Another Colt in the barn

C

cw308

New member
Have been looking for a carry compact 45acp. Read a lot of articles, made a call to Colt CS. Settled on the Colt New Agent 3" 45acp. Problem it's been discontinued for to years. Colts reason the trench sights never cought on, the one I was looking for came with Crimson trace laser grips. Found a company on gunbroker had it new for 899. Now I have it in my barn, just received the saddle today. Next stop is the range. I reload, so anyone out there have a good load for a 3" 45acp . The Colt Defender is the same , except for sights , grip safety .
 
What are you trying to do with your load?
A comfy load for punching paper is a 200gr bullet over 3.9 of Hodgdon Clays (not so light that it won't cycle).
A little stiffer is the same charge with a 230gr bullet.
 
I handled one of these a few years ago at my LGS and hated the lack of sights, hope it works out for you but it was just not my cup of tea.
 
I have one. Carry it occasionally. Never really got used to the trench sights but figured it'd be a c!ose range instinctive shooter anyway. I like the crimson trace grips for taking it to the indoor range.
 
RickB
My carry is a S&W 36 Chief 2" 38 SPL. & this 45 new agent 3" 45acp , practice once a week at a indoor range. Like to practice with the same round I'll carry , will look into the Hodgdon Clay 3.9 Thanks for getting back. Chris

Smee78
The trench sight is the reason its out of production. I'm using it for close range use only. Its a point and shoot firearm. With the CT grips, its just perfect for me. For target shooting I shoot the Colt 70 series 45acp. with that crazy collet barrel bushing.

Dane17
What are you shooting with your NA. I ordered the takedown tool, that double spring plunger is different, the slide stop was a pain at first. The tool makes it easy .

Thanks again for getting back.
 
If you want a cheap, full-power load that replicates the ballistics of typical carry ammo, you'll want a load considerably hotter than what I recommended.
200gr over 3.9grs of Clays is going to give you only about 700fps.
You'll need a slower powder than Clays to get 850-900fps.
 
RickB
I'll try the 3.9 for trigger time, rather not beat up the weapon when shooting for fun, finish up with full loads at the end. Thanks Rick for the info. When shooting full loads with my revolver, wound up with an end shake problem, sent it back to S&W to correct. Now I shoot lighter loads for trigger time 50 rounds, finish up with 25 rounds of full loads.With an auto as long as it works the slide properly I would practice with a lighter load. Thanks again Chris
 
I bought a New Agent in 9mm awhile back but wish I had got the 45acp as that's what I use the most. Nice gun, CT grips, laying here for house defense.
Doubt that its had more than a couple boxes ammo thru it. :eek:
 
I sold my agent because of the sight . Never could get used to it. My Defender and Officer still carried. I like 185 to 200 gr HP for a carry load .
 
Do you keep a spare set of recoil springs? What is the round count to change the springs to keep it operating , before problems occur?
 
If you are going to shoot the gun regularly, then changing every 500 rounds is something of a consensus spring-change interval.
I have some thousands of rounds through my compact .45, and changed the springs annually - $6 per set, why not? - but my current spring set is supposedly made from some super-secret alloy, and is supposed to last thousands of rounds. We'll see.
 
RickB
Where did you get those " last till the end of time springs" from? Fired my new agent today, just love the gun, recoil is much less then I thought it would be. Trench sights not a problem & the Crimson Trace were dead on. Very happy with my choice. Now I'm on the hunt for some 45acp powders.
 
RickB: Where did you get those "last till the end of time springs" from? Fired my new agent today, just love the gun, recoil is much less then I thought it would be. Trench sights not a problem & the Crimson Trace were dead on. Very happy with my choice. Now I'm on the hunt for some 45acp powders.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you like your NA. Love mine.

For the in-close/up-close defensive shooting it's intended for, I really like the quickness of the trench sight.

I do need to get new springs though, as I'm passed the 500-rd mark. Will probably default to Wolff's and get a couple of sets.

:cool:
 
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