What Colt 1911?

Generally, the 5" models are less likely to be finicky. The shorter the barrel, the higher the odds of difficulties. Accept that you will have to research and study more, spend more and have to train more with the 1911. If you want to go lower cost, the reality is that a pair of Glock 21s or their MOS variants and a few cases of ammo are more cost effective. I don't dislike 1911 format pistols - they are just not cost effective at this point in my life. (And if I were not heavily invested in Glock stuff, I would look really hard at a pair of M&P 2.0 pistols in 9mm or 45 with a red dot and rail.)
If you are right handed, the standard safety should be fine.
Don't worry about the sights on it; replacement sights that fit your preferences (and eyes!)are plentiful.
The rail for a light is not a bad idea on a home defense gun, although not critical, and a WML requires its own training. A 2 cell Surefire at 500 lumens will adequately light the areas close enough to contain a threat in most houses.
The suggestion to stay with ammo as close to ball power and weight is a good one. Check out the ammo testing and suggestions of Doctor Roberts, who is by far the lading expert on such issues today.
Dean Caputo has written a bit about the 1911s his agency had, and their experiences - worth searching for an reading.

Lostintheozone said:
If you're going to use it as a night stand gun you may want to consider a model with a rail. That would allow you to put a light on it.

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A very valid point. My personal house 1911 has a rail and light. I like that set-up for home defense.

ALL my 1911's are Colt's. I've owned them all a very very long time (late 70's) and other than a normal recoil spring change or barrel bushing replacement, I have never had a problem with any of them. They shoot excellently and my Gold Cup is my most fired handgun of all time. Just shot it yesterday!

The first 2 pic's are from yesterday and the other two are one of my best targets. All fired at 50 ft. This particular GC is from the mid 70's.

Don't let ANYONE tell you Colts are not accurate, reliable and well made!

When new shooters or guys interested in their first 1911 ask my for my advise on buying one - I ALWAYS recommend a Colt!

I shoot almost 100% reloaded ammo, (230 grain LRN) mixed cases that have been reloaded more times than I will admit too. SERIOUSLY..... I do not ever remember a FTF even with reloaded cases that should have been tossed 20 years ago.

I've been around 1911s since I was 14 years old and a high school freshman in ROTC. I have since put together a collection of GI 1911s and 1911A1s - see my album listing for some of them.

However, here are my picks for defense pistols. Above:

Top - a Colt stainless series 80. Some modifications were that I removed the collet bushing and substituted a solid version, installed a beavertail with commander-style hammer, installed a longer and wider thumb safety, removed the series 80 components, installed a match trigger with overtravel adjustment screw, custom grips, custom sights with tritium inserts, a mainspring housing with lanyard loop, and the use of better commercial 8-round magazines. Skateboard tape for a better forward grip surface. I gave the gun my personal reliability treatment, and it's perfect with any and all ammo I can feed it. Trigger tuned for letoff at 5 lbs. with minimum overtravel. I also rounded all sharp edges on the gun. For a full-size 1911, this one is "it" for me.

Middle: This is a Kimber with an officer's size stainless steel grip frame and a 4-inch barrel. Main modifications were tritium sights, rounded sharp edges, a match trigger with overtravel adjustment, skateboard tape on the front of the grip frame and custom grips. Right from the factory, this one reliably feeds everything. Match trigger tuned to 5 lbs. with minimum overtravel. I use good commercial magazines. It's more compact for concealment purposes.

Bottom: A Springfield Armory V10 Ultra Compact. It has an aluminum officer's-size frame and a ramped 3.5" barrel that avoids feeding damage on the frame. The ramp also works wonders with reliability and will allow feeding even empty cases. It's ported with 10 holes, making it easy on the hand and giving minimum muzzle flip. All sharp edges rounded. The original sights remain - the ports tend to blacken the front sight with use. Custom grips, skateboard tape and very reliable commercial magazines. This one is as light as I can find for a 1911 package, and repeat shots are as quick as trigger reset will allow. Match trigger tuned to 5 lbs. with minimal overtravel. It's an amazing discreet carry pistol. The only downside is that it's a bit flashy during discharge in low light situations.

These are my personal choices.

John

chief38 said:

ALL my 1911's are Colt's. I've owned them all a very very long time (late 70's) and other than a normal recoil spring change or barrel bushing replacement, I have never had a problem with any of them. They shoot excellently and my Gold Cup is my most fired handgun of all time. Just shot it yesterday!

The first 2 pic's are from yesterday and the other two are one of my best targets. All fired at 50 ft. This particular GC is from the mid 70's.

