RIA .45 barrel quality

[TexPatriot]

I need to replace the barrel on my Colt Series 70. It can't go through a magazine without a FTF jam, and thats with 230 gr. military ammo and WWB.

I have a new, unfired RIA barrel sitting in the safe I wanted to put in to see if that solves the issue. Before people suggest I find whats wrong with the existing stock barrel thats in it, the barrel was welded up in the late 70's and fit to the slide as that was considered back then an accurizing job. It ran fine for a few decades, feeding everything, 200 gr. SWC reloads, hollow points. etc., but after being stolen and recovered in a burglary and fiddled with by a less than competent gunsmith, it won't feed more than 2-4 rounds before jamming. I figure in starting off new with a new fitted barrel.

Is a RIA barrel quality at least on the par with a Colt barrel? A retired gunsmith I know asked "Why wouldn't it be?" I responded with "I don't know why it wouldn't be but there's obviously a difference in barrel qualities otherwise why would someone pay to have a Briley or Clark premium barrel fitted to their gun?"

Two of my most reliable and accurate 1911's are out of the box RIA Governments.

 

[FisherT&C]

The Rock Island stuff is really decent, I would definitely give it a try. I would not guarantee it will fit in the Colt. You can try getting a barrel link kit and switch out different length links. The barrel links can stretch over time and cause the barrel to bind in the slide and in the bushing. The link pin can also hang up if it is not tight and flush in the barrel.

 

[TexPatriot]

The Rock Island stuff is really decent, I would definitely give it a try. I would not guarantee it will fit in the Colt. You can try getting a barrel link kit and switch out different length links. The barrel links can stretch over time and cause the barrel to bind in the slide and in the bushing. The link pin can also hang up if it is not tight and flush in the barrel.

After it was stolen and recovered in the burglary I had it refinished to cover up the dings the burglar put in it plus a trigger job. The gunsmith may have swapped the link or the burglar may have shot enough +P Cor-Bon he also stole to have stretched it. Anyway, it won't feed, with any mag, CMC, Wilson, Kimber, Cobra, etc.

The RIA barrel will not fit at this time. I'm going to see if an actual pistolsmith like Virgil Tripp can fit it. He and his brother did the work on the gun initially.

 

[cas6969]

I'd start off with fiddle/check the extractor, but that's me. Cheap and easy.

I have an STI Spartan (Armscor) which is very accurate, even with many many thousands of rounds through it and the barrel MAYBE cleaned once. That said, the gun had a few small parts issues the first few years I owned it, most of my issues extractor related, but due to the machining of the slide, less so the extractor itself.

 

[a1-equipment]

If your going to send it off to a great smith like the tripps I would have them fit a top notch barrel, like a kart ect not a mid tier ria

 

[502Chevelle]

You need to talk to Jeff at Tommyguns USA. He has a website and is also on FB. He is a top smith, but his prices are reasonable. He found a problem on my pos Colt that several other smiths had missed, and fixed it right up. Replaced the pos barrel with a Kart, and now she is a shooter. Call him! Tommygunsusa.com

 

[TexPatriot]

If your going to send it off to a great smith like the tripps I would have them fit a top notch barrel, like a kart ect not a mid tier ria

Yeah, thats what I was thinking too.

I would hand deliver it to Bastrop.

 

[E. Bryant]

Seems to me like it'd be best to figure out the root cause of the problem before swapping out parts - particularly if those parts don't drop in.

I also have nothing against RIA, but I agree with @a1-equipment - if I'm paying a 'smith to do this work, I'd prefer that he spend his precious and expensive time fitting top-tier parts. If I'm doing it myself as a learning experience, different story.