I have been very satisfied with the fit, finish, reliability, and performance of my NRM Combat Commander.
A Sign of the [Sad] Times at Colt's
As the proud owner of two Colt products, a 1973-purchased Series 70 Government Model (since worked on by Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision) and a Ted Yost Signature Grade LW Commander, I have great affection and reverence for the guns of the rampant stallion. Come to think of it, I have an LE6920 carbine, too, but I digress....
While attending the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, DC, this morning, I wandered into the Colt exhibit. Their booth was, as you might expect, heavy on long arms, but they also had a couple of displays of pistols, including a lovely nickel-plated SAA, and six or eight 1911s.
I was handling the CCO Gunsite pistol, a design I've always admired, and looked at the tag that had been printed, laminated, and attached to it, with key features, suggested retail price, etc.
To my dismay, it proclaimed the model I was holding to be the "Gunsight" model.
The fact that the pistol was pretty roughly put together with a clunky trigger didn't do much for my morale, either.
OK, it's a small thing, but you know, to me it speaks volumes about Colt's lack of engagement in the marketplace. I wish like hell that Colt's would return the brand to what many of us would like to think of as its rightful place in the market, which it long ago ceded to Kimber, Springfield, et. al.
That would be something we could all be happy about.
While attending the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, DC, this morning, I wandered into the Colt exhibit. Their booth was, as you might expect, heavy on long arms, but they also had a couple of displays of pistols, including a lovely nickel-plated SAA, and six or eight 1911s.
I was handling the CCO Gunsite pistol, a design I've always admired, and looked at the tag that had been printed, laminated, and attached to it, with key features, suggested retail price, etc.
To my dismay, it proclaimed the model I was holding to be the "Gunsight" model.
The fact that the pistol was pretty roughly put together with a clunky trigger didn't do much for my morale, either. OK, it's a small thing, but you know, to me it speaks volumes about Colt's lack of engagement in the marketplace. I wish like hell that Colt's would return the brand to what many of us would like to think of as its rightful place in the market, which it long ago ceded to Kimber, Springfield, et. al.
That would be something we could all be happy about.
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For what it's worth, I have a very low serial number Colt Gunsite CCO that shoots to point of aim, digests anything I feed it, and is very attractive as well. The mags are junky, but that's easily fixed.
In my view, this is the perfect 1911 CCW piece. If this is poor quality, I'll take another serving.
In my view, this is the perfect 1911 CCW piece. If this is poor quality, I'll take another serving.
Attachments
I have never bought a new Colt 1911. All I have bought was "like new" Colts at a pawn shop.
A Delta Elite for $550 and a Gold Cup for $500, both show room new condition.
Never, I say again, never a problem with them. Son of a guns just keep going on and and on like the energizer bunny. Never a problem.
Maybe because they have never been been modified from factory standards, I don't know though.
I could never afford a $1000 gun for just one gun, and that is why I buy from pawn shops.
JMHO
A Delta Elite for $550 and a Gold Cup for $500, both show room new condition.
Never, I say again, never a problem with them. Son of a guns just keep going on and and on like the energizer bunny. Never a problem.
Maybe because they have never been been modified from factory standards, I don't know though.
I could never afford a $1000 gun for just one gun, and that is why I buy from pawn shops.
JMHO
I was going to say about the same thing dsk said. When it comes to reliability (the most important factor) I've founds Colts to reign supreme among 1911 brands.
Unfortunately, ALL the makers, including the semi-custom makes are producing lemons these days. It seems like much of the time Kimber seems to make no effort to fix their lemons... even with multiple "attempts"... Spend some time in the Kimber forum... there are LOTS of problems with them. :scratch:
Unfortunately, ALL the makers, including the semi-custom makes are producing lemons these days. It seems like much of the time Kimber seems to make no effort to fix their lemons... even with multiple "attempts"...
