Hopefully, this vid will add some insight:

 

That's a 1951 gun. I'm talking about current production. I've got a 1952 Colt and agree with most of what Chambers said. They were built great for the time but probably wouldn't satisfy today's guys who want a tight slide, frame and barrel fit. But that's how they were made back then, and Colt continues to build them in similar fashion today which is why they often get as much crap as they do.

 

I'm also interested in the experts' opinions of late-model Colt 1911s - down to the barrel, slide, and frame.

My understanding is that the basic GI slide stops are still forged and machined. I continue to maintain that the slide stop is the heart of the 1911. If it fails, the whole mechanism fails.

 

When a base gun is built, the parts in question are usually disposed of for better parts. I recently had a gun built and the only parts that were retained from the original gun were the bare slide and bare frame. Literally everything else was replaced.

 

Well, it looks like we’re still waiting for a careful answer—consider that the Rampant Colt is still, nostalgic, and symbolic, to many of us, and this probably makes us the Bread & Butter to those whom the question was posed.
I’m going to throw this out. I had a Colt and a Springfield, a Browning HP, and an Inglis, back in the Norinco days. I had not the slightest inclination at that time to buy a Norinco. Life happened, and most of my stuff went away. I remembered our gunsmith in the shop telling me, “these Norincos are actually pretty fair copies, and have pretty good steel for a base gun.” Trouble was, I couldn’t find a Norinco anywhere up here. Ended up stumbling on to the Tisas Regent, and took a chance. Recently did some searching on GunBroker, out of curiosity, and found those “cheap” Norincos going for $800-900 if they were like new in box!
Ya, Colt had a significant history in our country, and among collectors, but I think its come to its end, and I think we might be in for a surprise, if we could look into the future 70 years, and potentially see some of the foreign “junk” possibly commanding a higher price than the late production Pony stamped items—people and trends are funny this way!

 

It is likely going to be pretty tempting for some to speak ill of their competition. Fortunately enough there is plenty of competition in the handgun business.

 

Excellent question directed to authorities on the subject!

 

Think the silence may be our answer! 🤐

 

It may take a few days to hear anything. Those guys are probably pretty busy.

 

I hope, IIRC Pistolwrench is on retirement or is. He's a wealth of info when he'd post. Logman was awesome and PW, Bob, CW would post occasionally years ago but you listened to what they said. Isn't that why we have top tier custom builders today like Reid and Burton? And I'm not leaving out the rest of you guys, Sbardella impresses me machining his frame and slides from blanks.

 

It would not be good business for a gunsmith/shop to bad mouth Colt or any other manufacture. You're just going to make some folks mad at you.

 

🍿

 

I’m going to try my best to give an answer that is as short, concise, and to the point as possible.

Overall the current rendition of the Colt Government Model (Colt Classic, SKU: O1911C) is in my experience dimensionally the most consistent gun they have made followed by the pistol it replaced, the Colt Series 70 re-issue (SKU: O1970A1CS). Especially when considering the retail price of the current Colt “Classic”, these guns are a very good deal for the money and for my work I have yet to see a current production “Classic” model that was not buildable or did not present a set of numbers I could work with.

Now for a bit of elaboration... keep in mind many of the aspects below are based on my desire to build these guns in to one-off customs. They are all base-guns to me and my intent to make each one I am presented with into something special.

There are of course always small aspects that folks can like, dislike, nitpick, decry, cherish, or lament over... my self included. I don’t like (nor understand) the poorly done laser slide markings and in every instance a gun that leaves my bench will have them re-done. These guns, however, tend not to have many of the cosmetic anomalies that can make building/fixturing/holding the slides and frame a challenge.

The old guns will often have slides that are not truly flat on the exterior and this is often due to how the guns were polished on a wheel. While this method of polishing produced a nice looking finish it also often resulted in flats that may taper in both directions, washed out roll-marks, rolled over cocking serrations, or other dimensional and/or cosmetic challenges. The current guns, while not as highly polished and with somewhat lack-luster laser cut markings, are at least generally flat.

