What Colt 1911?

[ContinentalOp]

My original Series 70 Gold Cup National Match has a solid pin, not a roll pin that holds the rear sight, it has never backed out.

FWIW, I got curious and just double checked mine. It has a solid pin, too.

 

[AJ]

FWIW, my 70 Series Gold Cup hasn't been shot much, maybe around 1,000-1,500 rounds of hardball, and the pin shows no sign of backing out. Granted, that's not a lot of rounds.

I did replace the collet bushing on mine with a solid match grade bushing, as well as a link job for better lock-up.

And I hate the sear depressor spring. It's a royal pain when detail stripping. Ask me how I know.

My gun has about 70,000+ rounds through it. The pin is still in place.

I have seen a colletted bushing break. A gunsmith friend showed me where it was not properly fitted. He was Jim MacDonald of MAC's .45 Shop of Seal Beach, CA., may he RIP. Good man and a great .45 Smith.

My pistol does not have a sear depressor spring in it. Is that a Series 80? Did they continue that when they reproduced the Series 70's?

AJ

 

[ContinentalOp]

My pistol does not have a sear depressor spring in it. Is that a Series 80? Did they continue that when they reproduced the Series 70's?

No. Mine is an original Series 70 gun. It's been a while since I've checked, but I believe mine was made in the early 80s. Maybe it wasn't added until late in the series?

IIRC, the reason for the sear depressor spring was to keep the gun from going full-auto. The trigger is wider than other 1911s, and made from steel, so noticeably heavier. The idea was that the heavy trigger made it possible to trip the sear unintentionally during firing. I believe it was called "sear bounce." At least in theory. I'm not aware of this actually happening. However, I did do a test for it once after, ahem, losing the spring to see if it was true. Basically, with an unloaded gun, you lock the slide back, point the muzzle up, and release the slide (obviously, not something one should do multiple times). If the hammer follows, then you got a problem. In my case, the hammer followed. I did the test only once more (so twice, total) after the sear depressor spring was re-installed, and the hammer stayed cocked.

If you have a lightweight alloy trigger, it shouldn't be a problem if you don't have the depressor spring. It also may be possible that older Series 70 GC guns had normal width triggers, so not as heavy and thus not an issue. I don't know.

 

[AJ]

No. Mine is an original Series 70 gun. It's been a while since I've checked, but I believe mine was made in the early 80s. Maybe it wasn't added until late in the series?

IIRC, the reason for the sear depressor spring was to keep the gun from going full-auto. The trigger is wider than other 1911s, and made from steel, so noticeably heavier. The idea was that the heavy trigger made it possible to trip the sear unintentionally during firing. I believe it was called "sear bounce." At least in theory. I'm not aware of this actually happening. However, I did do a test for it once after, ahem, losing the spring to see if it was true. Basically, with an unloaded gun, you lock the slide back, point the muzzle up, and release the slide (obviously, not something one should do multiple times). If the hammer follows, then you got a problem. In my case, the hammer followed. I did the test only once more (so twice, total) after the sear depressor spring was re-installed, and the hammer stayed cocked.

If you have a lightweight alloy trigger, it shouldn't be a problem if you don't have the depressor spring. It also may be possible that older Series 70 GC guns had normal width triggers, so not as heavy and thus not an issue. I don't know.

Nope, nothing like that in my pistol. I believe that something they incorporated in the Series 80 design. I owned a Series 80 slide once for an afternoon. It did not want to work on my Caspian frame, so back to the dealer it went for a Government Slide.

 

[old tanker]

There's my old 1911 that I got through the DCM in 1961. I used it for everything. After I joined the Army, it went everywhere the Army allowed and, perhaps, some places it didn't. Over a 100 years old now, it's semi-retired.

The day to day workhorse is 1973 Combat Commander I got second hand in the Eighties. I installed the long GI trigger and the straight mainspring housing. It gets carried in a old Commander sized Bianchi shadow. That's the set up that was used local USPSA club matches until the club got done in by the county zoning.

After all these years is just second nature to me.

 

[ContinentalOp]

I believe that something they incorporated in the Series 80 design.