Spend some time in the Kimber forum... there are LOTS of problems with them. :scratch:Interesting, If that is what you have seen in your area I won't disagree with you. However, [always a howeverValleyBoy said:
] I have not seen the same thing. I will say that Kimbers parts seem to be more uniform, but that is because most of the parts are MIM and easily repeatable. Colt machines much of their small stuff from bar stock, there will be tooling marks on them. However that does not mean the parts are inferior, far from it as I do not consider MIM to be as good as tool steel. Good enough? Maybe. Especially when the pistol is shot 1000 times before selling it off. Good enough to last 50, 60, 70 years? I don't know, guess well find that out in about half a century..Kimbers are pretty nicely finished, I will agree with that, but the finely finished ones are well over 1000 bucks. Most of the sellers are the cheaper models that dont impress me all that much between the paint/finish and the massive sandblasting Kimber seems to do. However that is subjective to what one is looking for, I prefer crisp lines and edges, other prefer mushy rounded edges, if it works, it works.
After many years of shooting 1911s I have come to the conclusion that while Colt needs work on their cosmetics on occasion, they work out of the box a greater percentage of the time them most other brands, and their parts tend to be made of better quality steel. [cept for the MIM extractor fiesco] They last longer, [small parts] and tend to wear out rather then have a catastropic failure. [I mean stress fractures and sheered parts, NOT blow ups].
In the end after owning a bunch of 1911 Colts [from USGI to NM38specials, to Defenders, I have spent the least amount of money on my Colts to keep in good working order then any other make. [sans mags] One make is now on my never going to buy again after multiple problems with their guns [new] that all turned out to be because of cheap garbage parts that either had an extremely short life span, or were junk from new. I wish them luck, but I won't spend any money on them til I see better parts put in them.
As far as pricing goes, In my area Kimber is usually priced above Colt. They have some more doodads but most of the bling is just cast or MIM add on parts. I do like their sights, but SAs are pretty good also. Colt does need to get with it in offering night sights from the factory. They are pretty dumb in that respect. Right now there is a SS Colt defender at the local shop new for 750, they'd probably let it go for 700. A Kimber is about 895 for pretty close to the same thing. 150 bucks more the K is not worth. My defender has been FLAWLESS in reliability since day one. I cannot say that with my other small 1911, it has been a nightmare from day one and everytime I work on it I want to toss it against the wall. I hear more them a few complaints about this gun, but occasionally I do hear of one that runs also. It's nice to see that the company puts out 10 working pistols per 100.
NOT what one wants to see in a CCW self defense pistol to say the least. Cheers.
I'm a little late in replying, but allow me to say, DHart, that I agree 100% with you. I have had quite a few 1911s over the years ( my downfall in life is I love buying and sellin guns!) and now just have 9 Colts and 1 Luger. I also have found for me, " Colts reign supreme among 1911 brands ".DHart said:I was going to say about the same thing dsk said. When it comes to reliability (the most important factor) I've founds Colts to reign supreme among 1911 brands.
Unfortunately, ALL the makers, including the semi-custom makes are producing lemons these days. It seems like much of the time Kimber seems to make no effort to fix their lemons... even with multiple "attempts"...
I have three full-sized Colts (including a new Series 70 from earlier this summer), and one Commander. I actually prefer the Colt rattle. Browning didn't intend for it to be a close-tolerance design, and my own feeling is that a looser 1911 (not TOO loose) is a more reliable gun, all other things being equal.
Poor workmanship is not to be excused, but a little slide rattle is not to be confused with poor workmanship. Colt is one of the few makers that tries to stick closer to the original tolerances, and I don't think I'm the only one who appreciates that. In a defensive pistol, a one-inch gun at 25 yards will give you no practical advantage over a two or three-inch gun at 25 yards, and I'll go with one that shoots through the mud, the blood, and the beer everytime as opposed to a target queen that chokes if the clouds come out.
If you want a practice or target piece, then the semi-wad thing could be important to you, but none of my Colts are ever used with semi-wads & I couldn't care less about what they do with them.
Individual preferences & uses.
Denis
Poor workmanship is not to be excused, but a little slide rattle is not to be confused with poor workmanship. Colt is one of the few makers that tries to stick closer to the original tolerances, and I don't think I'm the only one who appreciates that. In a defensive pistol, a one-inch gun at 25 yards will give you no practical advantage over a two or three-inch gun at 25 yards, and I'll go with one that shoots through the mud, the blood, and the beer everytime as opposed to a target queen that chokes if the clouds come out.
If you want a practice or target piece, then the semi-wad thing could be important to you, but none of my Colts are ever used with semi-wads & I couldn't care less about what they do with them.
Individual preferences & uses.
Denis
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