My Gold Cups have a bit higher build quality than my other Colts, but that could just be unique to my examples.Originally Posted by JSGlock34
Dan Wesson remains in a sweet spot when it comes to what you get for your money, and these new Colts will compete at the same price point as the new DW Vigil line.
To get a new Colt with all tool steel parts requires going with the recently announced Custom Competition model and they aren't for sale yet.
Looks like from a feature-set (based on the video) it is looking a lot like the M45A1 platform (at least in the 5in platform), add a little checkering on the front-strap....including the black ion-bond finished areas. I have a .45 M45A1 CQBP Ion-Bond and have been very happy with fit and finish. There is a wee-bit of overtravel on the safety while deactivating, but other than that, it is a VERY tight pistol...and most of the sharp edges that Colt is so well known for are, at least on my copy, mostly rounded (on my Delta Elite, one could slice bread with the round to flat slide transitions).
At any rate, Colt's latest stuff from a quality perspective has been good, though as others have noted, from a feature perspective (even something as simple as de-horning) the value isn't there. Having said that...a Colt is a Colt...and whether the features to $ are there or not, its value will hold up better than others in its relative class, even including Dan Wesson, only because of the company legacy. Whether this is justified or not is another thing altogether.
I personally love all three of my Colts for what they are, but from a carry and shooting perspective (on the 1911 platform), my WC EDC X9 and my Dan Wesson Guardian get the holster time.
Last edited by tgoldie00; 05-14-2018 at 08:10 AM.
So it seems like there's some differing opinions on Colt's quality, of late. I'll admit--I've kinda gotten an itch for a Defender. Reviews and range reports all seem to suggest they're putting out consistently reliable guns (as far as Defenders go).
These new Combat Elites do look gorgeous. I like that they're offering all three sizes. I know it's cosmetic, but, I can't stand front slide serrations on 1911s... so I appreciate Colt's efforts to keep things clean and elegant. As far as price point... for $800 - $900... I can live with a few minor imperfections, so long as reliability is there. For $1500... I would expect a bit more: no rattly triggers, positive safety, positive grip safety, etc.
Last edited by MattyD380; 05-14-2018 at 04:04 PM.
My 2006-vintage SIG GSR XO hit it out of the park for me with this concept-a stainless 1911 (mine is stainless under the black "XO" finish, then apparently a spray-on, bake in teflon base finish), with 25 LPI checkering, a beavertail, etc. As I recall, I got the LEO/MIL price on mine, which was around $650.
Then SIG went fairly quickly downhill with their 1911, replacing the exceptionally high quality initially provided OEM components with offshore MIM, and things spiraled into a success of style over substance....While mine's a definite keeper (with an upgraded carbon steel Grayguns extractor I agreed to beta-test for them {its performing superbly}, VCD grips, and a Novak wide notch rear sight replacing the OEM Champion sight, I no longer recommend the SIG 1911s for anything other than as a range toy.
The most recent 1911 added to my collection is a Colt stainless Series 70 Reproduction that my wife got me for an anniversary. It's a superb gun, reliable and shoots like a Gold Cup. For under $900, it's a superb gun; the only things I've felt compelled to do were to replace the beautifully checkered OEM rosewood grips with a set of stronger and grippier Hogue G10 grips, and paint the front sight's face white for quicker acquisition/alignment. Colt subsequently eliminated the stainless version, and the current Series 70 Repro has a less fancy overall matte blue finish, but it is still a superb value, and a great workhorse 1911 in my opinion.
Best, Jon
Last edited by JonInWA; 05-14-2018 at 04:23 PM.
Hmmm. Contrary to the Colt VP's assertion on the video clip, I'm not finding anything whatsoever on these new Colt Combat Elites on the colt.com website.
Best, Jon
The difference between the Combat Elite in the video and the Competition Model is more or less just finish and front strap checkering.
Face it, gents, Colt didn't ask what mattered in a 1911. They came out with a two-tone version of existing pistols, jacked the price up to what they thought people would pay, and drove on. At least it doesn't come with a coin or a claw hammer.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Sounds exactly like what happened with Kimber. What a coincidence!
