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Old October 7, 2012, 06:45 AM   #1
manta49
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Colt Gold Cup.

I have the opportunity to buy a colt cup trophy. Its not very often they come up for sale here, I would appreciate any info and thoughts on the gold cup.
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Old October 7, 2012, 08:32 AM   #2
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All of the Colt Gold Cups were good, some were great, and few fantastic. I've owned three over the years, two Series 70's, and one Series 80. The two Series 70's needed no add'l work to make them fully capable in NRA Bullseye competition...hand held 25 yd groups went right at an inch for a full magazine.

The Series 80, however, has never shown that type of accuracy. It's an unusual gun however, factory original in .40 S&W caliber, and that is the #1 reason for it's problems...groups gun less than 2" for the most part, but I get infrequent flyers every so often that make it not really trustworthy for precision work. Flyers that run gps. out to 3+". It's frustrating, and believe me, I've tried some first rate gunsmiths to cure it's inherent glitch. Mods have included link and bushing changes, trigger work, rail work etc.

Others have had good luck with the Series 80's in .45 ACP (an inherently more accurate cartridge, in my opinion, than the .40 S&W). But most gunsmiths find that the Series 70's are easier to get a really good trigger on, since they lack the add'l "anti-drop it on the hammer" safety parts.

Hope you find a good one....and most are! Rod
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Old October 7, 2012, 09:50 AM   #3
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A .45 Colt Gold Cup is THE Gold Standard - 'nuf said.


.
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Old October 7, 2012, 10:04 AM   #4
federali
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Target gun

The Gold Cup was built to fine tolerances and is primarily a target gun. I would not recommend it for defense unless you run your chosen defense loads through it and the gun proves 100% reliable.
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Old October 7, 2012, 01:11 PM   #5
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Its for range work only.
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Old October 7, 2012, 02:26 PM   #6
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Based on tens of thousands of rounds I've fired through my 5 personal GC & NM (1 pre-war, 2 series 70 & 2 series 80) sampling over the past 40 years, I would argue that Colt match handguns make find combat handguns.
While the Accro and Eliason rear sights are a bit fragile (the newer dovetailed Bo-Mars would be better in that regard), the remainder of the gun, including the fire control bits, can take all the abuse you can heap on it and still function quite reliably.

Yes, some of the older guns required a bit of ramp and throat work to feed HPs reliably (especially the old Speer "flying ashtray" bullets) and can be picky about what magazines are used... but all in all, I don't feel that a GC, in most of it's guises, would be out of place as a defensive pistol. My late father, who carried a National Match in WWII France would probably agree with me.

I think... and this is an educated guess on my part, that many National Matches and GCs have been "fiddled with" over the past many decades by folks that don't really know what they were doing (me included in the 70s ), consequently there have been lots of guns out there with botched trigger jobs, slide "tightenings", ridiculously stiff recoil springs, 2PFLGRs and other "modifications" that only served to make the gun less reliable.

Cheers,
C
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Old October 7, 2012, 03:16 PM   #7
Tactical Jackalope
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Love mine, I say you get it!



Quote:
Target gun
The Gold Cup was built to fine tolerances and is primarily a target gun. I would not recommend it for defense unless you run your chosen defense loads through it and the gun proves 100% reliable.
100% true...mine does NOT feed hollow points. Strictly a range gun. An amazing range gun.
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Old October 7, 2012, 03:34 PM   #8
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You lucky bugger Manta. Finding a decent 1911 over here is like hen's teeth. Then you have to sell a kidney to buy one!

Enjoy!

ATB,

Scrummy
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Old October 7, 2012, 05:43 PM   #9
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In general, they are usually pretty good guns / not great in my opinion - especially when compared to today's higher end semi-custom mfg's of 1911's like Wilson Combat or Ed Brown...

Take it apart ...check for frame galling...
Inspect the barrel and ramp ...
Test the trigger ...see how it breaks ( is there any creep or slack in it ), if no, then its probably just fine / if you have a trigger gague - check at what weight it breaks at...

You may or may not find some things on that gun - that I personall like ...a mag well, an ambi safety and a high ride beaver tail grip safety - all of which can be changed. But those are things I would look at.
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Old October 7, 2012, 06:07 PM   #10
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Just realized that you're in N Ireland. UK. manta.

I'm curious, how difficult is it to get US made handguns in N Ireland? Do you have other 1911s to compare to? How is the availability of aftermarket parts... for example those as suggested by BigJimP?

