Colt 1911 Classic

[31FordA]

Bought a new Colt 1911 Classic yesterday, took it to the range this morning. I fired 150 rounds of .45 ball, Hi-Shok, and HST through it, the gun ran perfectly. Only flaw was a very stiff thumb safety, but that should smooth out in time. I’ll eventually put a set of NOS Colt medallion checkered grips on it from my box of grips, and a steel mainspring housing in place of the plastic housing. The plastic housing works fine, but a plastic part on a 1911 just seems wrong somehow.

I’ve bought a number of new Colt automatics over the years, around two dozen or so, and only had two lemons. Even the lemons ate everything I fed them. Whenever people tell me Colt’s are unreliable out of the box I just shrug. I’m sure some are, but I seem to end up with the good ones.

 

[chief38]

In my 47 years of owning & shooting 1911's ( Ed Brown's, Les Baer's, Kimber's, Wilson Combat's, S&W's, Springfield Armory's, etc.) I've yet to find a better and more reliable 1911 out of the box than Colt's.

Some of the higher end 1911's have fancier features and finishes, some have super tighter tolerances, but none shoot any better than my Series 70 Gold Cup NM's do and I have used them for competition over many years.

I also own a bunch of Gov't. models and a genuine WWll Colt that all shoot flawlessly and accurately. I also have some in other calibers and configurations such as .22 Ace, 38 Super, Officer's, Commander's, etc. - never had a single problem with any of them. All my Colts will feed anything I put through them including reloads - I can not say the same for many of the high end 1911's. A gun that will not reliably shoot my reloads is useless to me! I shoot 1911's way too much to shoot factory ammo. I shoot my 1911's more than any others!

 

[arjay]

I really like the look of that rollmark.Now,if we could convince Colt to use a wide spur hammer,small thumb safety and give ‘em a 1930s polish and blue… ;-D
Nice gun!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When I build parts gun 1911's in the 80's and 90's, I would come across beaver tail hammers around 1 in 10. So If I had enough hammers for the 2 or 3 I was building at the time they always got one. And my personal 1911 has one. Just a little bit of class!

Ivan

 

[chief38]

I SEE a difference between high quality fit and finish and high quality of functionality.

Before I could afford a Gold Cup years back, I competed with a WWll surplus Colt that was basically stock - I did tweak the trigger. The GI sights were horrible but after painting the front hump with red paint that at least let me hold a candle next to the fellas with the high priced 1911's and years of experience competing. I can tell you one thing for sure - theirs jammed up here and there, mine didn't.

 

[LostintheOzone]

I've had 3 new ones. Never had a problem with any of them. They all ran out-of-the-box and none of them had to go back for any warranty work.

Sometimes I think the internet blows things out of proportion. One guy gets a bad one and 5 million people read about it on the internet.

Bottom line is I would buy a new one again if I were in the market.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

With CAD/CAM design and manufacturing guns can and are being built to to consistent tolerances only dreamed about in the past. While they don’t offer the “hand fitting” they used to get…they don’t need it like previously.

 

[Rock185]

I'd owned and been issued 1911A1s prior, but I bought my first new Colt about 1970 or so. Owned a bunch since. Gotta say I envy you guys that rarely, or never, had a problematic Colt. Over the years, I've had several functional and/or accuracy issues with Colts. Worst, believe it or not, were with the Gold Cups. I think I'm up to about 10 GCs now, so it wasn't an issue with just one or two guns. Two of my last three new Colts, a Gold Cup Trophy and Special Combat Government, had to go back for warranty issues. Others should have gone back, but I or a local gunsmith fixed those. I still like Colts, carried them for years, and fingers crossed, just bought another new one.

 

[rockquarry]

Bought a new Colt 1911 Classic yesterday, took it to the range this morning. I fired 150 rounds of .45 ball, Hi-Shok, and HST through it, the gun ran perfectly. Only flaw was a very stiff thumb safety, but that should smooth out in time. I’ll eventually put a set of NOS Colt medallion checkered grips on it from my box of grips, and a steel mainspring housing in place of the plastic housing. The plastic housing works fine, but a plastic part on a 1911 just seems wrong somehow.

I’ve bought a number of new Colt automatics over the years, around two dozen or so, and only had two lemons. Even the lemons ate everything I fed them. Whenever people tell me Colt’s are unreliable out of the box I just shrug. I’m sure some are, but I seem to end up with the good ones.

You're right about Colt 1911s. All the others are just copies, even if they work well.

