9x19 Colt Combat Elite Defender

[farscott]

I now have a 9mm Combat Elite Defender (for short, CED), model O7082CE. Let's call it an early Christmas gift -- as it is just that. The polished and brushed stainless and matte black PVD accents make for an attractive pistol. It is also nice to see the "Combat Elite" rollmark on the slide in the same font as the original CG-prefixed pistols.

A few issues became apparent at the first range session.

1) It does not like to feed 115-grain ball or 135-grain JHP from slide lock. In the first hundred rounds (I used IMI 115-grain ball and Hornady 135-grain JHP), I had seven failures to feed the first round in a fully-loaded magazine and eleven failures to feed the second round. In every case, the bullet nose was jammed into the PVD-finished frame feed ramp. The issue is obvious as the feed ramp is covered in copper transferred from bullet noses. This was using the provided magazine as well as Wilson ETM samples. The magazines are clearly the issue, as the top round is nosediving. An older blued Mec-Gar Government-size magazine from one of my STI Trojan pistols fed with no issues. Same with Metalform "Springfield ramp" magazines. I have some Dawson Precision magazines I use with the ICE magwells on the Trojans that I need to try.

2) The rear slide serrations on this pistol are VERY sharp and the gun drew blood. The serrations do an excellent job of providing a grasping surface, but the edges are aggressive.

3) The entire slide needs the edges broken. From the nose of the slide to the ejection port. Same with the front of the frame. This pistol is tough on leather holsters. I used an old VM-2 made for an Officer's ACP, and I added a few scars to it using this CED.

Shooting observations:

1) The trigger is good for a mass-produced factory pistol. It does not compare to a custom, but it is better than what Colt delivered in the last decade. The trigger allows the shooter to hit the target.

2) The 25 LPI checkering on the steel mainspring housing and front strap is sharp enough to anchor the pistol in the grip. I like that the checkering has borders at both the top and bottom of the front strap. The bottom portion of the mainspring housing is also not checkered, allowing a cover garment to move freely and with less damage.

3) The slanted wide rear slide serrations are quite functional, and they allow for no-slip grasping. The edges are too sharp for non-gloved hands. I need to see how the pistol does with gloves, especially now that winter is here.

4) The ambi thumb safety is well fit. In my experience, Colt pistols usually have mushy feeling thumb safeties with excessive travel into the fire position. This pistol has no mushy travel, but the thumb safety provides a bit more resistance to actuation (both ON and OFF safe) than I prefer. The ambi safety is wide enough to use but not so wide as to be wiped off in the holster. Overall this is a huge improvement over previous factory Colt thumb safeties.

5) The pistol allows the shooter to be accurate. I was shooting steel at fifty yards with the pistol. The sights are real Novak models, which is nice to see.

6) If the round feeds, there are no issues. The gun extracts and ejects with no issues, both complete rounds and empty cases.

7) Muzzle lift is not too bad and felt recoil is better than expected. The weight of the steel frame combined with the 9x19 recoil impulse make for a soft shooting pistol.

Some minor nits:

1) The pistol came with a small "idiot scratch" on the frame. I think I can polish out the scratch when I break the sharp edges on the frame, but I really am not concerned. My usage will provide much more wear and tear. After putting the gun back together, the presence of the scratch is not a surprise as I had to use a credit card to depress the slide stop plunger enough to allow the slide stop to fully seat.

2) This is the first pistol in a long time that has slide-to-frame galling. Even after cleaning the gun with G96 to remove the factory preservative and then lubing with Slide Glide Lite, the slide travel is not as smooth as my other 9x19 1911-pattern pistols. I expect this will improve with usage.

3) The provided Colt (looks like a Metalform and has the "M" in the upper right corner of the base plate) and Wilson ETM magazines hit the ejector, especially with aggressive reloads. I may relieve or replace the ejector. This is disappointing but not unexpected based on my experience with 9x19 Colt pistols.

In conclusion, my biggest concern is feeding from the magazine. Like most 9x19 1911-pattern pistols, the magazine is the weakest link. I know that Colt likes to ship pistols with sharp edges, but pistols designed for concealed carry should have those edges broken so as to play better with the shooter, holsters, and cover garments. Colt obviously is aiming the pistol as the concealed carry market with the features on the pistol, but the slide, especially the rear serrations, and frame are literally razor sharp, as the cut on the base of my palm proves.

All in all, the CED has the potential to be a great pistol -- if I can solve the magazine issues.

[Robinson]

Thanks for the report. I haven't seen a Defender, but the Government and Commander Combat Elite models I've seen looked to have been put together quite nicely.

I've owned lots of Colts and have never had a problem with them cutting my hands, and I tinker with them constantly. This subject has always made me scratch my head because lots of folks have spoken out about sharp edges on Colts. I dunno.

It's a pretty easy thing to get that thumb safety clicking on and off easily and surely if you are so inclined. A little smoothing out of the sear engagement surface is usually all that is needed. Go slow and check it often to make sure you don't remove too much material.

You are correct that it is common for the top round in 10-rd magazines to impact the bottom of the ejector in 9mm Colt pistols. There are a couple ways to deal with this -- you can ask Colt to send you a short ejector, relieve a small section of the existing ejector, etc... The biggest thing is to check it for wear every so often and make sure it is not bending. Also, avoid inserting the magazines with more force than is needed. Overall, while 10 rounds are better than 9, I have found that I like running 9 round mags better. I only have one 9mm Colt left at this point and it is strictly a practice gun, but I am considering replacing all my ETMs with Ed Brown 9-rd mags through their exchange program. Not sure yet though.

