View Full Version : Colt Rail Gun
Search fu didn't show anything. Does anyone have one?? If so, comments would be appreciated. I am thinking about adding one to my growing Colt .45 acp collection.
Thanks.
Guns-up.50
06-19-11, 11:52
I love mine shoots well. Need some work, dehorning, trigger group ect, but all in all i like it.
I've had issues with mine. The thumb safety is a pos. More than one owner has had that replaced. About everyone complains as to how sharp the edges are. One fella I know has had the plunger tube replaced. I had a barrel fitment issue. instead of fixing the issue I photographed and documented, Colt decided to fit the slide to frame looser, but not fixing the slide to barrel fit where the problem was. It has been back twice, and each time it comes back worse. I'll have it fitted on my own and upgrade it as I see fit. All and all I really regret not buying a Wilson.
I got one. Haven't put more than 100 rounds down range though. The fit is great. It's a very smooth gun. Overall, I am very happy with it.
Like USMC said the thumb safety is junky. You can see the cast lines very easily. I replaced it with an EGW one and it looks nicer. I also plan on replacing the slide stop as mine looks like it wasn't quite machined right (cosmetically).
All in al the gun is very nice. They also seem to be getting harder to get. I would pick one up if you can....
It's a $1,000 1911. So it's not going to have the fit and finish like a Nighthawk. I got my trigger worked over and put a gold bead front sight to try something different. Slide is loose, "like a Colt 45!".
I shot it this weekend and liked it very much. If your a colt guy, go for it. It shoots great.
El Pistolero
06-21-11, 03:08
Deleted.
wetidlerjr
06-21-11, 04:42
It's a $1,000 1911. So it's not going to have the fit and finish like a Nighthawk. I got my trigger worked over and put a gold bead front sight to try something different. Slide is loose, "like a Colt 45!".
I shot it this weekend and liked it very much. If your a colt guy, go for it. It shoots great.
Exactly. It's a Colt Government Model with a rail, nothing more (or less). As with any line, some will be lemons but the vast majority of Colts are not. :cool:
It's interesting how people expect a $1000 pistol to be a $2000 pistol as if by magic. :confused: The "Rail Gun" isn't intended to be a Wilson anything and it is priced and fitted accordingly.
Thank you all, I want to add the CRG to my Colt collection and will keep an eye out. All of my Colts have been exceptional.
USMC1341....sorry to hear about your experience, I hope it all works out.
The Dumb Gun Collector
06-23-11, 16:50
If you like the XSE (which I do) then you will like the rail gun. Basic 1911 for a decent price. Excellent bed for a build. The only thing that irritates me is the drama associated with replacing the front sight.
I love my Colt Rail Gun. It runs like a raped ape and has stone reliable through 2000 rounds so far. Absolutely zero malfuctions of any kind.
I even like the stock sights. :D
Exactly. It's a Colt Government Model with a rail, nothing more (or less). As with any line, some will be lemons but the vast majority of Colts are not. :cool:
It's interesting how people expect a $1000 pistol to be a $2000 pistol as if by magic. :confused: The "Rail Gun" isn't intended to be a Wilson anything and it is priced and fitted accordingly.
That was just the thing though. Originally speaking my RG wasn't fitted half bad slide to frame. The best I had ever seen from a production Colt. You couldn't tell it from their Special Combat as it was and not too far off the Wilson in that reguard. It did however have an issue with the barrel fit to the slide. That wasn't noticed till after some range time. Colt them idiots refitted the slide to frame and made it worse. Now it is like a wore out gun of 20k rounds.
Bottomline other than the sharpness of it, which Colts tend to be it wasn't like it was something so shitty the Wilson appeared to be that much better. Give the Colt 1200 rounds and two trips back to them hacks there, and the Wilson seems like light years ahead now.
It all can be corrected, but Colt themselves is definately not the place to have it done at. One more trip back to them and I'll have nothing left! So it will take spending money, when it is done, I'm sure it will be nice.
My buddy bought one, we cleaned and lubed it, took it to the range and put 450 rounds of PMC bronze, blazer brass and 100 rounds of ranger T through it. The only two malfunctions where not locking back on an empty mag that was determined to be a WC 47 mag with a weak spring.
I'm currently fitting a few new parts and doing a mild dehorn and I've got to say this is one of the most difficult guns I've ever had to fit an after market (Nighthawk) thumb safety too. The relief cut in the frame seems to be under size.