 

[colt_saa]

in 2002 Colt reintroduced the Series 70 Government Model.

This pistol is serial number 70 from the new Series 70 1911s

I have owned and currently own several Colt 1911s. Mine have all been good shooters straight out of the box

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s I carried a Colt Lieutenant Commander for a while. This is an Officers sized slide on Commander sized frame

This pistol served me well during those years

The firearm that usually goes with me to Special Events is a Royal Blue Gold Cup Commander that is from a run of 500 produced back in 1990

The grips are African Elephant Ivory from the Colt Custom shop. The Firearm has been to four funerals, three weddings and two inaugurations so far. The wider trigger was always one of my favorite featurs on the Gold Cups

The first auto loader that I ever purchased new was a Colt Gold Cup back in 1978. It was a great shooter. I put many tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition through that firearm. While I no longer shoot that one, I still own it though I can not find an image of it

I also own many non-colt 1911s form various manufacturers including ones that I built myself

 

[target tech]

I don’t want to sound like a hater, my first handgun was a stainless Colt combat commander. My last Colt was a 9mm Gold Cup competition from about 3 or 4 years ago , I special ordered it, so I was stuck with it. For a 1500.00 gun it rattled worse than my 1990 CC that was probably made on the same machinery as the WW2 guns. I’ve never been able to find 9mm match ammo, but I have a hard time keeping it on a 6” bull at 15 yds. I have an EAA CZ clone limited that will shoot circles around it. Colt and I have definitely parted ways.

 

[MSD2343]

My only 1911 is the Colt Classic, purchased in summer of 2020 shortly after they came out. Was going to get a Springfield Armory government model, but decided to go with the Colt when they introduced the Classic. While I don’t have any other 1911s to compare it against, I shoot it better than any of my other pistols and at least as well as my Smith revolvers. Very happy thus far with 2K rounds downrange. Here it is with another “Classic,” my Model 27-9.

 

[Empe]

I too have the Colt O1911C or classic that I purchased just as the pandemic and ammo shortage hit. As a result it sat unused for a year or so until I could buy ammo for it . I am shooting mostly reloads now .
It's put together quite well ...the fit and finish is quite good and I have been very pleased with it. From a sandbag rest it shoots my reloads into 1.5" groups at 15 yards.
It's been very reliable and never really required a break in period. I've put about a thousand rounds through it so far with only 4 or 5 failures to eject early on and that may have been ammo related.
The only changes I have made to it was to replace the flat delrin MSH with a steel arched housing ....a far more comfortable fit for me .
My first Colt...my first 1911 and my first .45acp.

 

[junglefighter]

I also have a Colt 01911C and I am pleased with quality, fit and finish and accuracy. I left mine factory stock as this has everything I wanted as it came from Colt.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I have ten Colt 1911s in various configurations. I too have never understood the carping about Colt reliability...mine shoot just fine, with no issues whatsoever...

 

[Bill Lear]

Bought a new Colt 1911 Classic yesterday, took it to the range this morning. I fired 150 rounds of .45 ball, Hi-Shok, and HST through it, the gun ran perfectly. Only flaw was a very stiff thumb safety, but that should smooth out in time. I’ll eventually put a set of NOS Colt medallion checkered grips on it from my box of grips, and a steel mainspring housing in place of the plastic housing. The plastic housing works fine, but a plastic part on a 1911 just seems wrong somehow.

I’ve bought a number of new Colt automatics over the years, around two dozen or so, and only had two lemons. Even the lemons ate everything I fed them. Whenever people tell me Colt’s are unreliable out of the box I just shrug. I’m sure some are, but I seem to end up with the good ones.

Haters gonna hate. If Colt don't know how to build 1911s then nobody does.

 

[arjay]

I’ve had about 10 over the years, both new and used and the only one with a problem was a new series 70 I bought 20? years ago that would eject a case into my forehead just often enough that I developed a flinch lol.
A little tension on the extractor solved that problem.
My current herd

Series 70 Gold Cup,Series 80 Combat Elite,Series 70 Government,Series 70 Government (‘04), ‘69 Government,’65 Government and an early’70s Combat Commander.
I don’t know how that SAA snuck in there!

 

[31FordA]

I had the new Colt out to the range again today for another 100 rounds. It’s probably one of the most accurate 1911’s I’ve owned, even at 25 yards it kept 50 rounds in a single large hole the size of my palm. It’s on a par accuracy wise with my Custom Shop stainless Series 70, but it only cost half as much.