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Colt Gunsite 5" Stainless
Dealer shipping was "Slow as Christmas", but I picked up the Colt Gunsite from my FFL-Guy December 27. After a thorough clean and lube job, I made it to outdoor gun club on the 28th. It was one of those pleasant & sunny days that central NM is famous for. I had to shoot on the .22 silhouette range (21 Yd berm) since the combat pistol bays were already taken.
On inspection every thing fit and the external finish is well done. The one possible exception was the base of the recoil guide plug that was making light contact with the insides of the slide. I robbed a Wilson FL Guide Rod from another pistola and it was a perfect fit. I also noticed some internal machine marks that were cosmetic in nature, but could have easily been cleaned up at the factory. I would also prefer a much smaller roll-mark on the left side of the slide.
Range time: I sent 203 rounds down range of a mix of WWB HPs, Ranger T, some old PMC El Dorado from the junk box, and two reloads (a full power load and my IPSC load). Everything was 230 grain Ball or HP.
I had one malfunction - the second round of PMC was a half-chamber. Inspection showed the bullet was severely setback into the case. This was from a box of ammo that had been retired after spending considerable time in and out of another 1911. I have no idea if the setback previously existed or not. Otherwise the factory supplied Wilson 47DC eight rounds magazines and overall function was flawless.
Trigger: It’s just about right for a carry gun at an ounce or so shy of 4 pounds on my trigger pull gauge. Take-up is normal with no perceptible creep.
After several mags to get the gun settled, I fired a group of six shots from the bench at an IPCS target upper A/B zone (head shot) at 21 Yds. Five of the six were inside 2" with the 1st shot left of center causing the O/L group to be in the 3.5" range. Three shot (standing slow-fire) cloverleaf groups at 7 Yds were not a problem. Five shot groups showed my exceptional ability to pull number 4 or 5 a little left.
Sights: The supplied Heinie front sight matched up well with the Novak rear and gave a clean sight picture. Elevation is set for a 6:00 hold, which is my preferred POA. With the aiming point at the base of the neck on the IPSC A/B zone at 21 Yds, hits were center head. The windage, however was off to the left a good 1.5” or so at 21 yards, at least with me on the trigger.
Overall I'm very happy with the pistol and consider it well suited for carry or match work. It rides very nicely in a Sparks SSII IWB holster. Oh, this Colt does not rattle, so I may have to send it off for warranty work to get that corrected.
On inspection every thing fit and the external finish is well done. The one possible exception was the base of the recoil guide plug that was making light contact with the insides of the slide. I robbed a Wilson FL Guide Rod from another pistola and it was a perfect fit. I also noticed some internal machine marks that were cosmetic in nature, but could have easily been cleaned up at the factory. I would also prefer a much smaller roll-mark on the left side of the slide.
Range time: I sent 203 rounds down range of a mix of WWB HPs, Ranger T, some old PMC El Dorado from the junk box, and two reloads (a full power load and my IPSC load). Everything was 230 grain Ball or HP.
I had one malfunction - the second round of PMC was a half-chamber. Inspection showed the bullet was severely setback into the case. This was from a box of ammo that had been retired after spending considerable time in and out of another 1911. I have no idea if the setback previously existed or not. Otherwise the factory supplied Wilson 47DC eight rounds magazines and overall function was flawless.
Trigger: It’s just about right for a carry gun at an ounce or so shy of 4 pounds on my trigger pull gauge. Take-up is normal with no perceptible creep.
After several mags to get the gun settled, I fired a group of six shots from the bench at an IPCS target upper A/B zone (head shot) at 21 Yds. Five of the six were inside 2" with the 1st shot left of center causing the O/L group to be in the 3.5" range. Three shot (standing slow-fire) cloverleaf groups at 7 Yds were not a problem. Five shot groups showed my exceptional ability to pull number 4 or 5 a little left.
Sights: The supplied Heinie front sight matched up well with the Novak rear and gave a clean sight picture. Elevation is set for a 6:00 hold, which is my preferred POA. With the aiming point at the base of the neck on the IPSC A/B zone at 21 Yds, hits were center head. The windage, however was off to the left a good 1.5” or so at 21 yards, at least with me on the trigger.
Overall I'm very happy with the pistol and consider it well suited for carry or match work. It rides very nicely in a Sparks SSII IWB holster. Oh, this Colt does not rattle, so I may have to send it off for warranty work to get that corrected.
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1911
Beautiful Colt, now for those machining marks, if it were my gun I"d have Virgil Tripp take out those machining marks and I've seen his work on a Les Baer that belonged to a customer.
Virgil isn't just a plater. And his Cobra Mags are highly rated as well.
Shoot safe.
Beautiful Colt, now for those machining marks, if it were my gun I"d have Virgil Tripp take out those machining marks and I've seen his work on a Les Baer that belonged to a customer.
Virgil isn't just a plater. And his Cobra Mags are highly rated as well.
Shoot safe.