[MK11]

Robinson, you were my inspiration to get a Colt 9mm (Competition Stainless in my case). What changed?

That’s a very handsome pistol in the OP but a lot of work for something that’s got an MSRP of $1,000+. I’m eyeing one of the discontinued two-tone Combat Elites in .45 on gunbroker right now but I can get two 2.0 copies of my 1.0 M&Ps for less, not to mention put new sights and a slide refinish on a pre-series II Kimber Target and end up with basically the same thing with better fit safeties.

Sorry, that was more to try to talk myself out of bidding. Hope the OP gets the Defender running to his satisfaction.

[farscott]

I have more than a few Colt pistols as well as other 1911-pattern pistols, and the serrations on the CED are the sharpest of any gun of my experience. The ejection port edges are also sharper than needed. I am aware that Colt prefers not to break edges because people have complained about sloppy machining when they do so. I usually break the sharp edges, but I was not expecting to need to do so on a pistol whose stated purpose is concealed carry, has a PVD finish, and carries a price tag considerably higher than most Colt offerings.

[farscott]

Robinson, you were my inspiration to get a Colt 9mm (Competition Stainless in my case). What changed?

That’s a very handsome pistol in the OP but a lot of work for something that’s got an MSRP of $1,000+. I’m eyeing one of the discontinued two-tone Combat Elites in .45 on gunbroker right now but I can get two 2.0 copies of my 1.0 M&Ps for less, not to mention put new sights and a slide refinish on a pre-series II Kimber Target and end up with basically the same thing with better fit safeties.

Sorry, that was more to try to talk myself out of bidding. Hope the OP gets the Defender running to his satisfaction.

It is a lot of work. If it was not a present, I would not have bought it or be willing to fix it. But it is a present, and I will do what needs to be done to get it running. If it was a pure stainless gun without the PVD finish, the work would be easier to approach.

I also am pretty picky with 1911-pattern guns since many of mine have been on the benches of world-class smiths. I have samples from John Harrison, David Sams, and SVI among others as well as quite a few "semi-customs" from Ed Brown, Wilson Combat, Springfield Custom, and Les Baer. I have also done my own work on a few guns, including a mutt I put together from a CDNN Combat Elite "enhanced" slide and a Colt Government Model frame. As such, I know what a really good 1911 feels like and how it should run. The CED has lots of potential. Like most Colts of my experience, the structure and basics are there, but Colt always finds a way to do something that takes away from the pistol. In this case, the sharp edges and the PVD finish. I also believe the PVD finish is the cause of the less-than-smooth slide cycling.

In any event, I have a fun winter project.

[farscott]

Another update: Thumb safety force issue resolved after a detail strip. Found the plunger tube had metal shavings in it, resulting in more force on the plunger and safety detents. During the detail strip, I drove out the pin holding the ejector, removed it, relieved it a bit, and reinstalled it. Glad it was pinned and not glued. The magazines no longer strike the ejector.

Cleaning and a very tiny bit of lube in the trigger channel in the frame and a tweak on the sear spring improved the trigger feel. The slide cycling is smoothing out a bit after the detail strip, cleaning, lubing, and another range session. Today's range session was cut short by an unexpected downpour. The weather went from a light drizzle to flash flood levels in a matter of seconds. That drove the detail strip.

I am still dealing with failures to feed with the first round of a magazine. All are still rounds nose diving into the feed ramp with the factory Metalform and Wilson ETM magazines. If this pistol had an aluminum alloy frame, it would be nicked from the failures to feed with JHP ammo. This pistol feeds reliably with the Mec-Gar magazines that used to come with STI Trojans. Luckily I have several of these I bought for a 9x19 Series '70 I once owned and stupidly sold.

Overall, the pistol components are very well machined and finished. The parts, for the most part, are good. It is nice to see the mainspring housing is steel versus the Delrin of alloy-framed Defenders as this is an all-steel pistol. I forgot to mention the grip panels. They are thin G10 and provide excellent purchase. It is apparent that Colt did not skimp on the parts budget when specifying this pistol. Work showing attention to detail are the pinned front sight and the front sight surface above the dovetail is contoured to match the curvature of the slide.

More updates to follow.

[Robinson]

Robinson, you were my inspiration to get a Colt 9mm (Competition Stainless in my case). What changed?

I can't say anything changed as far as the guns. I still think a 9mm 1911 can be a good option for a person who knows the 1911 and is willing and able to deal with any magazine or ammo related issues that arise. In fact, I think a 9mm Commander makes an excellent carry gun. My Colt Commander is a great little pistol and I've never had a lick of trouble with it. In fact I may pick up a Lightweight Commander 9mm at some point.

However, I still shoot my 45s better than my 9mm gun. I shoot a 5" Government Model 45 better than about anything, plus my 45s are just stupid reliable with pretty much any good magazines and ammo. Zero drama. The drawbacks, of course, are capacity and weight -- the very factors that led me to explore other options in the first place.

I've been shooting the 9mm Commander more at the range again lately. If I improve with it via practicing a lot then the 9mm may again become my go-to.

[farscott]

Failure-to-feed issues resolved, sort of. I went to the local LGS and bought the last two Mec-Gar 9x19 Officer's ACP/Compact magazines. These magazines, so far, have zero FTF.

[M2CattleCo]

Sounds like a hot mess. I have zero tolerance for an ammo or mag-picky 1911 in any caliber as that means it just barely works at best.