I impulse purchased a Tisas Aviator which is an alloy framed Colt Commander clone. I’ve only owned steel framed 1911’s.

In my typical fashion I did most of my research after I completed my online purchase. My understanding is anodized aluminum is pretty durable but there seems to be some controversy around alloy framed 1911’s. The issue regarding alloy feed ramps versus barrel ramps seem to be one of the main criticisms.

I watched an unboxing video on YouTube and the guy said he wouldn’t have purchased the gun had he known it had an alloy frame feed ramp. Now I know YouTube information must be taken with a pinch of salt. I watched the video because I wanted to see the gun as I have only viewed photos on line.

There are many very knowledgeable folks here. My understanding is the original Commander in 1952 had an alloy frame. Later Colt introduced the all steel Combat Commander. I own a two tone Series 80 Combat Commander.

I’m curious to hear thoughts and opinions regarding alloy framed 1991’s. Overall durability and specifically how concerned should I be about the alloy frame feed ramp?

My understanding is to use appropriate mags with polymer followers like the Wilson 47D. I’ve heard shock buffs can prolong the life of alloy framed 1911’s. Any other words of wisdom?

Thanks 10-79

The theory is a magazine with a steele follower can dig into the feed ramp on the last round and start gouging it, in theory it sounds plausible so why chance it?
I have 3 LW's so I always run Wilson Combat 47D magazines for reliability and the fact that they have Delrin followers.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Use Wilson Combat mags, or something else with a polymer follower. A metal follower can peck at the feed ramp on the last round. Easy enough to avoid.

Dang, Hemi beat me to the post!

I do like Hemi and Norton for my Series 80 LW CDR. Pretty much the same for my other two slabside .45 pistols.

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Formerly Model520Fan

I had the frame of my Colt Lightweight Commander finished with industrial hard chrome by Metaloy. That is harder than the factory anodizing. I ordered just the Delrin followers from Wilson Combat and replaced the factory followers in all of my Colt magazines.

Those followers have a full skirt around the front rather than the "tongue" of a standard 1911 type mag follower. I have not noticed any marks at all on the frame or feed ramp.
The Wilson 47D mags are excellent but I wanted a standard flat floorplate so I just modified the Colt mags. Easy and less expensive that buying Wilson mags.

Walt I was under the misconception that aluminum couldn’t be hard chrome finished? I have always wanted either a Hi Power or 1911 finished in HC, either a two-tone or entirely HC.

I can see this could lead to me spending more money. I’m assuming the hard chrome process would coat the entire frame? If the entire frame is coated then the feed ramp would be quite hardened? Also I’ve heard Hard Chrome is “slick.” I don’t know if that is true or not. I’m just thinking out loud perhaps it wouldn’t be as effective as I imagine. I mean besides whether it’s worth spending the coin especially a clone. But then again that’s never stopped me before just ask my wife.

Always ran Wilson mags in mine. No problems.

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The best I can with what I got

I have many alloy framed 1911s. NONE have ramped barrels. I prefer the original design

The ONLY alloy frame feed ramp that I had issue with was a Para Ordnance.

FMJ ammunition would leave a rub mark on the feed ramp because it was so soft. I got rid of it shortly after buying it. They fixed their material problem by going to a ramped barrel.

I have never bought another Para Ordnance product since then

Currently the alloy framed 1911s that I own and shoot are a Colt LW Commander made in 1970, a Colt LW DE Officer made in 1992, a Kimber Ultra CDP from the 90s, a Kimber Pro Carry from 1999, a Kimber Pro Elite from the 90s, A RIA Officer from 2010 and an Officer that I am currently milling and building mysef on a current frame and a Detonics 38 SUPER CM slide assembly.

All my remaining 1911s are steel

I do not keep round counts, but have have easily put well in excess of 100,000 rounds of 45 ACP through my 1911s over the past 40+ years. Probably in excess of 200,000. But that is steel and alloy combined

I do not use any Wilson magazines (never liked them), but I have never noticed a mark on my feed ramps from the follower. Admittedly many of the followers (most are metal) can not tip forward because of the design. I have never bought cheap generic 1911 mags. Most of my mags are Manufacturer supplied. Aftermarket mags are from Pachmayr, ACT, MetalForm and Devel


Four of the alloy 1911s that I currently own are pictured below. Cant find the rest

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"Acta non verba"

Bob Cogan at Accurate Plating and Weaponry has done all of my hard chrome plating

He always pre-plated the allow with copper than plated the copper with the hard chrome.

