Springfield Series 70 vs. Kimber and Colt Series 80

[rc]

Anyone who knows much about 1911s knows there are two basic variations. Those with passive firing pin blocks and those without. The conventional wisdom is that the series 70 pistols have the better trigger pulls. I am going to tell you all why I disagree.

Springfield in order to make their guns drop safe have had to go with a light titanium firing pin and a very heavy mainspring. Kimber and Colt on the other hand have steel firing pins and passive block safeties that disengage in Kimbers case when you depress the grip safety and in colts case when you pull the trigger. While old 1911s made prior to series 80 were known for having great triggers, the springfield series 70 is not made to the same standards.

In addition to a heavy mainspring and titanium firing pin, the sear, hammer and disconnect on loaded models are MiM. I replaced my sear and disconnect with tool steel parts but the trigger pull on my loaded Springfield still sucks compared with Colt or Kimber. I suspect the combination of high strength sear and soft hammer along with the extra heavy hammer spring are causing the parts to gall a bit during my trigger pull. I also have way more light strike issues with this gun and none in those with firing pin blocks and steel firing pins. The Kimber I have has a great trigger and hits primers great without changing parts. I like the feel of my Springfield and may get a tool steel hammer and steel firing pin for target shooting but it will never be a carry gun then because of the chance of accidental discharge. But maybe after I change a few more parts, it will be up to the same standards as an older pre 80 colt. Out of the box, a modern Springfield is simply not as good as a true Pre 80 1911!

 

[RickB]

Only Series 80 is really going to have an impact on the trigger, since the mechanism is disengaged by trigger movement, but it's really negligible, to the extent that you cannot characterize Series 80 triggers as necessarily not as good as non-80.
I've swapped S80 parts in and out of guns, testing the trigger back-to-back, and there's little difference, to the extent that I left S80 intact in one gun because I didn't want to take it apart again.
Reassembling S80 is the real issue, more so than the effect on the pull.

 

[Jim Watson]

A conventional trigger job worked well on my SA's MIM hammer, sear, and disconnector.
It did get a steel firing pin and the Smith-Alexander mag well funnel eliminated the ILS.
Sear spring was junk and extractor did not hold tension and had to be replaced.

 

[rock185]

I've had Colts, Kimbers, and had a new Springfield Loaded Target model. As received, I'd have to say that most Colts, and and all my Kimbers, had better triggers than my particular SA. FWIW, Colt trigger pull weight specs did not change between Series 70 and 80 guns. In any case, I am not at all offended by 1911 type pistols that have a firing pin safety.

BTW, Years ago, I happened to be next to a guy at a public range who had a new Colt Series 80 Government Model that would do everything except actually fire. He field stripped it and explained he had done a "trigger job" on it. His "trigger job" consisted of completely filing off the plunger lever needed to raise the firing pin plunger, thus turning his new Colt into a very nice paper weight. Wonder if he later complained far and wide about how terrible the Colt Series 80 system was?

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I don't think Kimber uses the Series 80 firing pin block -- I think Kimber uses a variation of the Schwarz system that Colt used before WW2 and then abandoned.

I keep reading about the deleterious effect the Series 80 system has on trigger pull, but someone forgot to tell my Colt and Para-Ordnance pistols. I have no trouble whatsoever getting clean, crisp 4 to 4-1/2 trigger pulls with the firing pin block still in place and fully operational.

 

[RickB]

And, while four or five manufacturers have used Series 80 over the years, I've never seen or heard anyone but Colt getting grief for it.

 

[reddog81]

The post sounds more like complaints specific to the Springfield Armory guns and the parts they use rather than 70 series vs 80 series.

Changing random parts isn’t necessarily going to make the trigger pull better.

FWIW I’ve taken out the Series 80 parts on a couple guns and it has always dropped the trigger pull by about .5 lbs. It’s not a huge decrease but it’s measurable.