Mine was 2 yrs old 11/08. Shot it last night and now has over 11,000 rds. 3 total malfunctions. All were reloads and when checked later, were waaaaay out of spec. Short like yours. over 15 diff JHP's both factory and handloads w/o any probs. If you really like the sites, but want nites, call Mark at Trijicon www.trijicon.com He'll give you the # to "Tool Tech". It's their custom shop. They can drill the existing sites and install Tritium's. I love mine. Go with the Green front and Yellow rear. Makes a more distinct and easy to pick up site pattern. Congrats on joining the Gunsite Club. Good shooting. Tracy
Its just as easy to just buy a tritium front sight from www.ameriglo.com. They are less than $40 and install pretty easily.tsp45acp said:
Cliffy,
The only reason (and this is just personal preference, nothing more) that I recommend the trijicon installation is that the front Heinie site is serrated and when they drilled and installed, the white outline filled out almost into the serrations and is reeeeeaaaally brite white and the nites are awesome too. Tracy
The only reason (and this is just personal preference, nothing more) that I recommend the trijicon installation is that the front Heinie site is serrated and when they drilled and installed, the white outline filled out almost into the serrations and is reeeeeaaaally brite white and the nites are awesome too. Tracy
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Great post and good to hear that the Colt was tight
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722 Posts
A few more observations on the Colt Gunsite after today’s range session:
First off, the more I shoot it, the more I like it. The rear sight was adjusted and the POA/POI are now correct. Elevation wise it's dead on at 50 Yds. Shooting from prone at 50, most hits stayed in the A zone with a sprinkling of Cs to keep me humble. These were with both WWB HPs and my IPSC-Light reloads. I was expecting the reloads to hit low, but nada.
It's also square to the world at 7 Yds and groups are very tight. I was punching holes in a 1.5" wide strip of black target tape at 7 Yds. Headshots were just aim for the wide spot at that distance and it was hitting center target so long as I did my part. Clay targets on the berm at roughly 15 to 20 Yds were 6:00 hold.
The factory recoil spring is much too strong. WWB 230 JHPs were only ejecting about 4 to 5 feet on average. Of no consequence, it cycles my IPSC power reloads reliably (so far), but puts them out only about two feet or so. I replaced the factory spring with a Wolf 15 pounder tonight. I would have used a 16 Lb spring, but alas none were at hand. (A 10 pak is incoming from Brownells.)
The brass ejects nicely to the right and slightly behind, but is not very consistent on where it lands. I’m probably being picky, but it will get a new Wilson Bullet Proof extractor, also.
Finally, as my medium sized hands get used to the slim grips and short trigger, my tendency to pull shots to the left (Doubles and Bill Drills) seems to be rapidly fading. Hopefully that was not just a one-day fluke. Wilson slim grips now adorn the CQB, btw.
Sights: I'm also getting used to the slight difference in the sight picture on the Gunsite's sights (VS the Combat Pyramid Night Sights on the CQB). They both work well. At this point I doubt I will ever change the Gunsite to night sights. This is in part because the CQB is still my primary carry gun, but also because the Colt Gunsite will see a lot of duty in the Action Matches. The all black Heinie front sight is very crisp in bright sunlight and we get lots of that. No sight black needed, or as Andy says - "carry a flashlight".
First off, the more I shoot it, the more I like it. The rear sight was adjusted and the POA/POI are now correct. Elevation wise it's dead on at 50 Yds. Shooting from prone at 50, most hits stayed in the A zone with a sprinkling of Cs to keep me humble. These were with both WWB HPs and my IPSC-Light reloads. I was expecting the reloads to hit low, but nada.
It's also square to the world at 7 Yds and groups are very tight. I was punching holes in a 1.5" wide strip of black target tape at 7 Yds. Headshots were just aim for the wide spot at that distance and it was hitting center target so long as I did my part. Clay targets on the berm at roughly 15 to 20 Yds were 6:00 hold.
The factory recoil spring is much too strong. WWB 230 JHPs were only ejecting about 4 to 5 feet on average. Of no consequence, it cycles my IPSC power reloads reliably (so far), but puts them out only about two feet or so. I replaced the factory spring with a Wolf 15 pounder tonight. I would have used a 16 Lb spring, but alas none were at hand. (A 10 pak is incoming from Brownells.)
The brass ejects nicely to the right and slightly behind, but is not very consistent on where it lands. I’m probably being picky, but it will get a new Wilson Bullet Proof extractor, also.
Finally, as my medium sized hands get used to the slim grips and short trigger, my tendency to pull shots to the left (Doubles and Bill Drills) seems to be rapidly fading. Hopefully that was not just a one-day fluke. Wilson slim grips now adorn the CQB, btw.
Sights: I'm also getting used to the slight difference in the sight picture on the Gunsite's sights (VS the Combat Pyramid Night Sights on the CQB). They both work well. At this point I doubt I will ever change the Gunsite to night sights. This is in part because the CQB is still my primary carry gun, but also because the Colt Gunsite will see a lot of duty in the Action Matches. The all black Heinie front sight is very crisp in bright sunlight and we get lots of that. No sight black needed, or as Andy says - "carry a flashlight".
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722 Posts
Steve - If you get one, plan to swap out a few parts (based on my sample anyway). The extractor is not radiused on the bottom so it's a done deal to get replaced.cliffy109 said:
Bob - Thanks & lets do some pistol matches. I would really like to see your VMII holster. When are you headed back to the range? Hint - whatever pistol fits it is what you are invited to shoot with....
Joe
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