The oldest alloy framed one that he has done for me is a P220 back in 1978. The most recent is this P239 that was done in 2006. This pistol has been carried or kept in my vehicle as a backup firearm (where it is at the moment) for about 15 years so far.

This P239 is totally plated, even the stainless slide was done so that all colors matched

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"Acta non verba"

fwiw, there are LW's with steele inserts in the feed ramp available, but not too common.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Me too, good idea! I look for the WC mags with the steel, low profile bottoms, like this.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Well you made me look at my feed ramp and all my magazines.

Apparently this is not a problem with the Colt LWC that I own.

Manufactured in 1977 and purchased in 1996 I have shot about 50 rounds per year with factory mags, McCormick, Novaks and Wilson combats.

Only some tiny marks on the feed ramp and all anodize is in perfect condition.
I tried to force a metal lipped mag follower towards the ramp but it would not make contact.

The closest I came was with the seven round factory mag fwiw.

Hopefully there is no problem with your new pistol.

Bruce

Thank you for all the replies especially to ColtSSA. I have spoke to Bob Cogan on the phone regarding him doing a Browning Hi-Power MKIII in hard chrome in the past. I wonder if he’d hard chrome just the frame n this Tisas and if so how much. Maybe he won’t touch Turkish stuff I’m not certain as I was ignorant about hard chrome & alloy.

This particular BHP came to me through a fellow police officer and dear friend of nearly 30 years who recently passed due to an illness. I have a lot affection for that particular gun and haven’t decided exactly what I want to do with it. Cogan is definitely regarded as the best from what I’ve heard.

BTW Colt the first 45 ACP I ever owned was Sig P220. It was my first duty gun but it got traded away for a Colt Combat Commander when I left for an agency that issued guns and also paid significantly more. The only thing I did not care for on the Sig was it would rust if you looked at it funny and grips came loose. We get a lot of rain up here. If I knew about hard chrome then perhaps I’d of kept it.

Thank you for checking Bruce. It seems my concerns were base less. I have to say how nice it is to have access to such knowledgeable and friendly folks. I’ll wring out my new and first alloy frame 1911 when I get a chance to pick her up. I’ll report any issues and maybe post a picture if I can wrangle one of my kids into showing me how to post photos here.

I am in FLORIDA

We have Humidity . . . Yes the pistol was wiped down each time it was put up from the holster

My issued P220 (1990s) did get surface rust . . . Yes the pistol was wiped down each time it was put up from the holster.

It was the older folded steel slide and I was the second person to be using it. On my dime I had the City's gun (and 3 mags) plated in Robar's NP3. I liked the idea of the high lubricity of the plating.

I did the same thing to my personal P220 at the time.

Though I added the Brazilian Rosewood grips and changed the screws on my P220. Also eventually added the TFO Tritium/Fiber Optic fixed sights when my SigLites went dim

I can not tell you who got that City pistol after me, but he was probably happy

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"Acta non verba"

It depends on what mags you use, and what rounds you put through them. The older McCormick split tail followers, and certain older style sharp lipped hollow points could mark up an alloy feed ramp pdq. Ruger's light weight commander has an insert in the lloy feed ramp, and it works quite well while maintaining most the original 1911 features.

Another thing i learned to watch for was sharp steel slide rail edges digging into alloy frame rails. It would seem most modern quality frames have these edges "broke over", but have not bought new in some time.

I bought my P220 in 1996. It was the most expensive gun I had ever purchased up to that point. Extra money wasn’t growing on trees especially on a rookie cops pay.

I wish I would’ve held onto that pistol. Sold it to beat partner who persistently asked to buy it. My wife at the time caught wind of a willing buyer. Gun went down the road at a small prophet. She also went down road years later. Definitely lost money on that deal.

Had another buddy that sent his Glock to robar. I wasn’t a fan of glocks at the time and I’ve never had one rust on me. Always wanted to send a gun there shame they aren’t around any longer. I suppose i ought to give Bob Cogan additional business although I know he’s not hurting for more work.

I’ve only been to Florida once I thought I was gonna melt. I’ll quit rambling now thanks again to everyone.