Don't let ANYONE tell you Colts are not accurate, reliable and well made!

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My Colt Gold Cup wouldn't group well at 50 yards and I was using it to shoot outdoor 2700 bullseye pistol matches. I'll grant you that, as you say, if I had had the barrel bushing replaced, it might have done better. The trigger was nothing to write home about either. There certainly are better options than Colt out there.

chief38 said:

ALL my 1911's are Colt's. I've owned them all a very very long time (late 70's) and other than a normal recoil spring change or barrel bushing replacement, I have never had a problem with any of them. They shoot excellently and my Gold Cup is my most fired handgun of all time. Just shot it yesterday!

The first 2 pic's are from yesterday and the other two are one of my best targets. All fired at 50 ft. This particular GC is from the mid 70's.

Don't let ANYONE tell you Colts are not accurate, reliable and well made!

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The accuracy is amazing!! What series is the Gold Cup you have pictured?

BE Mike said:

My Colt Gold Cup wouldn't group well at 50 yards and I was using it to shoot outdoor 2700 bullseye pistol matches. I'll grant you that, as you say, if I had had the barrel bushing replaced, it might have done better. The trigger was nothing to write home about either. There certainly are better options than Colt out there.

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The first thing anyone does on a comp 1911, unless it's a custom, is get a bushing fitted and a trigger job. It isn't that expensive. Going thru production 1911's looking for an accurate comp pistol is a waste of time and money.

The OP didn't ask about other 1911's. He ask about a Colt. I have a gov't model that will shoot like a comp pistol right out of the box. Never been tuned. You could buy 20 production 1911's and never get one like that, but it was a freak assembly and I know it.

Out of current production Colts my choice would be the Colt Gunsite Pistol. I bought the 5” model back in March, very happy with it. They also offer a Lightweight Commander version. I think MSRP is $1,800 but I paid less for mine.

My other picks would be one of the Wiley Clapp models, or the Classic model. I had a Clapp 5” Government Model years ago, very nice gun. I have yet to see a Classic in person, but I hear good things about them. They’re basically a hybrid of the 1991 and 70 Series repro with the 1960’s rollmarks. I’ll probably buy one when so find one.

If you don’t mind used then a pre 70 Series Government is a good choice. I just bought one a few weeks ago. The old 1980’s vintage Combat Government is also a nice pistol. An early example of Colt offering a “custom” Government Model.

One of our forum members posted this pic elsewhere. It’s a Wiley Clapp.

Beautiful gun.

IMHO- if you want a Colt 1911 in your collection, a Series 70 (or earlier) blued Government Model is the epitome of the breed.

If you want a fine 1911 to actually shoot, look at a Dan Wesson.

ladder13 said:

One of our forum members posted this pic elsewhere. It’s a Wiley Clapp.

Beautiful gun.

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Looks like that pic came from this excellent review:
Pistol Review: Wiley Clapp 1911 Government Model from Colt

I did add a larger thumb safety - took about 30 minutes (with YouTube) to file and fit - easy job.
Also extended mag release and new grips.

Laketime said:

I thought they just recently came out with a series 70's configuration of that one.

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The lines have kinda blurred. My Colt Rail Gun (among some of the other Colt’s I own) has a Series 80 firing pin block (which is not a deal-breaker for me). I don’t know of a newly produced Model 1991.

I’ve been looking for plain Jane series 70 for carry. I’ve owned many 1911s all GIs and Colts. Wish I kept one. I never had much use for 1911 when I had them. I only trust 2 pistols Colt or GI 1911 and S&W K or N revolver.
I don’t mind paying $800 for decent shooter but not $1800.

S-W4EVER said:

The lines have kinda blurred. My Colt Rail Gun (among some of the other Colt’s I own) has a Series 80 firing pin block (which is not a deal-breaker for me). I don’t know of a newly produced Model 1991.

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Colt has definitely blurred the lines on their catalog. For a while, pretty much all pistols where Series 80s, with the exception of the return of a some classic models. Now it seems the traditional 1911s have returned to the Series 70 design, with old style roll marks.

The 1991 also had two models. The original 1991A1 was a GI-style matte finish Series 80, made in the 1990s. It had a large 1911A1 roll mark. The second was the 1991, a Series 80 blue finish with a vintage Colt's Government Model roll mark. Both had long triggers and flat MSHs. Both have been replaced by Series 70 1911 Classic with a short trigger, flat MSH.

They are all good guns. I prefer to keep it simple: they are all Colt Government models to me. In my experience, what ever problems Colt has had with other guns, they always got the 1911 right.

