Charles Daley .45 ACP?

S

support_six

New member
In a good, local sporting goods store there is a "Charles Daley" .45ACP, new, with some upscale features. I was not aware of this brand before and would like to ask anyone out there of your thoughts on it's quality.

It has a beavertail? grip (forgive me for I am not up on the top features of .45ACP), a rounded hammer spur with hole, a target type trigger shoe, an ambidexterous large safety, stainless frame with blued slide, standard bushing and fixed sights.

This gun has a price of $419 and a $50 off tag for a total price of $379. The fellow behind the counter said it was a relatively good gun, certainly not Wilson, Kimber, or Colt quality, but better than Norinco. According to him, it has an investment cast frame, done in the Phillipines, but is not too soft as the Norinco may be.

Should I run right out and buy this thing or not???

Thanks for your help and consideration.

Bruce Woodbury
 
Six I have heard nothing but bad stuff about Daley guns. But I have heard new Daleys are not as bad as older Daleys. I dont have one nor have I shot one so my knowledge is heresey.
 
People will knock the CD, because it is/was a relatively cheap gun. I have one of the early one.and I love it, only problem I've had was the front sight came loose, because they way the put it one was bad, soldiered on. so you may want to check for that. Other than that, no real problems. Accuracy is good enough for me, but I am by no means a good pistol shot. Had some stove pipes in the first 300 rounds, but none since then. But, the mangles the last casing out of the magazine. But it only cost me 350 including shipping and all the FFL transfer fees involved in CA there were any 1911 clones for anything close to that in my area. At the time. Hope that helps
 
The only thing I don't like about mine is that I can't get anything but ball ammo to feed reliably. I only have 250-300 rounds through it so far, so I haven't taken it to a smith yet, but I suspect the feed ramp? needs to be polished some. Other than that, I love it! For the money I don't think you can buy a better .45.
Fezwig
 
Hi, guys,

Just for the record, I have two Norincos and they are not soft anywhere. I have put over 2000 through one and there is no sign of any wear at all. Shooting is monotonous, with no malfunctions, no jams, no failures. Period. Norincos are forged and properly hardened, with good magazines, and seem to give little or no trouble. Most of the badmouthing of Norincos (aside from opposition to Chinese politics) seems to come from sellers of the Charles Daly.

FWIW, I never bought a Norinco new, but see no problem in owning used ones, though I very much oppose Communism in any form, in any country.

Jim
 
Charles Daly

I have one of the new Daly's, Serial# pre-fix of "CD". It is a very quality piece. Slide to frame fit is good , fit and finish is great. Compared it to my brothers SA "Loaded" and it was just as nice, except for the grips. They both had the same slide to frame fit, like it was stated, these aren't Wilsons or Baer's. Accuracy is excellent. It has fed ball and HydraShoks without any problems.
 
I have a 5" CD that I bought to compete against my buds in IDPA with the $1500 guns. I do like beating them with a $300 gun. The fit and finish are certainly on par with a Springfield Armory. Accuracy is good with groups well under 2" @ 25 yds. It feeds 200gr.SWC, 230gr.RNL and 200gr.RN plated without a hitch. It won't replace my Kimbers, but I do like shooting my "Chuck". It is the best buy in a 1911.
 
I had the mid sized Daly with a 4" barrel and although it never actually jammed on me , it sometimes would not go into battery. I really didn't shoot it enough to break it in , but I have never had that problem with either of my Kimbers. The Daly had a lot of desirable features like the extended beavertail safety and the combat style hammer and trigger. Mine cost $399.00 new but I have since seen them a little cheaper. If you really want to feel like you are getting a good quality 1911, you should spend a little bit more and go for a Kimber classic basic model or a springfield loaded . You wouldn't be spending much more than $100-$150 more but you know the old saying, You get what you pay for.):)
 
Got the Chuck local version (ARMSCOR)in 9mm. Had feeding problem and had the ramp polished. Problem solved. Replaced the main spring with heavier one, dont know how many pounds. I encountered misfire(?) with the original. Shoots nice little groups at 10 meters with some strays, probably me.

I think you'll have to replace the bushing after 1000 rounds. Mine is showing wear but it doesn't move that much. I use ball and hollow point and no problem encountered.

Anybody out there who owns a CD with prefix LCD XXXXXX? Saw one at a recent gun show here in my place.

vega
 
I just came from a local gun show and saw a Charles Daly for sale for $370. It was the stainless frame/blued slide version. The guy selling it said he didn't think any standard 1911 parts fit it. I was wondering if anyone has any experience fitting 1911 parts. I especially would like to fit one with Hogue finger groove grips. It really doesn't look too bad for a "shooter". Slide to frame fit was excellent. Action was stiff, but I'd expect that from a new pistol. The magazines are different than the standard GM mags.

I'd appreciate anyone sharing their experiences with modifying the CD in any way.
 
A standard springfield front sight was used to replace my frontsight when i came loose.
the first thing I did was get the Hogue grip for the CD and it fit fine. I accidently destroyed the "hole" the grip screws go into when I was taking the hogue grip off the CD to put on my paintball gun and I found that part is also standard. Will take any 1911 mag. and put a Wilson 18+ # recoil spring in it. so i think it will take standard 1911 parts
 
Don't know of any parts that will not interchange. I do like the BT grip safety they use. It is a good bit higher than the one that comes on a Kimber.
 
Great gun for the money. I've got one of the newer ones early this year serial starts with CD. I've put 500 roungs through it no problems except with tthe mags that came with it. Got some new mags no problems. I've put both fmj and Hydrashoks through it with no problems. I did change the recoil spring and the firing pin spring and replaced the firing pin stop with an EGW oversized one for a tighter fit.
Great gun.
All standard parts fit it, but I think the grip screws holes won't accept standard grip screws

Cyric
 
I had one of the newer CD's (Field Grade). I put a little bit of work into it, polishing this and deburring that, and in the end it was reliable. I didn't have feed problems with ammo other than ball but I did have problems with it not going back into battery on about every fifth shot (that was taken care of by the aforementioned polishing). It was also consistent and accurate at various ranges.
 
For the price of a new CD you are a hell of alot better off getting a bare-bones Springfield Armory or even a used 1911 from a decent manufacturer. I handled one of the newer ones and it was scary, like it was lubed with ground-up glass or sand...

C.B.
 
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