1980's COLT 1911 materials

[CapnJohn]

Any idea what the 1980's version of the COLT 1911 is made of, cast, forged or??
Thanks!

[dsk]

Colt has always used forged steel for their slides, frames, and barrels. However starting in the 1980's investment castings were used for some of the small parts, such as the thumb safety, grip safety, and mainspring housing (plastic post-1988). Metal Injection Molding was used starting around 1998 for some other parts such as the sear, disconnector, and magazine catch. Colt also used MIM for the extractor for a brief time, but due to a high failure rate they quickly switched to making them out of barstock.