[Col. Colt]

Is a Gold Cup worth it over a standard Colt - in a word, Yes. It is a "production" Colt - not a Custom Shop Gun - but the current feature set, if added after the fact to a standard Colt (or Springfield, etc.) would cost you more. Just fitting BoMar style sights is going to be $2-300.00, then add the beavertail (most will opt for the GCT for casual shooting, unless they are real traditionalists) and the wide trigger is not found anywhere else.

Bullseye shooters are a tiny but very specialized lot, and I doubt any of them run a dead stock ANYTHING regardless of maker - and their guns are sporting goods - tennis rackets, not weapons - pretty much Range Only items. Make no mistake, these guys are highly disciplined, very respectable athletes and they do have my respect for their craft, but their game is "accuracy at all costs" and has nothing to do with a weapon you would actually carry into harms way. So unless you are a Bullseye competitor, I would ignore their concerns in your selection. If you ARE a Bullseye competitor, you already know what you need and that it will certainly cost you ($$$) a LOT more than a new Gold Cup. Colts are made of good steel and make good base guns for any purpose, but their are many choices today.

Another factor where Colts have the edge is "feel" - the gripstrap is not the same dimension on all makes - Colts generally feel slimmer and better in the hand. Springfields have always been "blocky" by comparison.

1911 practical accuracy is almost entirely in the barrel/bushing/slide/slide stop lockup - frame to slide tightness only matters for the entirely artificial mechanical (Ransom) rest testing - your hand shoots the gun in real life, and you line up the sights. The
Ransom rest can't do this - the frame is locked - and ANY slide frame play will make for a bogus test of the gun's real ability. Tight slides are wrong for a defense gun.

So, in closing - the Colt Gold Cup has a NM barrel, a wide trigger and excellent adjustable sights - and a beavertail, checkering on the newer models, etc. The Colt frame "feels" better in the hand, and resale will generally be higher for a Colt in good condition, and "Gold Cup" is a well known model, which also helps. Yea, it's worth it! CC

 

[Col. Colt]

TRSOtto, you and I will always spar about this - and a difference of opinion between Gentlemen is acceptable - we all pay our own money and take our own chances.

The author and humorist Mark Twain (he was from Missouri too) had a saying: "Whenever you find yourself in League with the Majority - It is Time to Pause - and Reflect....."

How many people are buying the Kool Aid at a given moment has never influenced me. I worked for an American Pistolsmith Guild gunsmith for seven years - and slide tightening was the very last thing he would ever recommend for his IPSC guns and his customs - only and unless they were slated for life as Bullseye guns.

I prefer the original specs which were arrived at over the years of the 1911's development during actual Field testing - some of which was done by regular US Army troops in the field - that were NOT sloppy at all but chosen very deliberately to operate in ALL Environmental conditions on this planet - which vary considerably.

Extreme Cold or Heat, dirty or clean, lubed or dry, out of spec wartime contract ammo, dirt, mud sand, salt water landings, etc., etc., - I trust old John Moses - a true Weapon Designer and quite probably the best who ever lived - more than any of the world's high priced 1911 copycats who only turn out a few hundred guns a year. And a tight stainless gun, as mentioned by Jayhawk Navy above, is seldom a good choice. And most people today Want Stainless if they buy a metal gun.....

Wonder if anyone has ever take a Baer or Wilson out in the -13 degree (F.) temps I worked in last week - doesn't metal contract when cold, and ammo lose a bit of power and velocity there, too? Most of those customers you mention never take their guns off the pavement (or out of the safe or anywhere but the range) and high end name bragging rights is what they are really buying. They don't know any better because they buy the hype "tighter is better". If you believe that, go ahead, Tighten up your car's engine bearings a couple thou and let me know how that turns out for you. Specs exist for reasons - that are not always obvious to the guy who didn't do any of the designing.

There is a CORRECT and OPTIMUM set of specs for every machine. And the more environmental/temp variables, the more important that it not be "too tight". Correct barrel/bushing/slide lockup (barrel feet to slide stop pin locking up the upper lugs) make a 1911 more than accurate enough for what it was designed to do when carried in a holster. The gains from a tight slide are pretty insignificant for 98% of users. If this were not true, how could so many win matches with Glocks, FNs, M&Ps - plastic guns ALL have "loose slides". No way to even tighten one.

If you gave me a new Baer it would be turned into two new Colts before nightfall.... And I would be just as well armed for what is a handgun's real purpose. Handguns are to stop fights and protect lives. Other uses are recreational. CC

PS - I had read about that Vietnam helicopter downing and the superb job that Bullseye shooter did in defending himself and his fellows - awesome example of why I say you should respect those who can shoot Bullseye at a high level. Not many of them around, but boy can they shoot! Thanks for the citation, Jayhawk Navy. CC

 

[Col. Colt]

Pale Face, in response to your post, here is a link to an older post I made after I bought a very nice old M1911 that was shipped from the Colt Factory to the AEF at Greenville Piers, January 3, 1918. Nothing sloppy about this wartime, military contract M1911 - fitted correctly, and with very little wear internally - although it was obviously carried and used - possibly brought back by a GI after WWI as it never was rebuilt/refinished. I have also handled other, excellent condition original pre-WWII 1911s that were fitted exactly as Colt Handguns Plant Manager Mark Roberts told me in the post.

https://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=196231&highlight=Greenville+Piers

CC