The word on these is they have a tendency to break. I've only put about 500 rounds down my Series 70 so it's nowhere near breaking point. The only one I've ever heard of breaking belonged to a guy who shot a lot of IPSC. On a three day weekend, over Labor Day, I think, he shot over 1000 rounds. When he took the pistol home to clean it he found one of the bushing arms had broken off and was rattling around in the slide. He had no jams and could tell no difference in accuracy, although I don't think IPSC is big on accuracy.

Has anyone ever broken a bushing arm, or know of one that has broken, and did it affect accuracy or cause jams?

I think everybody has heard that story. I think it may very well fall into the same category as the infamous Model 19 forcing cone crack. It has happened, but not as often as you think. The myth and rumor has grown to the point where all Series 70 bushings are now suspect.
I can't even guess how many rounds have been through my Series 70 and I've never had a problem. I've never known anybody who has had one break on them.
One gentleman, who's opinion I trust, told me that the real culprit is either the barrel or the bushing isn't fitted quite right at the factory. He's also of the opinion that those are very few and far between. I tend to believe him.

I had one break once. It was near 40 years ago on a then-new Gov't model. The loose piece prevented the slide from coming back far enough to pick up a new round. After I removed the piece, I continued shooting with no apparent ill effects. Had the LGS fit a NM bushing, and still have that gun.

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They're ALL shooters

After 30 years, and I don't know how many rounds, I decided to change the bushing. I know the odds were low that anything would break, but to carry CCW I didn't want to take the chance. Accuracy improved, and it will feed empty brass. It may still mess up, hopefully not from my lack of care.

I replaced both of mine with NM bushings over 30 years ago. Still have them.

I read the stories and had mine replaced with a fitted solid bushing probably 35 years ago. I have a govt barrel and bushing I bought from EBAY and had it fitted to my Gold Cup, but it does not shoot as well as the original barrel with the solid bushing. Every now and then I see the bushing in the parts drawer and think about putting it back in, but never have. I have personally never seen one break or know anyone who has.

I've been running mine since the mid 1970's without failure. I even picked up a few spares over the years just in case. The two I heard about breaking both allegedly happened during takedown for cleaning, not during operation.

I was told by a pistolsmith who was well versed in Series 70 Colts that for the most part the breaking bushing phenomenon was internet lore.
I have several Series 70 45's that I shoot regularily and none are any worse for wear.
There was a post on the 1911Forum that aparently showed the way to check the bushing fingers for undue wear and it showed the barrel removed from the pistol with the bushing still attached. Point the barrel muzzle down and if the bushings outside edge falls past the edge of the muzzle, it needs replacing. Not sure if thats a proper indicator or not, but maybe so. I tried that with all of mine and the bushings don't fall past the muzzle so I guess all of mine are ok....

I professionally pistol smithed Series 70 and 80s for 12 years, shot them years before and after that and have NEVER seen a broken leaf style bushing break. I did take to the design by Briley as it is both reliable and more accurate than most. My original personal Series 70 had at least 60,000 rounds thru it before I changed to the Briley version and the OEM barrel bushing showed no signs of cracking at that time.

A solid barrel bushing takes knowledgeable fitting by the pistol smith for proper functioning and contribution to accuracy. If it is a 'drop-in' part, it is not fitted correctly. Although, it would probably be minute-of-angle of bad guy. .......

We were Colt Warranty Repair and Parts distributors back when the 70 series arrived.
Initially the 'finger' bushing was acailable ONLY on an exchange basis for a broken one.
Never needed to replace one under warranty.
After the pistols wee on the market for several years the bushings were available as a standard replacement part.
Many 'gunsmiths' installed 'finger' bushings on Government models as a "custom enhancement".
My own 70G43XXX had over 20,00 rounds of 230 grain hardball through it with no new bushing ever required.

Cyrano, Yes, I have seen one break. I was shooting with an acquaintance. He was using his recently purchased Series '70 Government Model. Suddenly he quit shooting, slide half way back, confused look on his face. We found that the collett bushing finger that had the lug retaining the bushing in the slide had broken, launching bushing, recoil spring plug, and recoil spring down range. Not something I heard on the internet or that some guy in a gun shop told me,etc. I was there. That being said, I had several Colts with the collet bushings. I never broke one. A Gold Cup I bought new back in '76 is still in the family, and still has the original collet bushing. It is still as accurate as any pistol I've ever owned.

BTW, saw a couple of those S&W Model 19 forcing cones cracked in the 6 'O Clock position too. Not heard it somewhere, saw it personally.

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

Who sells replacement collet bushing? A quick google search didn't turn up any for sale.

They aren't made anymore, though you can find used ones on ebay.

If anyone here has an original blued Colt Gov't collet bushing in new or near new condition I'm interested in buying one. I have a King's Gun Works custom 1947 Colt Commercial Gov't Model that has a Series 70 barrel and collet bushing in it. I'd like to have a spare, just in case. If anything happened to the one that's in it I'd like to be able to replace it with another collet bushing and keep the gun the same as "Al" Capone built it back in the '70s.
If you have one you'd be willing to part with, PM me. Thanks.

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Like most of y'all, I've always heard that they tend to fail (first was from Col. Cooper in the '70's), but have never seen it personally. Perhaps the reason is that almost all of them got replaced before they could break!

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An old topic for sure! I've never seen one break, but have heard of it. Like WC145, I have two of three Colt 1911 .45s that went through the Kings shop back in the 70s. Things were much simpler back then. They asked if I wanted the bushings replaced and I said I didn't know, the guns shot pretty darned good, just had the usual Colt trifecta of "problems" - reliability (feeding and ejecting), bad trigger, poor sights. I asked what they recommended and they said try it for a while and send the guns back if they broke. It's been forty years, the collet bushings are still in the guns, and I still shoot them now and then.

The third gun that didn't go to Kings also still has its collet bushing and is still doing fine. All that said, I do agree with Big Cholla that the Briley bushing is really the superior design. If I had to replace a collet bushing now I would not even consider using anything except the Briley design. Like any finely fitted component, I would expect to have to take care to keep it clean and lightly lubed - moreso than a solid bushing.

I had one break maybe 25 years ago in a gun I was using in a bowling pin match. It locked the gun up as 75R90S described in post number 3. After getting the slide off, the broken finger fell out; the pistol was reassembled and went back to shooting. It was just an inconvenience in a match but I would never use a ‘finger’ bushing in a carry gun. (I kept the broken bushing around for years to show skeptics but it seems to have disappeared or I would post a picture of it).

I just put another 100 rounds this morning through my oldest and most used Series 70. Ran like a champ. I'm not the least bit concerned about the bushing.

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I know this thread is stale but I found 2 broken bushings in a parts drawer while I was looking for something else. The nickel one is a Colt part the blue one - I don't think so.

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The collet bushing was a bad idea, and Colt abandoned it pretty quickly. If you've got one and are afraid of breakage, buy a solid one and stick it in.

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Pisgah

No problems with my Mark IV, though I have a spare on hand. Yes, "We've all heard"-but never seen.

Pisgah, "abandoned it pretty quickly"? Colt used the collet bushing in Government and Gold Cup models for about 15 years.

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