What is Gold Cup suffix letter?

T

Tom2

New member
I have just got ahold of a used Gold Cup NM blued Mk iV Series 80. Serial is FN011(XX)E. IF I run just the FN and the 5 digit number thru Colt site it says that the production date is 1983. If I run it with the E on the end, it is blank. I was wondering if anyone knew the significance of the E suffix. Odd thing is that it has the Colt medallion black wrap around grips, that look to be factory grips. Noticed they are copyrighted 1990, named "Radical Grips" inside. So that seems odd, as they look like they have never been off the gun. Find them fugly and put on some nice checkered rosewood I had around.
 
If your gun has an undercut trigger guard and factory "duckbill" grip safety, I'd guess the "e" is for "enhanced", which is what Colt called the pistols introduced circa 1992, and replaced by the "XS" series circa 1998.
 
OK. Well, that is odd as some say the FN prefix was not used after some date or other that seemed earlier. Yes, it is "enhanced" with the undercut trigger guard and round hammer and matching type grip safety. So I suppose I would have to call Colt as their search does not accept the E as a valid serial.
 
OK I just called Colt cust service. Turns out it was made in 92. So that explains the 1990 date grips! I find it odd they produced a gun with this serial in 1983 and another with the same number but an added suffix less than 10 years later. As if they somehow ran out of letter number combos! Certainly can add to confusion.
 
I've put numbers into their online serial search, and received three or four hits.
It's a Government Model made in 1980, or it's a .38 revolver made in 1930, or it's . . .
 
Yea I can see that happening with a purely numerical serial, but FN, I thought, was a specific prefix to this model. I would have thought Colt would have been loathe to put FN on any of their guns!:D
 
Odd...It's not like Colt is some fly-by-night Saturday Night Special manufacturer...you'd think they could keep their own serial numbers straight.

I wonder if all their management changes affected this.
 
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