I usually replace most of the small parts as part of a build but the small parts overall are good. While the barrels/bushings are not fit (keep in mind these are production guns, they are assembled NOT FIT) they are very good quality and the barrels have correctly and consistently machined feet. The extractors are a machined part that consistently Rockwell test to the print. Same goes with the slide stops, the current parts are very nice with proper spec’s and dimensions. Hammers are properly hard, sears and disconnectors, while MIM, are serviceable, and plunger tubes are machined and more often than not properly staked. The pins, screws, hammer strut, mag-catch lock, recoil guide/plug, sear spring, hammer spring, and firing pin are all good quality and I generally retain and use these parts for a commission on a new/current Colt. If we focus on discussing dimensional consistency and small parts quality in relation to cost - keep in mind the current guns can be had for around $850 - these guns are a winner.

Getting a bit more in depth with the frame and the slide... as I write this I pulled six new and currently produced Colt “Classics” out of my safe, all of which have been measured for the purposes of me building the guns. These are some of the spec’s/dimensions that I measure and record before accepting a base guns for a build:

• Vertical location of the slide relative to the slide stop
• Location of the vertical impact surface
• Thickness of the front strap and any low spots if present
• Condition of the radial lugs
• Thickness of the slide top
• Slide bore location
• Barrel bed

Each of the guns I have in front of me is within the tolerance I like to see for a production level gun and none of the “Classic” models that I have measured thus far was out of my spec’ of numbers needed. Not something I can say for other era Colt’s and this seems especially true for some from the 1970s.

Internal machining is another aspect I look at especially regarding the slide raceways, barrel bore, radial locking lugs, ejector slot, and breech-face. Thus far the Colt “Classic” Government Models I have looked over and/or built into custom guns were on par good or very good.

None of this is to say there won’t be a lemmon out there… these are production guns, built in mass, and to a price point… of course there will be a “bad” one at some time. However, as a direct comparison to previous generation Colts (and especially for my purposes) these are good guns.

 

Excellent post by someone that knows wherein they speak. Thanks out to Jason for this.

 

Concise clarity without ambiguity.

Well written Jason, thanks.

 

Thank you! Makes me feel better. If I run across a Colt in my neck of the woods (rare here), I am now more inclined to try one. I had been quite hesitant.

 

Jason explained it better than I ever could. I agree with his synopsis.
I'll add:

Locking grooves in the slide are located accurately, usually.
But some older ones were factory over chamfered. A most difficult
feature to correct.

Pin holes are staight, true and in proper location, usually.

Mag well angle to slide rails is true.
Other manufacturers have missed this by a bit.
Practically un-fixable.

Trigger track as it exits the rear of the frame.
Some manufacturers fail here and cut over wide and/or off center.
Correctable but at significant effort.

Heat treat, slides.
Modern Colts, oh.......1960's and beyond are good to go.

 

Thanks gentlemen, that was the information I think we were all looking for.

 

This thread makes me realize how little I know about 1911’s…..

 

The last 2 I purchased new, a Combat Commander and a Competition are real rattlers! The Combat Commander is now gone and the Competition will follow probably. The competition has some nice features overall, I like it but damn it's loose. I have 2 Gold Cups, a series 80 and a series 70 that are both nice and tight, good guns. They may be the only Colts I own eventually!!!!!!!!!

 

Colt can be measured in steps, two forward one back. Now that they have moved to CNC machining of the slides and frames the consistency of their measurements and tolerances has greatly improved. But, modernization has cost them some of their charm. Clearly the laser rollmarks and serialization is a step back from an esthetic sense but I'm sure it's cost based. MIM has also been a step back but they still retain some of their quality parts like the slide stop and thumb safety, this could change. But like hot rod builders and a 32 Ford it's about the bones for me. The new guns do make some of the work easier, but there are some things that still require welding and machining like the frame rails. Colt holds a special place in the hearts of 1911 lovers, I've yet to have someone ask me to build their birth year gun on a Springfield or Kimber not that they are bad guns, it's just that Colt has the history, kinda like Winchester. In closing, aside from some cosmetic details like the rollmarks and the lack of a ramped barrel model I think Colt has the best base gun on the market for the price point.

 

And Colts have class and a heritage! ,

 

"I'm really curious to hear from those of you who are actual career pistolsmiths, not weekend tinkerers."

 

An interesting read. Thanks, all.

 

I cant remember and to be honest I'm to lazy to look. Which one of you did the Tisas for yourself and posted pics here?
How did the Tisas measure/compare as a base gun?

Found it. Pistolwrench from july 17 24

 

Thank you Jason and Chuck!

 

For the master gunsmiths whom replied and shared their expertise, thank you very much. I was impressed with how little I know about the 1911 and what goes into building one of your fine creations.