COLT GUNSITE PISTOL 1911 45ACP

Responsible Firearms Ownership and 2nd Amendment Issues

COLT GUNSITE PISTOL, 1911 45ACP

Colt and Gunsite have teamed up to produce a pistol that should make the marketing people of both organizations happy. Colt gets to use Gunsite's logo and name on its new pistol and Gunsite gets to include its own promotional material with the pistol to entice new owners to seek instruction at their facility. It should be a win/win situation for both camps. For my part, what makes this pistol unique is not the name or logo but the fact that it is the first stainless steel 1911, series 70 Government Model ever made by Colt. The roll markings and logo are, as Clint Smith once said about the beautiful engraving on one of his pistols, just a series of well laid out scratches. For anyone wanting a real Colt in the series 70 configuration and made of stainless steel - well this is it. (Feb 2005 update- At the time the previous was written I believe it was true. Things change. I've been informed by people in the know that Colt now makes other Series 70 pistols in stainless steel. Shop around!)

colt cgp colt cgp and mag/light pouch

Distinctive markings aside, the pistol does sport some special features. The slim grips and short trigger are a combination that gives the pistol a feel unlike any of my other 1911 pistols. Another feature that is gaining appeal among shooters (especially if you've ever handled a Springfield Armory Loaded Model!) is the shooter friendly melt down or rounding of sharp edges. It's about as rough on your hands as a bar of Ivory soap. The grooves at the muzzle end of the slide are also handy when press checking with sweaty hands. While many other companies are trying to decide whether 20 or 30 LPI checkering is best for the front of the grip, Colt uses what it calls Gold Cup serrations. These are a couple of parallel vertical grooves running up and down the face of the grip frame. They are better than nothing at all but seem paltry compared to true checkering.

Rounding out the seemingly must have features on today's 1911 pistols is a nice beaver-tail grip safety, the very good Novak combat rear sight and dove-tailed front ramp with some serious grooves that even my eyes can see, and a nice unobtrusive thumb safety that clicks on and off with authority. The requisite light weight trigger has a crisp let-off and a very quick reset. Prominent in its absence is the common full length guide rod - won't find one here. Colt went with the proven spring, plug, and standard guide rod setup and that suits me just fine. You also won't find that extremely tight slide to frame fit common on some other high dollar pistols. Ditto the barrel/bushing fit. Forget the bushing wrench, it is not needed here. It is slick and smooth but the slide can be retracted without busting a gut and field stripped easily without special tools. Overall, it's a good looking pistol that feels good in your hands, has a decent factory trigger, and an action that is smooth but not too tight.

I need to throw this next comment in somewhere just to show my ignorance or perhaps elicit a response or explanation from someone. The barrel of this pistol has a characteristic I've never seen before. The lower edge of the mouth or opening of the barrel, at the throat/ramp area has a shallow dent or trough carved into it.

It looks like someone took a chainsaw file and just honed a groove into it. I suppose it aids feeding of different bullet shapes. Maybe. Is this a throwback to some earlier design that did or didn't work? Is it some new devolpment that only Colt does? If you can shed some light on this, drop me a note. (Another Feb 2005 update - ok somebody DID drop me a note; several. Apparently, Colt has made this 'feature' standard on their new pistols - at least some of them. I've heard from people that have both new Series 70 and 80 pistols that told me their barrels have this same throat. Mostly, they have been positive about this feature. Some changed barrels, others had their gunsmith alter the throat, and others have left it alone. It is supposed to enhance feeding of all the various bullet styles. Mine has functioned fine. Thanks to all the people that have responded to my cluelessness!! I would also like to thank my friend Dave who has a much better digital camera than I, and got this nice closeup of my barrel.)

I dry fired this pistol quite a bit in the beginning in order to try to get an idea about how the slim grip short trigger (SGST) would affect me. As I said earlier, for me this is a drastic difference. I use a high grip, resting my thumb on the grip safety. With a typical setup this places my trigger finger perfectly on the trigger so there was no way the SGST should work out the same. As in so many things, your mind and body CAN adjust when necessary, and such was the case here. The SGST was not nearly as much of an issue when it came time to actually shoot the gun. With an inside the pants holster, the slim grips make the pistol noticeably less apparent against the body. In other words, the slim grips are more of an advantage while carrying but less of an issue when actually firing the gun. I'm not sure that I would go to the trouble and expense to add them to another 1911, but they do definitely make the pistol ride closer to the body and are less bulk to conceal. I don't mean to make too much of a deal out of this but it was an ironic turn of events for me. I was expecting some radical change to my shooting style (which didn't happen) and never expected the advantage of easier carry (which did happen). As they say, your mileage may vary.

Part of my first shooting sessions was simply to see if my ammo and my magazines would work at all with this pistol and then to determine how accurate it all was. With an assortment of my Wilson 8 round mags, Chip McCormick 8 round Shooting Star and Power Mag magazines and some Mec-Gar and Colt 7 rounders, all functioned fine. As a bonus, the pistol comes with two Wilson 8 round mags with the low profile steel base plate. Old and new, they all fed when full and locked back when empty. Magazine choice and bullet profile shouldn't be a problem with this pistol. After several shooting sessions there were no surprises. The pistol fed any ammo I had. This included handloads of RN lead, SWC lead, and FMJ. Also used were some Blazer FMJ, and a few precious Federal Hydra-Shoks. Now let me say that I am not the world's greatest pistol shot, but I DO try to shoot accurately. This is the first pistol I've shot in a while that was REALLY accurate. I'm not much into measuring groups but I quickly realized that this pistol was shooting much tighter groups than I was used to. At distances of a few yards out to 20 yards or so, accuracy was limited only by the speed by which I tried to shoot. My first thought is that this pistol has a better trigger than my other pistols and that is the cause of my better shooting. Whether the pistol itself is just more inherently accurate or it is the product of the SGST, I have been shooting better with this pistol. I have no doubt that a better shooter than me could really make this pistol hum along.

I am not a wealthy person and this pistol represents a significant investment for me. However, I do carry concealed and I enjoy shooting IDPA style pistol matches. When time and money permit I also try to get as much training and instruction as possible. Sweat, humidity, and leather holsters combine to really test the finish of any metal firearm. In any event, my other pistols are showing a great deal of finish wear resulting in rust and corrosion problems. Plus, I have finally acknowledged that the 1911 is the pistol for me, even though I own and shoot a thing called a Glock (!) on occasion and will always keep and use my revolvers. Simply put, I decided I wanted and needed (deserved ?) a stainless steel pistol that would last me a long time. I hope this is it. To be fair, I must say that I looked for some time before I chose this pistol. Had I been able to locate a stainless Springfield I would have probably bought it. I'm fortunate in that I happen to know a very good gunsmith that could have made a real shooter out of one. I also looked at several Kimbers in stainless steel, but just wasn't impressed enough to buy one. For better or worse, this Colt is what I have now.

I wonder, if 100 years ago, John Browning knew or realized his design would still be popular in the 21st century?

jeff

What follows is the technical stuff from Colt's website.

FEATURES
Series 70 firing system
Smith & Alexander metal grip safety with palm swell
Serrated flat mainspring housing
Dehorned all around
Thin rosewood grips
Gold Cup serrations on front strap
Heinie front and Novak rear sights
Short aluminum trigger with 4 – 4½ lb pull
Wilson extended safety lock
$100 coupon towards training at Gunsite
Two 8-round Wilson magazines w/metal base plate
McCormick hammer and sear
Available Models:
- O1070CGP Stainless Steel
- O1980CGP Blue

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