When I get it done we'll run a few hundred more rounds through it.
wetidlerjr
06-24-11, 05:35
That was just the thing though. Originally speaking my RG wasn't fitted half bad slide to frame. The best I had ever seen from a production Colt. You couldn't tell it from their Special Combat as it was and not too far off the Wilson in that reguard. It did however have an issue with the barrel fit to the slide. That wasn't noticed till after some range time. Colt them idiots refitted the slide to frame and made it worse. Now it is like a wore out gun of 20k rounds.
Bottomline other than the sharpness of it, which Colts tend to be it wasn't like it was something so shitty the Wilson appeared to be that much better. Give the Colt 1200 rounds and two trips back to them hacks there, and the Wilson seems like light years ahead now.
It all can be corrected, but Colt themselves is definately not the place to have it done at. One more trip back to them and I'll have nothing left! So it will take spending money, when it is done, I'm sure it will be nice.
Most people don't have the problems with Colt CS that you have had but that fact doesn't help you much. There is a Colt rep that shows up at 1911forum.com regularly and he has helped others in overcoming CS FUs such as yours. His screen name is BJT72.
Link to his page: BJT72 (http://forums.1911forum.com/member.php?u=73922)
A well-fit (tight) barrel bushing (see EGW) will, most likely, solve your problems if you want to avoid anymore dealings with Colt. Slide/frame fit means little in 1911s regarding accuracy but the bushing can do wonders. YMMV
My buddy bought one, we cleaned and lubed it, took it to the range and put 450 rounds of PMC bronze, blazer brass and 100 rounds of ranger T through it. The only two malfunctions where not locking back on an empty mag that was determined to be a WC 47 mag with a weak spring.
I'm currently fitting a few new parts and doing a mild dehorn and I've got to say this is one of the most difficult guns I've ever had to fit an after market (Nighthawk) thumb safety too. The relief cut in the frame seems to be under size.
When I get it done we'll run a few hundred more rounds through it.
I'm the guy who owns the RG described by SGB. I have a lot less than $1000 in it, hence why I bought it NIB even though I was not really looking for a railed 1911 at the time. The Wilson 7rd. #47 mentioned is probably around 25 years old, and I have now replaced the springs in all of my old 7 rounders since this incident. The new thumb safety works perfectly now and the trigger trips at right around 4-4.5LB. I will probably have Novak make me an illuminated front sight and just black out the rear dots on the stock sight. Edges are sharp, but (on mine anyway) not 'shaving sharp' and I see no need to do much dehorning. I admit, however, that I have several other 1911's far more likely to be carried daily.
The RG is definitely a cut above a standard GM. It includes a fitted match barrel, what appears to be a S&A grip safety, a high cut front strap and a flattened area at the top front of the trigger guard so a weaponlight fits better. It is more than accurate enough to outshoot any stock GM I ever owned, and that would cover several over the last 4 decades. If you can wrap your head around the Series 80 lockwork, and want...or don't mind...the rail, I think it is definitely a 'best buy' at the price point. I'll be keeping mine for sure.
wetidlerjr
06-27-11, 05:41
...The RG is definitely a cut above a standard GM...It is more than accurate enough to outshoot any stock GM I ever owned...
In an earlier post I should have said "It's a Colt XSE Model with a rail, more or less." It's not a GM w/rail.
:cool:
Fuzzy-Reticle
06-28-11, 21:41
I got a chance to run 500 rounds through a two-tone Colt Rail Gun this weekend.
Ammo used was WWB 230gr FMJ. No malfunctions of any kind. Accuracy was good. The trigger on the one I used was decent with a little and I mean little bit of creep. The overall fit and finish was good, not Ed Brown good but it was only $1100 not $2500+ so take it for what it is.
The magazines worked fine but the Kimber chrome plated mag I used was easier to insert and was overall smoother than the OEM mags.
It ran like a champ. I really can't say anything bad about it. I like it better than my Delta Elite 10mm and it is definately a major strep up from a loaded Springfield or a Remington R1. It would be most similar to a Springfield Operator and I would give the edge to the Colt Rail Gun in fit and finish. Plus it is a Colt so it gets a few extra points in my book over the Springfield.
I got a chance to run 500 rounds through a two-tone Colt Rail Gun
It would be most similar to a Springfield Operator and I would give the edge to the Colt Rail Gun in fit and finish. Plus it is a Colt so it gets a few extra points in my book over the Springfield.