LostintheOzone said:

The first thing anyone does on a comp 1911, unless it's a custom, is get a bushing fitted and a trigger job. It isn't that expensive. Going thru production 1911's looking for an accurate comp pistol is a waste of time and money.

The OP didn't ask about other 1911's. He ask about a Colt. I have a gov't model that will shoot like a comp pistol right out of the box. Never been tuned. You could buy 20 production 1911's and never get one like that, but it was a freak assembly and I know it.

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My disappointment came in the 70's. As the Colt "Gold Cup" was advertised as a match pistol, I expected it to perform like a match pistol. It was not up to the demands of outdoor 2700 shooting, like I had hoped. I'm sure that it is fine for those whose standards for accuracy are much less demanding than outdoor bullseye pistol shooting. A part on my Gold Cup broke at a match. Luckily a top shooter loaned me his custom 1911 back up pistol to finish the match. That opened my eyes. For a pistol that is imprinted with "National Match" and "Gold Cup", I found it lacking for my purposes.

I would get a regular Gov't model or if carry is a consideration, a lightweight Commander. Both in .45 ACP.

BE Mike said:

My Colt Gold Cup wouldn't group well at 50 yards and I was using it to shoot outdoor 2700 bullseye pistol matches. I'll grant you that, as you say, if I had had the barrel bushing replaced, it might have done better. The trigger was nothing to write home about either. There certainly are better options than Colt out there.

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The Gold Cups built in the 60's and 70's generally had 3.5 - 3.75 pound triggers out of he box. After a few thousand rounds, that would typically drop to 3.25 or so - sometimes even lower. Today's new models are about 4.25 - 4.75 and are probably that way due to the Lawyers. Even at that weight, they are usually as crisp as a fresh Ritz Cracker.

I will take you at your word (anything is possible and once in a while a bad one sneaks out), but personally I haven't seen one yet that won't out shoot their owners. In fact they come with a target from the Factory when purchased new. If I ever got one like that I'd send it back to the Factory. They are pretty accommodating.

When I shot Bullseye competition almost every .45acp was a Colt. Yes there were some Kimber's, Wilson's, Ed Brown's, etc. but I'd say 60-70% were either Gold Cups or modified Colts.

BTW My Gold Cup has the Finger Barrel Bushing that was supposed to fail prematurely. Well so far mine has over 30,000 rounds through it and is still the original one. I did buy a few extras just in case and I did have to replace one on a Gov't Series 80 which did make a very slight difference in accuracy (for the better).

chief38 said:

The Gold Cups built in the 60's and 70's generally had 3.5 - 3.75 pound triggers out of he box. After a few thousand rounds, that would typically drop to 3.25 or so - sometimes even lower. Today's new models are about 4.25 - 4.75 and are probably that way due to the Lawyers. Even at that weight, they are usually as crisp as a fresh Ritz Cracker.

I will take you at your word (anything is possible and once in a while a bad one sneaks out), but personally I haven't seen one yet that won't out shoot their owners. In fact they come with a target from the Factory when purchased new. If I ever got one like that I'd send it back to the Factory. They are pretty accommodating.

When I shot Bullseye competition almost every .45acp was a Colt. Yes there were some Kimber's, Wilson's, Ed Brown's, etc. but I'd say 60-70% were either Gold Cups or modified Colts.

BTW My Gold Cup has the Finger Barrel Bushing that was supposed to fail prematurely. Well so far mine has over 30,000 rounds through it and is still the original one. I did buy a few extras just in case and I did have to replace one on a Gov't Series 80 which did make a very slight difference in accuracy (for the better).

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When I retired from bullseye pistol competition, there were mostly custom pistols being used. They were built by the top bullseye pistolsmiths of the time, like Mike Curtis, Larry Leutenegger, Giles, David Sams, Best, Masaki, Jim Clark, etc. Many of the older custom guns were built on Colt frames and slides. Rock River is a good choice too. Neither Wilson or Ed Brown was popular for bullseye pistol matches, although they make good guns for other purposes. I never saw a master or high master shoot a box stock Gold Cup. I don't remember the Gold Cup test target being fired at a great distance. I still own a couple of custom 1911's built on Colt frames and slides. Earlier you said that any match pistol needs a trigger job and a new bushing replaced. Now you defend the original parts. I think your Gold Cup is the exception, rather than the rule.

I own a bunch of 1911s, mostly custom Colts. If I was in the market for a new Colt to be first/only "do everything" 1911 I'd be looking at the Wiley Clapp Government or the Competition Plus. They have the most features for the money and are solid, well built, accurate guns right out of the box.