No, like I said, my Series 70 GCNM has it, though they did include it in the Series 80 guns. I did a little Interweb digging, and I found a comment on another forum that it was added later in the series, so early Series 70 GCNMs didn't have it. Here's a picture I found:

OP, sorry for the thread derailment.

 

[AJ]

No, like I said, my Series 70 GCNM has it, though they did include it in the Series 80 guns. I did a little Interweb digging, and I found a comment on another forum that it was added later in the series, so early Series 70 GCNMs didn't have it. Here's a picture I found:

OP, sorry for the thread derailment.

Maybe it was removed from mine before I bought it.

 

[ContinentalOp]

Maybe it was removed from mine before I bought it.

Certainly possible. If it still has the original sear, you could always look to see if it has the hole in it for the depressor spring if you're curious.

 

[AJ]

Certainly possible. If it still has the original sear, you could always look to see if it has the hole in it for the depressor spring if you're curious.

Will look the next time I tear it done to clean it.

 

[Cellar Hound]

Decisions made...

Well, I came to a couple of decisions after reading all of the feedback to my thread....

1. I will need to purchase more than one 1911 to satisfy my needs (no surprise there)

2. I know I may receive some negative feedback but the first 1911 that I found to my liking was a new 80 series Gold Cup Trophy.

For all the 70 series fans out there.....rest easy, it’s the next one on my list.... I just need some time to find the right one. I will be opening my search criteria and my wallet to find the “Love of my Life” 1911. I will keep you all posted as I proceed through my journey.

Thank you all for your contribution to my search!

 

[CLASSIC12]

Congratulations, very nice gun

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a series 80s

I have this 1992 GCNM and it is the most accurate 1911 I own (out of 15). Shot at 25 meters offhand

 

[Cellar Hound]

Thanks CLASSIC12.....

Thanks for sharing your pics!!

Very nice gun and very nice grouping there!

 

[stansdds]

Well, I came to a couple of decisions after reading all of the feedback to my thread....

1. I will need to purchase more than one 1911 to satisfy my needs (no surprise there)

2. I know I may receive some negative feedback but the first 1911 that I found to my liking was a new 80 series Gold Cup Trophy.

For all the 70 series fans out there.....rest easy, it’s the next one on my list.... I just need some time to find the right one. I will be opening my search criteria and my wallet to find the “Love of my Life” 1911. I will keep you all posted as I proceed through my journey.

Thank you all for your contribution to my search!

I think that after you experience the joy that the 1911 can bring, one will just be the start of an addiction. Looking forward to reading a range report on your new Colt Series 80 Gold Cup Trophy.

 

[BE Mike]

Congratulations, very nice gun

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a series 80s

I have this 1992 GCNM and it is the most accurate 1911 I own (out of 15). Shot at 25 meters offhand

It's refreshing to see a decent group fired off hand at 25 meters. Lately, in America, shooters and gun writers have been dumbed down to test for accuracy at 15, 10 or even 7 yards. They test from a rest. Nice to see that there are still folks who know how to align the sights and manipulate the trigger without disturbing that alignment!

 

[eb07]

Colt Combat Commander XSE because it is easy to carry and shoots great

 

[PALADIN85020]

I never chose to acquire a Colt National Match pistol, as I had this GI Ithaca 1911A1 accurized by a very competent gunsmith when I was in the Army. I shot many, many matches with it and it never failed me either for accuracy or functioning.

I upgraded it with some more modern components after my service days, and shot it a lot afterwards.

I carried it in preference to my arms room pistol when I was on active duty in the Army, and also when I was in the Arizona Army National Guard. This gun was my first centerfire autoloader, and it's one of my personal favorite guns.

John

 

[ContinentalOp]

Thanks to Cellar Hound's recent 1911 threads, my interest in the 1911 has been rekindled. I've always liked them, but they've tended to take a back seat to my carry guns. I went to the range this morning to give my 1911s a workout. They've been in storage for over 20 years, which was also the last time I shot them. I did give them a thorough cleaning and inspection after pulling them out of storage, and changed the recoil springs just to be on the safe side. I've also been doing a lot of dry fire practice with them lately, to the point I actually had to throw away one of my snap caps due to wear.

