[oldcolt]

Well folks, I finally picked up my new Gold Cup (model 05070X) following what seemed like a very long waiting period (7 days here in Washington). Once in posession I headed straight for the range with 300 rds of Federal American Eagle 230 gr ball in tow.
After running the Bore Snake through the barrel a couple of times, I went straight to work. All I can say is this pistol is one heck of a shooter. Now my shooting abilities aren't the greatest but I was able to put 6 rds into 1.5 inches at 15 yds leaving a single hole. Which is better than I have been able to do with any other pistol
including another lightly customized Gold Cup that I owned a few years ago. The trigger was crisp breaking at a hair over 3 lbs. The pull was smooth and consistent. The fit and finish of this piece is excellent with no obvious tooling marks showing. The adjustments on the Bomar sight were very precise with no slop or play. Barrell fit was excellent as well. Now back to the range.
In total I fired 300 rds with 2 FTF. On both occasions the gun failed to go fully into battery. A slight nudge on the slide corrected the problems easily and I was back to shooting. The failures could be a result of very little lubrication or very dirty residue from the ammo as both failures occurred at rds 217 and 264. Needless to say, I am quite pleased with my purchase. Sounds to me like Colt has arrived again. Although, in my opinion they have never left.
Sorry for the long post, just thought you might like to know.

------------------

 

[RickB]

So, your gun is a "National Match", with the round-top slide and Bo-Mar, as opposed to the Gold Cup with rib and Elliason sight? Both were in the last Colt catalog I looked at, but I've never actually seen one of the Bo-Mar models. Is it blue, or stainless?

 

[oldcolt]

Rick,
Mine is one of the Stainless models with Bomar rear and dovetailed front. From what I understand, the Bomar rear sight is only available on the stainless model (05070X). The gun is called the Cold Cup Trophy. It does have a N.M. barrel though. The Colt page has not been updated to reflect this particular gun yet. The text is correct but they still show the Elliason rear in the photo.

------------------

 

[Tachyon]

I know I'm picking nits, but the Gold Cup Trophy is not a National Match. NM actually means something, and the Trophy doesn't qualify.

Sorry for being anal retentive about it.

Tom

 

[oldcolt]

Tachyon,
All I know is that it's one heck of a good shooter. No it doesn't carry the history of a N.M. gun. On the other hand, it does have a more durable rear sight. It's also a Colt.

------------------

 

[Tachyon]

I'm just grumpy today.

The Gold Cup NM is a special type of gun. It has the G.I. exterior (no beavertail grip safety, no extended thumb safety or slide release, etc.)

It has a specific use, it is used in the service pistol class of Bullseye competition. Only certain pistols can be used for Civilian Marksmanship Program Excellence in Competition matches, or in the service pistol classification at the National Championships (At Camp Perry. Running even as we type.) The Gold Cup NM is the premier pistol in that class.

What kind of set me off is that I saw an old (1960's) Gold Cup NM last week with an extended thumb safety, extended slide release, bad beavertail safety job and a weld-on magazine well. That just flew into the face of everything I admire about the Gold Cup NM.

It used to be common for people to hang NM parts on a gun for one reason or another, but a NM part or two doesn't make a gun a NM pistol.

This, of course has nothing to do with your Gold Cup Trophy pistol, which is a fine piston on it's own merits. One reason I'm grumpy is that I just missed one myself.

Enjoy your new work of art.

Regards,
Tom

 

[RickB]

The '99 Colt catalog listed and pictured a pistol, distinct from the Gold Cup Trophy, called the National Match (cool, discreet, 60's-style slide rollmark). It has (had) a round-top slide, Bo-Mar rear, beavertail grip safety, extended thumb safety, alloy trigger - all of the XS features. I'm wondering if they ever actually made any?

 

[Sheldon]

I have a stainless Gold Cup from the 80's and they didn't seem to be fitted much if any better than the regular 45s at the time. I did like the GC wide trigger and the pull did feel better. The barrel said NM but it didn't seem to be fit into the pistol any better than the regular 45s. Of course it has the adjustable Eliason rear sight.

I have since put an ambi-safety on it (I'm a lefty), squared the top of the frontstrap and checkered it 20lpi (would have done it 30lpi but it was serrated at 20 already from the factory), had a Barsto NM barrel fitted to the pistol, had a dovetailed front sight installed (staked one kept getting loose), installed a Smith and Alexander mag well.

I used it for IPSC shooting for a little while and it worked great. I though it made a better base pistol as it already had adjustable sights. To each there own.

 

[Sheldon]

Oh I forgot.....I have a beavertail grip safety on it too (that tang of the old one used to really dig into the web of my hand).