Satin Colt Commander

[opaul]

I've been picking up a few Colts lately and this is the latest addition. I haven't checked the actual mfg date but I'm estimating mid '70s. Field stripped and cleaned it this evening and it doesn't appear to have seen much use.
I've read up quite a bit about the satin finish - some hate it some like it; I kinda like it.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Whoa, you are picking them up lately. Do you have a 1911 tree out back?

That's a nice! Thanks for posting a photo.

 

[WVSig]

Nice gun. Most peoples complaints about the satin nickel is that it did not wear well. It was prone to scratching and flaking.

Yours looks good!

 

[opaul]

I figured if the finish ever got to the point I didn't like it I would send it to Robar!

 

[arjay]

That's a nice one,don't see many in that shape.

 

[calmex]

I had a Colt Series 70 GM that was Colt Satin Nickled and used it as my main IPSC competition pistol from 1978 until 1980/81 when I switched over to a much more customized 1911. The Satin Nickled 1911 I did not customize much and the nickle was never "cut" although I installed hi-viz MMC Bar-Cross sights (at the MMC plant in Deming, N.M. when I happened to be driving through in the fall of 1979) and I had a few other odds and ends that were "drop in" parts.

That gun saw a lot of use in a lot of matches and was in-and-out of the holster a lot and wore VERY well. The nickle never chipped or wore on me and was in really nice shape when I sold it to a good friend who still has it up in Canada. Maybe they did wear, but the GM version I had held up very well.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Very nice snag! I have the "salt and pepper" version, pre 80's Combat Commander that's very nice except for the idiot scratch. Enjoy that one!

 

[opaul]

It is amazing how many 1911's you see that have the 'idiot scratch'. Doesn't hurt anything but makes an ugly beauty mark. It would not be a deal breaker for me but it is hard to look at.
On a side note, I wonder why Colt didn't incorporate the feed ramp with the barrel like S&W did?

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I got one like yours back in 1980. I am the second owner. The finish has held up remarkably well.

 

[10mmauto]

I had a Series 70 Satin Nickle Commander back in the early 80's. I liked it. But the sights were awful. Little bitty nib of a front sight and both colored the same as the gun. Made it hard to pick them up in any light. But I would grab another one for the right price!

 

[alwslate]

I had one for a while back in 1972-73. The finish was said to be soft
but I didn't have it long enough to find out. Mine had the smooth
reddish grips with the sand blasted look. I really liked the looks of the
gun. What I didn't like was the occasional empty case to the face and
the poor accuracy compared to the Government models. I had a
Remington Rand ex GI auto that I traded in on the Commander and
it shot tighter groups than the much newer and tighter Commander.
I sold it to a friend who wanted a truck gun and bought a new Series
70 Gov mod that I still have. Now looking back I wish I had kept
both the Commander and the Remington Rand. It's ok to have three.

 

[TenTea]

Hi opaul. I think I just saw your new pistol, over there, in 1911-land >---------------}-

I didn't have an opportunity to like it there, though...but I did here.

It looks just as nice from this angle.

 

[Watchdog]

I had one for a while back in 1972-73. What I didn't like was the occasional empty case to the face...

I smiled when I read that. I've become so used to having a case dinged off my forehead now and then, it doesn't even bother me any more. I just keep shootin'. It'd be fairly simple to correct the "problem"...just haven't gotten around to it over the past few years.

 

[arjay]

. What I didn't like was the occasional empty case to the face.

The new 70 series still do that[emoji4](Ive tweaked the extractor,but haven't had time to shoot it yet)

 

[wbraswell]

I have one just like it, with the blue trigger and grip screws. A friend bought it new around 1982-3. I think his came from J&G. An FFL friend of ours ordered it from Shotgun News. He carried his in his glovebox while traveling, and it wore come shiny spots on the finish.

 

[CajunBass]

I bought a satin nickel GM in the early/mid 80's I guess it was. NIB, with black Pachmayr grips. I was under the spell of Jeff Cooper and the IPSC crowd. I shot that one quite a bit in local matches. Good shooting gun. I remember the empties would be in a pattern around me, with one of them, five or six, bounching off the bill of my hat.

 

[Dennis The B]

I picked up one a few weeks ago. It had been customized by Carniak Custom Colts, here in Michigan. They had added Pachmayr grips, Wilson ambi safety, full length guide rod, cap, Novak sights, and a Wilson barrel bushing. However no work on the trigger or feed ramp. The good part was, though, the original parts were with the gun. I bought it, and put the original parts back on, except for the sights. I also polished the feed ramp, and I added a set of Nutmeg polished buffalo stocks; it's being test fired now with hollow points (300 so far without failure) and round ball. No failures.

The satin finish does look a bit funky, but it cleaned up nicely with Mothers.