seeking info: Colt series 70 Gold cup

A

able2ski

New member
Saw one in the consignment case at the range yesterday. Beautiful blue finish, walnut grips, excellent condition, but probably overpriced @ $900. It functioned fine, but slide / frame fit was nothing to brag about.

What's the story on these older Colts? Somewhere I thought I read the Gold Cups were "frowned upon" by 1911 fans. What were the important differences between the 70 & 80 series? What about that $900 pricetag? Are older Colts really worth that much in today's matket?

Thanks in advance!

Andrew
 
Hi, able2ski (I'm not),

The Gold Cup is a pure target pistol, not really suitable for any other purpose. The Series 70 had the collet type barrel bushing and some minor differences in the sear and hammer. The bushing can be replaced if desired. (The 80 series has the firing pin safety.)

Slide-frame fit is not as important as barrel to slide fit. Colt has had ups and downs in QC, though.

I'm not sure about the price as I don't see many of those, but probably not too far out of line today. If you are interested, try an offer of $100 less and see what happens.

Jim
 
Jim--

Respectfully disagree, sir.

I've ONLY shot full-power loads through my Series '80 Gold Cup for lo, these last 10 years, and I guess I'm getting along toward 10k rounds. Many thousands of these are 230g LRNs over 6.5g of Unique for a tad over 850 fps. Work great. Hydrashok works great. Black Talon works great.

My Gold Cup is my duty pistol. I also hunt whitetail with it.

THAT SAID, I will admit that I have had problems with the #*!!?@#%* rear Eliason micro-adjustable sight sheering the roll-pin that holds it in. I've finally fixed the problem by peening in a cheap Japanese drill bit of the proper size. (Logic: cheaper steel is not as hard, less likely to break, but very, very strong.)

My current plan (student family man on a budget) is to purchase a nice Gvmt. model slide for duty work, to put less strain on my Gold Cup. Anybody got a Gvmt Model slide for sale? :)
 
Hi able2ski;
I had a series 70 Gold Cup for years, before giving it to my stepson as a gift.
I bought it new in 1989, for $700, so $900 now doesn't seem like unreasonable inflation after 10 years.
BUT; you WILL want to change the collet bushing for a solid one;
You WILL want to get rid of the crappy stock Eliason rear sight and sharp front sight.
You WILL want to get a "trigger job" done.
By this time, you'll have spent another couple-hundred dollars.
I'd suggest to you that, if you want a 1911A1-pattern pistol. you check into available offerrings from Kimber and Springfield Armory, either of which companies can provide you with a "series 70"-type pistol (the only difference between Colt's Series 70 & Series 80 1911 pistols is/was the firing pin safety. This made the stock triggers on the Series 80 guns even worse than the stock triggers on the Series 70 guns.) A stock Government Model 1911A1 will also be sturdier than the Gold Cup, since the latter has some "lightening cuts" inside the slide.
IMNSHO, you can spend your money better, and be happier, than with a Colt Gold Cup for $900. That, with $3.95, will buy you a Cappuchino!

------------------
"Potius sero quam nunquam."
 
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