Colt Guru's I need your help

[ralph]

Fellas, I just traded for a 70 series Colt 1911..It appears to be in excellant shape it is blued, with checkered wood grips with gold colt medallion. Stripping it down the frame shows little wear on the rails,everything appears orginial, the barrel is marked "Colt .45 Auto MKIV series70"as is the slide, giving the barrel a quick cleaning, it appears new. Serial number starts with a 77prefix..Year of Mfg? The barrel also has a collet type barrel bushing with fingers? I vagely remember reading about these years ago, also remember reading they also broke alot, is this right? This is just your basic simple Govt model something I've always wanted.. What I traded..I had a old Bushmaster, that I had bought about 11yrs ago, it had been rebarreled with a 22" Douglas bbl with a 1/9 twist, It also had a jewell trigger in it and a Burris scope on it, I had'nt shot it in years, it was very accurate but my tastes in AR's have since moved on, and I was seriously considering selling, trading it anyway, I figure the Colt is the better firearm of the two, since this is a 70 series, So what do you think?

[Redhat]

I have one of the same. The truth is in the shooting. You may find out as I did that sometimes the hammer will bite the web of your hand due to the old style grip safety and hammer.

All I did was have the sights changed and have a solid barrel bushing fitted.

If it looks anything like mine you should be able to see your reflection in the slide flats just like a mirror.

Congrats! Hope it works for you.

[Army Chief]

You did well, and notwithstanding the Custom Shop's more recent run of Series 70 Reproductions, the originals are still very much in-demand guns. As stated, a simple bushing replacement should allay any fears of failure, and after that, the sky is the limited with respect to what can be done to bring the pistol into line with your tastes. Sights and beavertail grip safeties tend to be the most popular upgrades to these older Colts, but many end up as base guns on full-house custom projects, as well.

AC

[theJanitor]

http://www.sightm1911.com/1911Production.htm

[wetidlerjr]

Fellas, I just traded for a 70 series Colt 1911...The barrel also has a collet type barrel bushing with fingers? I vagely remember reading about these years ago, also remember reading they also broke alot, is this right?...?

Sounds like a good one. The collet bushings don't break as much as some think but a simple replacement (as mentioned) will take care of the issue. Some people report, however, that during some of the original S70 production runs, QC was spotty. YMMV
Congrats ! :D

[ralph]

You did well, and notwithstanding the Custom Shop's more recent run of Series 70 Reproductions, the originals are still very much in-demand guns. As stated, a simple bushing replacement should allay any fears of failure, and after that, the sky is the limited with respect to what can be done to bring the pistol into line with your tastes. Sights and beavertail grip safeties tend to be the most popular upgrades to these older Colts, but many end up as base guns on full-house custom projects, as well.

AC

Thanks to all who replied,and theJanitor, thanks for the link,it appears that my Colt was made in 1976, For right now I think I'm going to leave it as is, I have a penchant for simple firearms, that is, no more on them than is needed, and this one fills the bill. I've always wanted a real Colt 1911, and now, I finally have one.It'll be taken out occasionally, and shot, but it'll never be carried, I've got a M&P45 and a HK P-2000 for that. I just enjoy the quality it has, that in 1976, was available for a reasonable price..

[theJanitor]

My favorite Colt is a 1976 model as well. It was built into a fine full-house custom by Frank Glenn. Hasn't skipped a beat in all these years.

[Coleslaw]

Sounds like a good one. The collet bushings don't break as much as some think but a simple replacement (as mentioned) will take care of the issue. Some people report, however, that during some of the original S70 production runs, QC was spotty. YMMV
Congrats ! :D

Hilton Yam had a write up on the older MKIV series 70's. The models with the "G" prefix were the better examples, while I think it was the "B" prefix were the 'spotty" ones.

I don't recall exactly what the major difference was, but I think the compostiion of internal parts may have been it. You could probably still find the write up it at 10-8.

[ralph]

I took the Colt out to the range today before the monsoons hit here in OH. The idea today was to test for function,and if possible, some informal accuracy shooting. I was using my own loads which work well in my Mid size M&P,100 loaded with 3.5gr Clays with a 200gr LSWC, and 100 loaded with 4.0gr Clays and a 200gr LSWC, Targets used were a copy of one I got from Grant, 3x5 rectangle, with 4-2" circles below,printed on a 8 x11" peice of paper.. shooting was done at 7yds and at 11yds, Mags used were Chip Mccormick 8rnd mags..They worked perfectly, It's been about a year since I had shot a 1911 last, and it took me a couple mags to get back in the groove,But wow, when I did, This example of a Gov't model showed it was quite capable of shooting nice groups,At 11 yds, offhand, I could manage to get 7out of 8 into the 3x5, and could usually manage to at least 4 into the 2"circles,The other 4rnds usually landing just outside the circle. I was shocked..I did'nt expect that it would shoot that well,considering the tiny sights..At 7yds accuracy was of course better, I really enjoyed shooting this thing, Next time out I need to wear a hat, as I did get pelted with my own brass, I had no faliures of any kind, no hammer bite, I'm a happy man, this pistol is a sweetheart to shoot..

[wetidlerjr]

Hilton Yam had a write up on the older MKIV series 70's. The models with the "G" prefix were the better examples, while I think it was the "B" prefix were the 'spotty" ones.
I don't recall exactly what the major difference was, but I think the compostiion of internal parts may have been it. You could probably still find the write up it at 10-8.

Thanks ! I had an S70 Gold Cup that was excellent and as accurate as I could be. It was one of those "I should have kept it." pistols but I don't look back as I got a really good price for it. :D

[gojira70]

I have a series '70 from 1979 as well as a reproduction.The older one had stove pipe problems and we fixed that by rebending the extractor. It hasn't hiccupped a bit! The repro shoots as well but will shoot hollow points. I carry the older one as it was hard chromed when I bought it,looks as good as it shoots! Good luck!