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Colt Defender

6K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  airbornerangerboogie 
#1 ·
I just fired my new defender yesterday and have a question.

Is there a way to adjust the direction spent casings are ejected?
On more than one occasion, both myself and my friend were hit in the head/face with ejected brass.

I really couldn't determine why some were ejected over our heads, some went to the right and some were at us.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Just for troubleshooting purposes, try keeping a *death grip* on the pistol for a few shots (doing so is bad for accuracy but it'll at least tell you if it's your fault or the gun's fault).

If you're not limp-wristing at all, and your shooting position is good, then I'd say you need to have the extractor/ejector tuned, and perhaps have the ejection port flared? Ask a gunsmith. I bet one of the hardcore 1911 guys will chime in here soon.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.
 
#3 ·
Some people have a tendency to tilt a pistol when shooting. Watch to see if you are one. If you have a good solid hold and keep the gun verticle it should toss the casing over your right sholder if shooting with the right hand. If you shoot with the left hand, all bets are off. This is one of the reasons it is good to wear a hat with a brim when shooting and also wear shooting glasses.
 
#4 ·
'...hard core 1911 guys..." - LOL, well put!

I don't know how hard core I am, but Pete Zaria and raevan about covered it. The only thing I could add is to check the ejector and see if it is chipped, bent, etc.
 
#6 ·
I had heard about the face hits from ejection before I got my Defender. I've fired mine quite a few times and was hit once between the eyes, the rest of the empties were thrown high and to the right.

I tend to believe that my hit was caused from a bit sloppy grip at the time. As the others have said I'd concentrate on first making sure it's not a grip issue.

BTW it's not necessary to have a "death grip" on the gun, just make sure your grip is adequate enough to manage the gun and recoil.

Good luck
 
#7 ·
I had originally thought that it might have something to do with my grip but it happened to my friend also.

We both experimented with tighter grips to better control the gun but that didn't seem to help much.

This is my first 1911 so maybe that has something to do with it...never had this happen with any other pistol.

Pulling my hat down and wearing protective eyewear did help:smile:
 
#8 ·
Maybe it's time to suggest this old video again: Todd Jarrett on Pistol Shooting & 1911 Grip

@ ppkheat: I was only suggesting that he try a "death grip" just for a few rounds, to make sure it's not a limp-wrist problem, not to use a "death grip" for normal shooting.

@ Tangle: glad you liked my joke :smile: There really are some die-hard 1911 fans around here. I'm beginning to be one of them, but I haven't reached the elite ranks of the Browning-Cult hierarchy yet.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.
 
#9 ·
@ ppkheat: I was only suggesting that he try a "death grip" just for a few rounds, to make sure it's not a limp-wrist problem, not to use a "death grip" for normal shooting.

Pete, I understand and agree with your intentions, though it was a coincidence, I wasn't quoting you at all, in fact I never noticed your use of "death grip" in your prior post. :bier: :hand10:
 
#11 ·
My Defender has always done this as well. Not every shot, just some occassionally. I learned years ago to wear a hat every time I practice or I'll have nice little half moon shaped cuts on my forehead....,not to mention blood running down my forehead.
 
#12 ·
Cult, Whut Cult?

What's this about a Browning Cult? Whut do hiarchy mean? I never heard of that cult. Where can a feller join?

Yall wouldn't be jealous because John Browning fixed the problems in
the 1911 Colt for FN in 1935 would ya?
 
#14 ·
Update

Hi All,

Had another opportunity to fire my defender over the weekend...big problems.

I put about 80 rounds through it w/ a ton of FTF's.

I adjusted my grip in order to have better control, even tried the 'death grip' to see if that would help but it didn't.

The 1st round wasn't chambering consistently, tried using the slide release but still wouldn't chamber properly.

I was shooting winchester .45 auto ammo (cheap stuff) and tried several different boxes to make sure I didn't get a bad box.

I gave it a good cleaning when I got home...very dirty in my oponion for only shooting about 80 rounds!

I'm going to try a different brand of ammo this week.

Anybody have any other suggestions?
 
#17 ·
Take a look at the 1911.org web site, I (and many others) had the same problem with our Defenders.
 
#18 ·
Well, any firearm that tosses brass back into your face is a dangerous subliminal distraction in a self defense scenario. The brain never likes the body to get hit in the face with anything.

First I would try a different ammo.
I would also lube your rails with a slippery gun grease rather than oil - that might add a little bit more oomph to your forward slide movement.

Your FTFeed problems could very likely be an extractor related issue also.

If your ejector is not loose and wiggling around - then a pistol that ejects brass in randomly different directions is usually due to an incorrect extractor tension problem.

Easily solved and inexpensive problem to fix but, you need to know what you are doing.
A good local pistol smith in your area should be able to take care of it.
 
#19 ·
There are 2 well discussed problems with the Colt Defender, Brass in the face (I have scars to prove it) and the Colt Mags (I trashed mine and got Wilson Combat.)
The problem with the ejected brass is the extractor and the gap in the head, in some cases the head is too thick and it doesn't fully engage the casing as it is being ejected. Log onto the 1911.org and search for Colt Defender and you'll find the manual fix, I would suggest you send it to a gunsmith though. The Colt Mags for the Defender "sux" IMO. I was getting FTF almost every mag, until I got the Wilson Combat Mags and then the problems disappeared.

This post may sound like I'm trashing the Colt Defender, I'm not. Once the initial problems discussed above are resolved this will quickly become a favorite carry. I've not heard of many 3" 1911 platforms in 45 ACP that didn't have initial problems and that includes Kimber, SA, Baer, and so on... Change out the grips and this is one of the best CCW out there and it uses 45 ACP or did I already mention that :image035:.

 
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