I didn't fire a lot of rounds. Each one fired 25 rounds of Speer Lawman 230gr TMJ, followed by 25 rounds of Federal 230gr HST, using 3 7-round Colt mags with Metalform followers, using my minimal reliability test protocol for self defense guns. Both guns passed without a hiccup. I don't plan on using my 1911s for carry/defensive purposes, but it is nice knowing they should be reliable enough if I need to press them into service.

I am nowhere near CLASSIC12's level of skill, but I thought I'd share my targets. All shots were fired at 7 yards, 2-handed, no rest, and most of the flyers were called. I should also mention that in the past I've had a tendency to drop shots when shooting SA, which has recurred here. Not sure what it is, exactly. I think it might be the "wall" when the sear breaks, rather than the "roll" of a DA trigger.

First, my Series 80 Government Model:

Next, my Series 70 Gold Cup National Match:

I wish I could say these were rapid fire drills, but no, each shot was aimed.

Obviously not a precision marskman. But considering I hadn't shot these guns in over 20 years, I hadn't done any shooting in the last 4 months or so, and I had to deal with fatigue from health issues, I'd say it still wasn't very good. But I had fun, something which has been lacking in my life for the past year.

And who knows? I may even reconsider getting a 1911 for carry.

 

[CherryRiver]

I have to say that the Wiley Clapp guns mentioned are excellent choices.
A .45 Commander in blue is what I bought for my very first gun on my 21st birthday long ago. I still have it. It still makes me want to head to the range. So there's that.
But one Colt I haven't seen mentioned here that deserves a look is the custom shop GM variant, the Special Combat Government Model (not the same as the other Combat or Competition versions).
Mine is from about 1998. For almost two decades, it was my every-Sunday USPSA match gun. It probably has more than 150,000 rounds through it by now. It's on the second barrel and several other wear parts as well.
In a Ransom, I can get it down to about an inch at 25 yards, maybe a tick less if I make better ammo.
In competition, it simply never failed, not if the ammunition I stuffed into it was anything better that sewer-cover grade.
It's one of those things that you don't appreciate too much at the time, until you look back and see what a great device it was.
And still is. Still the same rock-solid, 200 rounds plus a week gun.
Mine is the satin-nickel frame, blue slide version. Some of the controls are not original and the finish may be off. It was a working gun, so I didn't care too much to get the thing refinished only to beat it up again the following Sunday morning.
The only picture I found in this computer is pretty awful. It looks rusty and scratched up, but it's not really. Just a bit worn. The nickel finish is just as deep and understated as it was on day one and not too much of the slide's blue got worn off in the thousands of draws from my old Galco range holster.
One truly excellent gun.

 

[shawn mccarver]

OK...

My last post gave me great information, so it’s time to take it to the next level. Many said “If you only have one 1911, it should be a Colt”. I know other brands may be just as good or better but I want to have a piece of history. So, let’s just say I’m prepared to buy a Colt. What 1911 should it be?

1. Colt Gold Cup Trophy
2. Colt Gold Cup National Match
3. Colt Government Model
4. Colt Special Government Model
5. Colt Combat Commander XSE
6. Colt Custom
7. Some other Colt

Please give me your opinion on Colt Options. I’m looking for a range/night stand gun. I am prepared to spend up to $2,000. All of your feedback is appreciated.

Thanks.

Easy. If you can only have one 1911, then a Colt in the original caliber, .45 ACP. Which model Colt? For me, it is the new 1911 Classic. Model O, catalog number O1911C if you want blue, or O1911C-SS if you want stainless steel.

 

[jscott]

Lots of suggestions against a 80 series. During a tumultuous drug house raid in Miami, my condition 1 Colt Gvt Series 80 was knocked from my hand and landed hammer down on a cement floor. For an instant, I was looking down the barrel. It landed with enough force to snap the ampi thumb safety pin in half. But it did not discharge and shoot me in the face. For me, its a series 80 forever. I can overcome the difference in the trigger, not a hole in my head.