1911 Series 80 Firing Pin

CanXB

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Hey folks,

I have checked out most of the site sponsors and can't seem to find a series 80 firing pin for my colt. Now, I know Brownell's has them but there isn't anything else I need so I don't want to just order one single item. Anyone have a line one one? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
 
I didn't think so, but m not 100% sure. The colt website shows one that is for both series and one that is just for the series 80. So just to be on the safe side I specified series 80. I guess I would also like to learn from the more knowledgeable if there actually is a difference or not.
 
Huh, I've never really thought about it most I've ever seen were listed for both. And I would have thought it was the other way around. 70 not having a cutout.

Anyway I see ellwood eps has firing pins listed on their site but they don't specify 70/80 so I would think it's both.
 
The new pistols are for the most part dead ringers for the original guns; however there are a few differences. As already mentioned the new guns use the solid barrel bushing, whereas the 1st Gen. guns used the collet bushing. Both lack the Series 80 firing pin safety, however the new pistols do use the same internal parts as the Series 80 pistols. In other words, the extractor, firing pin, and grip safety have the notches cut into them that would normally allow the FPS parts to function. There are however no cutouts in either the slide or the frame for the levers and plunger, which means that a firing pin safety cannot be retrofitted to these guns without making the additional machining passes that a Series 80 gun requires. This all may sound like a cheap cop-out at first, but one must look at it from a manufacturing standpoint. Series 80 parts are fully backwards compatible in Series 70 guns, as the "notched" parts do not affect function and aren't even noticeable when the gun is completely assembled. In the name of streamlining its spare parts network Colt dropped all of the older Series 70 parts from production many years ago, and existing owners of older pistols are merely expected to order S80-type replacement parts which of course will still work fine. There was simply no point in making these older parts all over again just for a limited-production Custom Shop item, and so the new Series 70 guns use the exact same internal parts as the other current pistols in Colt's product line. It is worth mentioning that Colt did the exact same thing with the WW2 repro M1911A1, meaning that model uses S80-type internal parts as well.

http://www.m1911.org/prodte26.htm

It would seem that colt stopped making 70 only parts long ago and you're basically good to go with any of them.
 
Are the firing pins different?

I didn't think so, but m not 100% sure. The colt website shows one that is for both series and one that is just for the series 80. So just to be on the safe side I specified series 80. I guess I would also like to learn from the more knowledgeable if there actually is a difference or not.

You will find the Series 80 firing pin has a little notch in it so the firing pin safety block can work in it. The Series 70 [and pre] firing pins don't have this.

Hence, a Series 70 [or pre] firing pin doesn't work in a Series 80. But the Series 80 firing pin could work in a Series 70 [or pre].

That's how I understand it, anyway.

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