Sounds like it's not a big issue, but it's worth keeping in mind that if your feedramp should become damaged, any competent machinist could cut the frame for a ramped barrel. So, there's an easy fix at least.

The bridge cut has to be done exactly, likely by the same gunsmith that will be fitting your ramped barred. It takes special tooling to cut a bridge for a Nowlin-Wilson barrel. More generic common tooling works for Para cut.

Some think that avoiding sharp nosed ammo in aluminum frame guns that are not fitted with a ramped barrel is a good idea. Since there is ample quality choices in the RN vein, why not?

I built over 40 "parts" 1911's on Federal Ordinance alloy frames in the 80's & 90's. That is about the cheapest frame there ever was. It sounds to me like you don't have a frame issue. It sounds more like a follower and/or mag spring issue (overpowered). The synthetic or skirted followers are the affordable solution.

My personal gun with the cheap alloy frame along with several others I built had the "Dust Cover" (front section of the frame) crack and break off at the Slide Release hole. If broke off before the hole it is cosmetic only. If in the hole, the entire pistol can self-disassemble under recoil! I quit using those alloy frames and went to Essex steel frames.

Ivan

Have been carrying an alloy frame Commander in .38 Super since 1980.

The first one, a 1952 vintage gun came to me used in 1980 and was used for on and off duty carry as well as some IPSC matches. Zero issues with dinging up the feedranp...there is about 7k rounds through the gun.

In 2006 had a second 1952 Commander built with a full hard chrome finish from Accurate. It started being the #1 carry gun in 2007.

According to gun guru Chuck Taylor, Colt Commander frames were Coltalloy, an alloy of aluminum and titanium. Have had no less than a dozen Colt Commanders over the years in 9mm, Super and .45 with zero issues.

Pics:

1952 after 7k, 10 shots at 10 yards

Second 1952 still carried daily

1956 HC lower only

1951 and 1952 Commanders with HC

70s vintage .45 ACP high polished HC


That said, one of my friends had an early Kimber ProCarry .45 and the HP ammo badly dinged up the feedramp. They sent it to Accurate, had just the frame plated and no more dings...so the alloy that Kimber was using at the time was apparently much softer than the Coltalloy.

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Polishing the feed ramp on an alloy frame is a no-no.

This information is great. I now know to choose magazines wisely when shooting my CLW.

Since the original magazine followers seem most likely to cause damage I will only use the mags with plastic followers.

While the Mec-Gar mag has a metal follower the front stays below the mag body so it should be ok as well.

Thank you for this post.

Bruce

One of the many things I admire on my Ruger SR1911 LW Commander is the titanium insert for the feed ramp - seems like a good idea, even though I only use WC mags.
This has been an absolutely flawless 1911 since getting it about 1.5 years ago. Have run about 1k of rounds through it of nearly every configuration - runs 100%. Feed ramp looks like it did upon un-boxing.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Long ago I had a Colt lightweight(aluminum frame) Commander in 45 acp. I shot oodles of Remington(WWII surplus)steel case ammo through it in addition regular 45 acp brass cased ammo.......The aluminum feed ramp was A NON ISSUE. It was just as smooth when I traded it as the day I bought it........Don't sweat the small stuff.

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S&W Accumulator

The alloy frame .45 Commanders are like alloy J frame .38 specials. Carry a lot and shoot a little. I remember way back when Skeeter did an endurance test on a Lightweight .45 Commander and wrote about it in Shooting Times. After just a few thousand rounds of factory hardball the receiver broke in front of the trigger guard.

Here's a photo of my Lightweight Commander that I sent the frame off to Ron Mahovsky at Metalife for their industrial hard chrome finish back in 1993. It's holding up very well although it doesn't get fired a lot. The slide stop, thumb safety, grip safety, mainspring housing and mag release are stainless parts from Wilson Combat or Ed Brown.

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My .45 ACP Commander was reliable from day 1, so I never did any reliability work. Over time and moderate use with standard pressure ammo, it started having feedway malfunctions. The feed ramp didn't ding up, but the very top of the frame ramp rounded over ever so slightly, allowing rounds to strike the bottom edge of the barrel throat, bringing things to an immediate halt. I didn't touch the alloy frame, but slightly throated the barrel, allowing rounds to feed normally. Were I looking for a new Commander type pistol now days, I think I'd see what might be available with a hard metal insert ramp, or ramped barrel..

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NRA Life, COTEP 640