If all you want is a shooter get the Rock Island. It will handle any ammo you want to put in it and will be as accurate or better than the Colt plus it has a lifetime warranty, lifetime of the gun no matter who originally bought it. The Colt is prettier and has a little horsey on it.
Colt Series 70: Worth It?
- Thread starter Model12Win
- Start date
I suspect most of the parts are contracted out, so Colt is using the same barrels, triggers, ejectors, springs, grips, sights, hammers, sears, etc, as anyone else. When I read about the number of people they have in house, they sure are not doing their own forging. I would think they get the frame and slide forgings from subcontractors and machine them inhouse and assemble the gun from components inhouse. About the same as everyone else.
There was a time when Colt did everything inhouse. So what you are paying for is the name and an assumption that the Quality Control is equal to, or better, than other brand names.
Go to your local gunstore, handle and compare a Colt to other brands. I did that in December. I wanted a 1911 in 9mm so I played with everyone's gun on the way to my selection to a Kimber Custom II. I handled a couple of 45 ACP Colts, the most expensive one was as tight as a Kimber. The cheapest one was about as loose as a cheaper off brand. Test the trigger pulls, the back end movement on the barrel, tightness around the barrel bushing, and see if the pistols rattle when you shake them. If you like the Colt in your hand, buy it.
There was a time when Colt did everything inhouse. So what you are paying for is the name and an assumption that the Quality Control is equal to, or better, than other brand names.
Go to your local gunstore, handle and compare a Colt to other brands. I did that in December. I wanted a 1911 in 9mm so I played with everyone's gun on the way to my selection to a Kimber Custom II. I handled a couple of 45 ACP Colts, the most expensive one was as tight as a Kimber. The cheapest one was about as loose as a cheaper off brand. Test the trigger pulls, the back end movement on the barrel, tightness around the barrel bushing, and see if the pistols rattle when you shake them. If you like the Colt in your hand, buy it.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
Chip McCormick doesn't make magazines for Colt. Colt's magazines, now and for a number of years, are made by Check-Mate and Metalform. In Fact. I'm pretty certain Chip McCormick magazines are made by Check-Mate.mikejonestkd said:
Aguila Blanca
Staff
Your suspicions are incorrect. Colt probably does subcontract out their grips, and I know they subcontract their magazines and springs, but I've toured the Colt factory twice and I have seen first-hand that they make the barrels, hammers, sears, ejectors and extractors in-house. Not certain about sights -- I think that might be a mix.Slamfire said:
Brownstone322
New member
Interestingly, I bought a new Competition Pistol (9mm, in my case), and in fewer than 200 rounds if suffered a bent ejector, and I had to send it back to Colt for service. I still haven't gotten around to shooting it again, but it certainly looks and feels OK now. (I also have the new-ish Lightweight Commander, and it's been flawless.)
At that price, that Series 70 looks pretty appealing. I'm hardly a 1911 expert, but to my eye it looks like an M1911A1, and that'd be cool to own.
The Colt is much better than a Springfield Mil-Spec that was manufactured in recent times?
Colt investing in all new CNC machining back around 2008 IIRC. As has been pointed out most of the machining is being done in house on those machines. They are making barrels, frames, slides etc...
Colt forgings are better than most. You are not comparing apples to apples when you are looking at an RIA vs a Colt or a Colt vs a Kimber IMHO. For a sub $1000 1911 the Colt has higher quality parts and less MIM than any other manufacturer. That might not matter to you but it does matter to a lot of people. That does not mean the RIA is bad or that it will not serve you well it is just not made in the same manner as the Colt. It is certainly not made of the materials or parts.
I would also point out that most high end custom builders who are going to build you a custom gun from the ground up like Colts as base guns. Call Ted Yost or Don Williams and ask them if you can send them an RIA frame, slide and barrel for custom work and see what they say.
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That is not true.
Wilson liked them but stopped because the steel on the slide and frame were too hard on their tooling. They were and still are a good 1911A1 clone but they had some issues as well. Locking lugs in the slide was problematic.
Also what does Norinco have to do with RIAs? They are not made by the same company. They are not made of the same materials.
I was given a blue Colt two years ago Christmas, the pistol is beautifully machined, finished and shoots nice small groups. I have had no issues in about 500 rounds of reloaded ammunition. The pistol, with the exception of the finish which does not have the high polish ( more subdued) of years gone by, is as well made as any post war offering.
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Custom builders want guns which are dimensional consistent and true to the spec so their opinion is relevant. Funny that when corrected instead of defending your statement, which was inaccurate, you choose to lash out. Clearly
You know younyour siting Wilsons preference for Norincos as base guns not anyone else. Also if you have ever actually seen a Yost or Williams custom "race gun" would not be the term anyone would use to describe them.
This^^^^^
If you want to make comparisons, the RIA vs an Auto Ordnance would be a better match up. There is a reason a RIA pistol is $400 and a Colt isn't, Colt uses better quality components and more time/care goes into their fitting and finishing, it's just that simple. A good example would be Colt barrels, they're regarded as some of the best production barrels out there and it's not uncommon for 'smiths to retain factory Colt barrels when doing custom builds.
In addition to other 1911s, I've bought several new Colts over the last few years - WC Commander, Combat Commander, 9mm LW Commander, LW Government, and one of the Series 70 repros like the one the OP is looking at - all of them were very well fit and finished, with zero issues. 2 were used for builds, one was a gift for my son and it came out great, the other is still with the gunsmith. The S70 was a gift for my father is done and he absolutely loves the gun, has not found a thing wrong with it. I would not hesitate to buy another new Colt and would ALWAYS choose one over an RIA, Auto Ordnance, etc..
I have been around for a while as well and yes Norincos were popular at one time for custom builds but what does that have to do with comparing a RIA to a Colt. The things that made the Norinco attractive for customs builds have nothing to do with an RIA. You are making a false comparison.
The only thing the RIA and the Nork have in common is the price point and that they are foreign made 1911A1 clones. The quality and characteristics of the guns differ greatly. No custom smiths are recommending RIAs as base guns so what point are you trying to make? The point I was making is that Colt has always been a preferred gun of custom smiths. It was preferred even when the Nork was popular. The Norinco has reached semi mythical status because it is banned. Tons of Internet myths abound about them. #railroadtracksteel
To get back on track if the OP is looking for a sold GI style shooter of high quality the Colt 70 series fits that roll perfectly.
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