Series 70??? Series 80???

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Since there is more and more ammo on the shelves, I've been buying .45ACP. However, I don't have a 1911. I do, but just in 9mm, not .45….

So, I'm looking at the Ruger 1911.

I also see other brands and the reviews say this gun is based on a Series 80, or this is based on a Series 70.

What's the difference, and why would I care? Should I care? Is one better than another?

Which one is the Ruger 1911 based on?
 

NikA

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Series 80 has a drop safety mechanism via a firing pin block in the slide. If you have the slide in hand, it is easy to tell as there will be a round " button" on the bottom side between the breech face and the firing pin stop.

Series 70 doesn't have that mechanism.

There is a claim that the Series 80 mechanism makes the trigger pull worse. Lots of modern pistols have firing pin blocks for drop safety, so I personally am not sure how much I buy this. A firing pin block is a nice feature if you intend to carry the pistol; there are also other ways of making a 1911 "drop safe".

All the Ruger 1911s I've handled have been Series 70. Ruger uses a titanium firing pin with reduced mass to satisfy the drop safety requirements without a firing pin block.
 

Biggfoot44

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Traditional Colt Fans will point to so called Seires 70 ( & earlier) are the holy grail .

Answer #2 - Most S 80 triggers aren't very terrible out of the box , and most half decent 'smithds can make it very good


Answer #3 - If you seek Drop Safe on purpose , there are multiple paths to get there .
 
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...as noted above there are even more makers of the 1911 gov. models, the Colts got too pricy , even after I retired my 1967 Colt and got the new Ruger SR1911 in stainless steel, both great guns.........yes after many years of the 70 series , Colt for one had some issues with various PDs that because the officers may have been dropping them??? when shift change, gun hit the floor, they went bang.....I know for a fact one of our local PDs back then when they were going to change their 'duty' guns, had far too many "oops" luckily NO ONE got hurt.....thus the series 80 with a firing pin "block"....ahhhh low and behold Ruger found out from some of the "experts" a simple change to the lighter firing pin and a stronger spring, this went away, voila, theirs is a 70s series style.....sadly the lawyers of the world make these things all too complicated, and liability rears its ugly head..."hey it's someones fault they dropped the gun"??? think this was around the late 1970s, and we get the "warning" on ALL things Ruger, then others soon followed......have had , shot and sold MANY of the various brands of 1911s and find a lot of them very affordable, there are MANY ,MANY 1911's, and in many calibers..........:cool::rolleyes:;)
 

prowler

Single-Sixer
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I was carrying a Colt 1911 WW I when I was in the service many years ago before Model 70, 80 and other clone came out, we got these colts from the US Government and we proud of it, never have any issue at all and I still collecting some of them for my memory beside Ruger collections.
 

Dillon Justice

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I've shot one. It worked without issues and was reasonably accurate. With a fully loaded drum, it was HEAVY. The funnest gun I've ever shot!
I wanted
I've shot one. It worked without issues and was reasonably accurate. With a fully loaded drum, it was HEAVY. The funnest gun I've ever shot! I wanted to buy one several years ago, but the reviews were pretty bad. They had reliability issues. if so, I'm glad that they solved the issues. They sure like that they would be a hoot.
 
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Joined
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Back when I lived in San Diego, before it turned into a funnyfarm, A local off duty PD officer was in a Safeway and was carrying cocked and locked, the firearm fell out of his small of the back holster when he went to hitch up his pants. He claimed it hit the floor and discharged, put a hole thru the left side of his butt cheek. I always thought he put his finger through the trigger guard. He was a dumbass anyways.
 

RC44Mag

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I never noticed the difference in trigger pull between to 70 and 80 series Colts. I haven't had a direct comparison between other makers 1911's so can't speak for them. A couple years ago I bought a new 70 Series reissue Colt because I wanted something that was closer to the 1911 I carried in service. The titanium firing pin and modified spring are supposed to eliminate the drop danger. Less moving parts was a small factor also. I'd be happy with with either I'm sure.
 
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mistermills357

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I have a Colt Series 70, and it was designed to be a tighter gun than the GI model. It has things like a collet, to hold the barrel tighter, and the trigger is better than a GI.
 
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Several folks have drank the Series 70 koolaid much as many have bought the Ruger Mark's 2,3,4 nonsense. Pretty much every change since the 1911A1 have been unnecessary. They have all degraded the pistols ease of use and functionality in the name of "progress/safety".

What the Series 70 fanboys seem to forget is that the 70 had that gwad awful collet bushing. Heck, most owners of series 70's dumped that in favor of a solid bushing. Even Colt wised up and dumped the bushing in the Series 80's.

Stick with a good old 1911A1 and you'll have a perfectly safe (well as safe as anything can be when humans are invovled) and functional firearm.
 
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