I would have to kindly disagree. The Operator feels much more solid. The edges are much smoother, the coating on the Springfield is better than most $2,000 guns. I prefer the Operator by a landslide in every parameter. But I still like my Colt Rail Gun, but it ain't no Operator:lol:
Fuzzy-Reticle
06-28-11, 22:52
I can't prove it but I have always thought Colt hardened their slides better than Springfield. The Operators I have handled where nice but just didn't "do it" for me. I would not turn my nose up at one to be sure. Maybe its the two-tone black and stainless that I like.
JMHO. :smile:
I would have to kindly disagree. The Operator feels much more solid. The edges are much smoother, the coating on the Springfield is better than most $2,000 guns. I prefer the Operator by a landslide in every parameter. But I still like my Colt Rail Gun, but it ain't no Operator:lol:
The Loaded MC Operator model was on hand when I bought the RG. I'll agree it was a sweet unit. It was probably the coating that steered me clear of it. I know it looks great, but I can't get passed the worry it would somehow bubble up, flake off, chip, scratch, or start looking like crap. Just like any camo clad sporting shotgun I've ever had for the duck blind. Isn't a single one off them that held up. Get any bug spray near one and it all comes off. What a disaster! :suicide2:
A pistol in and out of a holster, cleaning agents, with a possibility for hard use as duty weapon, I choose the SS RG instead.
SpartanDCI
06-30-11, 23:39
Shout out to USMC.......
Email the CEO of Colts about your Rail gun's accuracy problem. The top two folks at Colts Commercial Division and Military Division are former USMC.
The Rail gun is one of the top of the line, off the shelf Colts. It is sold as a tactical equivalent to the Match models...although it is not sold as an equal to the Combat Special models......
Colts is capable of putting some great 1911's on the street. Outside of a heavy pull out of the box and the sharp edges, it should be able to put 7 rounds into a 10 ring at 25 yards with 100% feeding. My XSE full size can put 8 rounds of Federal 230 gr ball from a Wilson mag into 1.5" at 25 yards resting both arms on a rest.
If your Rail gun went back for accuracy work, it should not have come back with a looser slide. They do not hard fit a barrel at Colts anymore, but they should not be screwing with the slide/frame tolerances like that either.
Email the CEO of Colts to tell him that you are not satisfied with the work done by CS at Colts. And tell him why. You could have bought a Kimber for the same money and they hard fit the barrels on their 1911 clones.......
Hang in there, I hope it works out for you.
mkmckinley
07-01-11, 03:13
Mind educating me on what "hard fit barrel" means?
"You could have bought a Kimber for the same money and they hard fit the barrels on their 1911 clones......."
:rolleyes:
Lots of 1911 info on this site lately.
Some of it is correct.
wetidlerjr
07-01-11, 18:39
"You could have bought a Kimber for the same money and they hard fit the barrels on their 1911 clones......."
:rolleyes:
Lots of 1911 info on this site lately.
Some of it is correct.
...:D
SpartanDCI
07-01-11, 19:01
"Hard fit" full engagement fitting of the locking lugs and barrel links so the barrel locks up the same time everytime.
If you tear down a Colt standard production 1911, the barrel will usually only show fitting on the barrel for headspace.......more play built in.
Most Kimbers show fitting on the locking lugs and barrel bushing.
Not a particular jab at Colts, since I have a Combat Special model that is full fitted and it came from the Custom Shop 5 years ago perfect right out of the box. It was my match gun for these 5 years and I just had a new barrel fitted by a local, retired USN smith since I wore the barrel out after 15,000 rounds of ball. It still shot 6-7 inch groups at 50 yards with some throat wear (still combat accurate and tight fit).......the new barrel shoots into an inch off a rest at 50 yards now.
My Kimber TLE II shot the same with iron sights right out of the box for about $350 less.
Colt is trying to get back into the commercial game, look at the Talo custom line of 1911's as an example from Colts.
Just let them do the right thing.....and give them an incentive.
"You could have bought a Kimber for the same money and they hard fit the barrels on their 1911 clones......."
:rolleyes:
Lots of 1911 info on this site lately.
Some of it is correct.
My friends Kimber has been problematic, and I have read countless threads here on M4 with people who owned them and had problems and more problems. After much reading and no personal experience, I have no plans to buy a Sig or Kimber.
"You could have bought a Kimber for the same money and they hard fit the barrels on their 1911 clones......."
:rolleyes:
Lots of 1911 info on this site lately.
Some of it is correct.
:lol:
Nice comments as usual.
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