I see the two side by side. but If I want a good shooter I would take Kimber over "most" Colts any day. But for resale value, you will always get your money back out of a Colt.

Having said all of that I am not a Kimber fan boy I haven't had one forever. actually, I guess I do have one and it is a great gun. Their manufacturing is very good and the frame and slide material is of good quality.

 

[AllenM]

This was my first Colt 1911 and it didn’t exactly set a great first impression. To be fair, some of the issues weren’t Colt’s fault but it appears some definitely were. I’m surprised to hear those are Colt tooling marks; I figured the previous owner had taken a file to those parts when Allen first sent me the pictures. I’m starting to think I’m cursed when it comes to used 1911s. The last one I bought used was a Springfield that also had to go to Allen for a significant overhaul.

Anyway, I’m hoping my FFL dealer receives it today. Can’t wait to get it to the range!

Tracking says today

 

[churchmouse]

Side stepping here a little and I don't know why I am going here but maybe someone can explain it to me.

Here is what I don't get, the internet loves Colt is full of dislike for Kimber, but when I take a Kimber apart their machining and barrel fit up is top notch. Tooling marks are almost non existent and everyone of them I have had or shot have been accurate.

I am missing what happened to make people dislike them so much. My only real complaint is the internals are lower quality then I would expect for the money. But I think the cost is in the fitting

There are many others I like more then Kimber and I am not trying to hype them up it is just something that I don't understand when I see the two side by side. but If I want a good shooter I would take Kimber over "most" Colts any day. But for resale value, you will always get your money back out of a Colt.

Having said all of that I am not a Kimber fan boy I haven't had one forever. actually, I guess I do have one and it is a great gun. Their manufacturing is very good and the frame and slide material is of good quality.

I had 2 way back in the day I wish were still with me. Great pieces.

I have owned maybe 5 since then and hated every one of them for different reasons and yes they just did not live up to the price point.

I have been real negative in the forum as to RIA's/Kimbers. I have softened a lot with the RIA's as they have stepped up their game. In truth I have not even fired a Kimber/fondled a Kimber in a long time. Maybe so softening here is in order.

Good points as always Allen.

But nope. Not with the Colts. I could never understand the whole snake gun thing. Mine sucked to the point I let them go. Looking at the insanity they bring now maybe I should have waited.

 

[Colt556]

I’ve had 1911s for decades now. Some were good and some not so good. Allen is a perfectionist and builds them the way they should be built. Looks like a great gun now, the Commander has always been a favorite of mine. I like the old school Pachmeyer Rubber coated MSG!

 

[Colt556]

Oh, you mean all the internet Kimber Haters are wrong? I’m glad I have the Kimbers I own. I’ve never had one issues out of any of them and they all shoot great. Still love my Colts too. My current favorites are the Dan Wessons. Anyway, appreciate your work and wealth of knowledge!

 

[Tactically Fat]

Those machining marks on the bottom of the slide / slide rails are there to give the lube a better place to hang out.

 

[drillsgt]

Side stepping here a little and I don't know why I am going here but maybe someone can explain it to me.

Here is what I don't get, the internet loves Colt is full of dislike for Kimber, but when I take a Kimber apart their machining and barrel fit up is top notch. Tooling marks are almost non existent and everyone of them I have had or shot have been accurate.

I am missing what happened to make people dislike them so much. My only real complaint is the internals are lower quality then I would expect for the money. But I think the cost is in the fitting

There are many others I like more then Kimber and I am not trying to hype them up it is just something that I don't understand when I see the two side by side. but If I want a good shooter I would take Kimber over "most" Colts any day. But for resale value, you will always get your money back out of a Colt.

Having said all of that I am not a Kimber fan boy I haven't had one forever. actually, I guess I do have one and it is a great gun. Their manufacturing is very good and the frame and slide material is of good quality.

I sold Kimbers when they were brand new, they sold for about 500.00. Back then they had two models a blued one with rubber grips or a blued one with wood grips lol. At the time they were game changers, they had good sights, nicely fit beavertails albeit a little ugly, extended safeties, beveled magwells etc. They ran great and soon they added SS models, the 'commander' sized Pro and then the compacts. We never had an issue that I can remember. To this day though I don't think I ever owned a Kimber which is strange. They took a hit after the whole external extractor debacle and then the introduction of the Schwartz safety which is why i'll never own one. Some unfortunate parts breakage which added to the whole MIM debate tarnished them as well. They make good looking guns for the money, I love the two-tone Classic but wouldn't buy one. I think like Sig they got carried away and started to make so many ridiculous variations that the whole product line suffered.

 

[AllenM]

This was my first Colt 1911 and it didn’t exactly set a great first impression. To be fair, some of the issues weren’t Colt’s fault but it appears some definitely were. I’m surprised to hear those are Colt tooling marks; I figured the previous owner had taken a file to those parts when Allen first sent me the pictures. I’m starting to think I’m cursed when it comes to used 1911s. The last one I bought used was a Springfield that also had to go to Allen for a significant overhaul.

Anyway, I’m hoping my FFL dealer receives it today. Can’t wait to get it to the range!

I sold Kimbers when they were brand new, they sold for about 500.00. Back then they had two models a blued one with rubber grips or a blued one with wood grips lol. At the time they were game changers, they had good sights, nicely fit beavertails albeit a little ugly, extended safeties, beveled magwells etc. They ran great and soon they added SS models, the 'commander' sized Pro and then the compacts. We never had an issue that I can remember. To this day though I don't think I ever owned a Kimber which is strange. They took a hit after the whole external extractor debacle and then the introduction of the Schwartz safety which is why i'll never own one. Some unfortunate parts breakage which added to the whole MIM debate tarnished them as well. They make good looking guns for the money, I love the two-tone Classic but wouldn't buy one. I think like Sig they got carried away and started to make so many ridiculous variations that the whole product line suffered.

That makes sense.
Definitely 70 series 1911's all the way.

But I like Kimbers grip activated firing pin safety better then the trigger activated design