Current production Colt 1911s

C

Clif

Inactive
While I am a big 1911 fan, it has been years since I have bought a Colt. The reasons should be obvious to most. While at my favorite dealers this weekend, I saw two new Colt 1911s, one full size, the other a Combat Commander, which had just come from Colt's Custom Shop. I own Baers and Kimbers, but was shocked by the quality of the fit and finish of these Colts. They were both all Stainless Steel and the quality of the machining, and finish was the best I have ever seen on a 1911, not to mention a Colt.

Now my question, is this beauty only skin deep? Does anyone have knowledge of or experience with the performance of these new Colts? My last Colt auto was one of the first SS models purchased in the middle 80s and sold within six months.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Beauty is only with the exterior. Sometimes, that's not even the case. We received 3 Colt Level II Tacticals the other day at the gun shop. Each one had barrels that obviously were fired hundreds of times. They were all scratched up. The magazines were dirty and scratched up. The breech face was covered with brass.

Each pistol looked like it went through hell. Now how is the gun shop going to be able to pass those guns off as new?
 
I believe the ones I saw were from the XS series. They had not seen any such extensive test firing. This may be good or bad news. Based on your experience with the pieces you received, I would have to think it's bad news. Your experience doesn't speak well for the integrity of the Co. which I think underlies everything related to quality. Thanks. I can only imagine the problem some firearms manufacturers have in attracting quality personnel.

I had just bought a new Kimber Pro Carry SLE when the dealer showed me the Colt with almost the same features. I was attracted by the looks, but not about to jump without significant valid input, and probably not even then.
 
It could have been that those two were slightly off during the test firing and they went through them and tweaked them right, I have bought s/w revolvers nib in that condition that were spot on. ....fubsy....
 
I have a new Colt Concealed Carry and not only does it look good it is tight and has not jammed in the 600 rounds I put through it so far. Accuracy is the same as my Glock 23 about 2" at 75 '. If I could find another one I would buy it.The Officer size aluminum frame size fits me perfectly and I always felt the Commander lenght slide is the most reliable. What surprised me is the show quality of the rose wood grips. Even before I fired it I did change the MIM extractor to one made of bar stock. The slide stock is machined like in the old days as is the bushing.
 
I've seen 3 new 1991s 5" models at my dealer in the last 2 months. All 3 were fine examples of shabby workmanship, and thats putting it about as nice as I can. One didn't even have a rear sight as it had already fallen off. Barrel and slide/frame fit were very sloppy... about as loose I've seen with any 1911 style.

The milspec Springfield was much nicer-
 
Clif --
The Colt XS is not from the Custom Shop. The XS series is new "custom" factory production Colts. And, yes, they are awesome. I've owned one for nearly a year now and have put over 1000 rounds through it. The only malfunctions were caused by a poor reliability package from a BIG NAMED SHOP. But we won't go there. The new Colts are definately worth a look. They are also very hard to find lately. I paid $575 last October. But I hear they are going for much more now.
 
All of the Colts that I have seen in the last year have been of good quality. The prices are even returning to sane levels; the last gun show I attended locally had a good supply of M1991A1's at $485 for blue and $500 for stainless. A friend of mine, with whom I shoot on a weekly basis, has two Custom Shop stainless Gov't Models, with Bomars, ambi's, trigger jobs, ivory grips, and they are both beautiful guns and great shooters.
 
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