Cheers,
C
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Old October 7, 2012, 11:01 PM   #11
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I recently purchased a new production Gold Cup Trophy and it is a pretty good 1911. It was fairly accurate though I haven't shot it enough to yet to really find out how good it really shoots. The trigger was crisp but a bit heavy for a target pistol. I have only shot FMJ through it. Bottom line, it is a good 1911 that I would not hesitate in recommending.
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Old October 8, 2012, 06:12 AM   #12
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GCNM

I have had a series 80 Gold Cup NM for a few decades now. Despite its shooting well out of the box, I bought a new match barrel for it and sent it off to the late George Madore for additional work. He sent the gun back with a fitted bushing, an even better trigger - the FP block disconnected from the trigger - and the match barrel still in its wrapper. His note was that the Colt barrel was as good or better. Included was a target that was as good as any shot with the top shelf guns of today. The gun still shoots better than I do after more than 60k rounds downrange.
Would I carry it for SD? Sure. Very few failures over the course of its use and every one of those can be attributed to a problem with the hand loaded cartridges. The gun has never fired a factory load.
Pete
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Old October 8, 2012, 12:42 PM   #13
manta49
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Quote Just realized that you're in N Ireland. UK. manta.

I'm curious, how difficult is it to get US made handguns in N Ireland? Do you have other 1911s to compare to? How is the availability of aftermarket parts... for example those as suggested by BigJimP.

There is no problem getting them. They have to be ordered trough a dealer as for parts they can be ordered to i just got a single action trigger posted from America.
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Old October 8, 2012, 03:27 PM   #14
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Quote:
There is no problem getting them. They have to be ordered trough a dealer as for parts they can be ordered to i just got a single action trigger posted from America.
That's fantastic! I'm a complete idiot when it comes to UK laws. So N Ireland is not governed by the same draconian laws as the rest of the UK, or do I have that wrong too?

C
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Old October 9, 2012, 08:53 AM   #15
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Quote That's fantastic! I'm a complete idiot when it comes to UK laws. So N Ireland is not governed by the same draconian laws as the rest of the UK, or do I have that wrong too.

The laws are similar but the handgun ban did not apply to N Ireland.
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Old October 9, 2012, 09:25 AM   #16
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FWIW I have worked on and built quite a few 1911 guns (custom and factory) and I have yet to see a Gold Cup that was built with finer tolerances than any other Colt 1911. You may get a slighter lighter trigger pull but that's about all (with creep and mush). The original National Match Colts WERE hand fitted to very fine tolerances but that was over 80 years ago. They are worth a great deal of money today. Gold Cups of today are mainly just marketing for people who cannot tell the difference. They are perfectly good guns but are also way overpriced for what they are. Any brand of gun that will be used for defensive use REALLY needs to be gone through by a knowledgeable smith if you want absolute reliability.
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Old October 9, 2012, 01:05 PM   #17
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Quote:
The original National Match Colts WERE hand fitted to very fine tolerances but that was over 80 years ago. They are worth a great deal of money today. Gold Cups of today are mainly just marketing for people who cannot tell the difference.

Thanks bud
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Old October 9, 2012, 02:46 PM   #18
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I'd say get it. Great target gun, although later models with the Bo-Mar type sights can probably serve more roles. The older ones with the Elliason sights might be a little too delicate for duty use though. I love mine. Very graceful, very elegant, and is the most reliable 1911 I've ever owned. Mine will feed virtually anything.
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Old October 9, 2012, 03:03 PM   #19
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Forgot to mention. My particular gun is of an older manufacture. Bought new in Sep of '94.
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Old October 9, 2012, 04:18 PM   #20
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You're welcome. "Eliason sights might be too delicate for duty use.." Absolutely right. For duty use fixed sights are much better.
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Old October 9, 2012, 05:00 PM   #21
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Dont pass it up, you'll regret it.
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Old October 9, 2012, 07:34 PM   #22
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Owner of Series 80 Gold Cup, here, ca. 1985 manufacture. Front sight fragile. Eliason rear sight fragile. Collet bushing fragile. Trigger mushy, compared to any half decent trigger today. Accuracy is ok, but my Para Ordnance P14.45 was more accurate out-of-the-box.

Pre-Series 80 had a great reputation, but there was limited competition from factory guns in those days. If you wanted more, it was custom, usually based on a base Colt 1911. Today, there are so many choices, so unless a Gold Cup is the only 1911 available in your locale, keep looking.
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Old October 10, 2012, 02:17 AM   #23
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I carried one as a duty weapon for several months. Full time small city police officer. Never jammed and highly accurate. What else can u ask for?
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Old October 10, 2012, 10:13 AM   #24
manta49
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Among club members the gold cup is the pistol to get. But i have being thinking the guys looking around £1000 for it i could get a new dan wesson for around £1200.
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