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
At the risk of sounding negative, I think that there will be no difference in the amount of fitting between a standard model 1911 and the high end one. For example, in either, the trigger bow most likely will be dropped in without fitting. In this case, fitting would fix the big rattle sounds and looseness that have become acceptable. Some from each end will have excessive slide looseness--seen and heard when shaking the gun. The owner may observe that the thumb safety does not remain positively engaged when at the fire position. The reason would be that the dimple in the safety is not deep enough to allow the detent to enter. A simple fix is drilling it slightly deeper. It won't happen. Hammer/sear engagement in each will be the same because the parts are made to allow installation without fitting. The same is true for the complex firing pin safety parts.
Colt 1911 customers will have a pistol that fires when the trigger is pulled. If the extractor and ejector are installed correctly, the pistol will function. The difference between low and top end will be cosmetic and imaginary. They will be made on the same line by the same people who will spend the same amount of time putting them together. When the high end guns are made, the techs will check out baskets with some different external parts that are dissimilar from the standard grade. Don't forget that Colt closed its custom shop where fitters could fit. My opinion is that current techs may not be permitted to use stones, files, and "big hammers".
I have expressed bias. My advice is buy a standard grade pistol(used is good)and spend the money on having a reputable smith install the best parts. Otherwise, you merely have a standard quality gun, which will work most of the time.
I have absolutely no actual knowledge to back this assertion, but I've long suspected that SIG had made a conscious corporate decision to put up with Matt McLearn's concept (exceptional build quality, exceptional niche components) for only so long, essentially long enough to establish the cred of the gun, treating it as a sort of niche loss-leader profit-margin wise, and then coast on the rep while diminishing the costs-basically by going to mid-quality MIM and decreasing the name-quality components used.
Additionally, in the period from 2004-2005, there were some significant component fit and function issues, to the point of where SIG asserted production of the receivers and barrels themselves, and beefed up both numbers-wise and training-wise the 1911 assembly crew. SIG belatedly realized that with a 1911 (and the 1911 niche component manufacturers) you simply can't expect to assemble the components and have an acceptably functioning firearm-more discerning parts selection and fitting is required....
In my opinion, the proverbial "sweet spot" of the SIG 1911s existed between 2006 and 2007, where SIG made the best 1911s, and sweetened the pot by actually INCREASING quality/QC and parts content (the beautifully machined 25 LPI checkered frontstraps were introduced and standardized and tritium nightsights were provided on virtually all models except the basic XO ones), and concurrently REDUCING the prices to ameliorate the issues that had tarnished the reputation of the initial production runs of the Caspian-receivered and Storm Lake-barrelled guns.
A plethora of stylistic/aesthetic options quickly replaced the high quality, but limited numbers of models. To the best of my knowledge, this started around 2007, and quickly accelerated. While the parts quality probably isn't horrible, it's nowhere close to the initial concept from 2004-2006. I suspect that was a major reason in Matt MacLearn departing, but he's remained gentlemanly discreet about it (or bound by non-disclosure agreements).
While I honestly haven't heard of a spate of latter production MIM-filled SIG 1911 failures, Bruce Gray has become pretty critical of the SIG 1911 drift. Hilton Yam actually gave a later-generation gun a pretty good review, save it failing one of his tests (I believe it was the 1 round magazine-less firing/ejection test). I suspect that most current buyers of SIG 1911s are more along the lines of hobbyists, and are unlikely to run the guns hard and long, and I'm unaware of any significant LEO adoption; I believe the Boston PD SWAT initially intended to, but that soon foundered; I'm unsure as to the specifics of why.
I don't recall and p-f members submitting one through a 2K test, and other than for my personal knowledge/edification, my 2006-vintage one is such a far cry from what's being currently offered it would be irrelevant for me to do it with mine.
Best, Jon
Last edited by JonInWA; 05-14-2018 at 06:01 PM.
Meh....
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
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