Defender Dump
I have decreased the amount of time I am shooting my Colt Defender now. While I have experienced 100% reliability, and the pistol has shown no signs of failure, I am cognizant of the lightweight aluminum frame. I am shooting it enough to remain proficient, all the while monitoring it for any sign of frame cracking. 
I continue to be amazed at just how accurate the little three inch 1911 can be with slow fire.
Today, I took the Defender to the range and shot off both magazines of carry ammunition. It was time to rotate it out.
Labels: Range Journal
posted by Xavier at 6:39 PM
10 Comments:
at what distance?
I'm glad your enjoying your Colt Defender. How are you liking it versus the Colt New Agent ? The reason I ask is I am thinking about getting one of the two when I get my tax return.
For what it's worth, I worked at a indoor shooting range for a few years that had a huge selection of rentals (about 50 or so 1911 pattern guns alone). The Colt Defender was one of the most popular rentals, and it was on the line for years before it was replaced for cosmetic reasons (rentals do NOT lead a easy life). Several thousand rounds per month went through that gun with, to put it charitably, indifferent maintenance. Frequently the rentals were shot until they no longer functioned before cleaning was deemed necessary. If they malfunctioned they were given a squirt of CLP and put back in the case.
Anyway, the Defender never suffered frame cracks, or even hiccuped unless it was so full of crud that it choked.
An amazing piece of equipment, no doubt about it!
Based on my observations, the 1911 pattern guns in general were incredibly reliable, and seldom required repair.
I recently purchased one of these and have put about 500 rounds through it without a problem. In contrast to a Kimber Ultra Raptor that was a problem from the time I took it out of the box to when I traded it. About how many rounds have you sent downrange? Where are the locations where one should be inspecting for cracks on an aluminun frame?
Anon #1, if I had to chose, I couldn't.
They are equally reliable, different only in sights, finish, the beavertail, thumb safety, and the grips that come on the gun.
If you require sights, get the Defender. If you are more of a point shooter type, the New Agent will make you smile. If you do either, I'd lean towards the Defender. The New Agent is more of a dedicated gun.
Katar. I quit counting at 1500. Probably near 2000 now.
Check for cracks around the slide stop pin hole, and the area where the dustcover begins.
Read anon #2's post as well. There have been no problems reported, I'm just being cautious. I'll let a lot of other users catch up while I wait on a new recoil assemby and shoot something else in the meantime. The Defender still gets carried, and I'm not expecting any cracking. I just want to catch it early if it occurs.
Hi Xavier,
At what distance were you shooting? I have the New Agent and I couldn't shoot it this well at standard 25 Yards. I might get a squirrell by chance though ... ;-)
I shoot it at approx 10 yards and consider it a close quarters concealed carry.
This is at ten yards, slow fire. I generally shoot 10 or 15 yards, simply because I want to have that distance cemented in my head. At 25 yards my options are to close in towards cover for a shot, let the agressor close and ambush from cover, or to escape. Engaging at 25 yards in a self defense scenerio doesn't seem to meet the reasonable man standard for self defense in almost any situation I could imagine.
I may slow fire my free pistols at 25 yards, but I shoot my defensive guns close and quick at ten.
Xavier Honestly my experience leads me to believe that if you have not seen any cracks in the first 200 rounds ( usually in the slide stop hole area ) you likely wont see them within at least 5k rounds . I say shoot the little beast as much as you desire now , your not likely to " wear it out " . I have two compact .45 pistols one happens to be steel ( an original detonics ) and one happens to be tupperware ( a kahr ) The Detonics i bought about 81 or 82 and i would say it has 20k or so rounds through it now . Springs can be an issue , but the little beast just runs . In fact its the wife's ccw . I have over the years put a lot of ammo thro aluminum framed pistols , and the only problem i ever had came in the first 200 rounds , be it a frame crack or a feed ramp that wouldn't stand some mags .
It is interesting to note that a typical truncated-cone type .45 bullet is well-stabilized with a 1:16 twist barrel, even with the velocities produced in a three-inch bore. It probably isn't possible to reach a velocity low enough to produce unstable flight, for one of those short-and-squat bullets, without first encountering a pressure so low that the bullet gets stuck in the bore.
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