Is it true that the 70 series Colts were better than the 80 series?

[Neil McCauley]

I'm in the market for a used Colt and my vietnam veteren friend told me the series 70 was the best ones, so he said, then again he did carry one in Nam so what do I know. Anyway if anyone can chime in with an opinion I'd appreciate it alot.

[HCz]

Great, who you gonna leave in LV now?

edit: I'm not good on this subject, but some people do not like 80 series safety feature. There were times when Colt royally screwed up their quality so that could be one of them.

[FNH5-7]

I believe the reason why people say S70 is better than S80 is because of the added firing pin drop safety. Some people say S80's are less accurate because of this. I've personally noticed that S70's are of better quality.

Here's mine:

[Cyc Wid It]

This is a good place to read:

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=15201

Many people now favor the new repro Series 70's for custom builds.

[rromeo]

He may have, but I think it's highly unlikely that your friend carried a 70 series in Vietnam.

[Ledbetter]

The Series 80 firing pin safety makes the trigger mushy. It does not break as cleanly as a Series 70.

[Neil McCauley]

He may have, but I think it's highly unlikely that your friend carried a 70 series in Vietnam.

I'm not sure what series he carried but he showed it to me, it was stainless with A LOT of play in the rails and slide, more in a pistol than I've ever seen. It looked pretty old. Yes I think its the dang safety features that he was referring to, and I like my guns simple without all the safety junk. What about price, are used S70's more expensive than used S80's? Wow nice link CYC, thanks!!

[Neil McCauley]

Great, who you gonna leave in LV now?

edit: I'm not good on this subject, but some people do not like 80 series safety feature. There were times when Colt royally screwed up their quality so that could be one of them.

Hopefully nobody anymore

[Oceanbob]

Correct...

The Series 80 firing pin safety makes the trigger mushy. It does not break as cleanly as a Series 70.

But that entire safety can be removed. Another problem that the Series 80 has was that new designed Collet Bushing (with fingers) on the barrel. However, the series 70s had a solid bushing that had to be a tight fit for accuracy. (improved accuracy; they were fine out of the box)

I'am working from memory on this subject. Some guys in 'Nam had an Armand Swensen .45...He was one of the Pioneers in making .45 1911's a refined handgun; for war or for the street.

Link:

http://www.coolgunsite.com/comm_pistols/custom/swenson/swenson.htm

[SnWnMe]

Pfft. This is all baloney that gunsmiths propagate to charge ppl with S80 guns more for action jobs. I worked on my own S80 and ended up with a glass rod 3.0# break (The CGNer who bought that pistol can verify this, as can my friend username ballistic). The S80 is a sum total of three tiny parts in the frame of negligible mass in the frame and a spring and plunger in the slide (and yes you can remove them as OB said above)

My S80 didn't have a collet bushing either. I think those were Gold Cup parts.

[Fjold]

Yep, the collet bushing were on the older Gold Cups.

[redcliff]

Collet bushings were on Series 70 Government and Gold Cup models. Commanders and Combat Commanders from that era were not marked "Series 70" on the slide and used a solid bushing. Those pistols are properly referred to as "pre-80 series Commanders" along with their earlier brothers.

Although I own a couple Series 80 pistols, I prefer the Series 70 and earlier models.

[Miltiades]

Stainless in Vietnam?

I'm not sure what series he carried but he showed it to me, it was stainless with A LOT of play in the rails and slide, more in a pistol than I've ever seen. It looked pretty old.

Colt did not make 1911s of stainless steel until the Series 80, introduced in the early 1980s. This was well after the Vietnam War. Perhaps the gun you saw was nickel plated.

[Neil McCauley]

Probably, sucker was pretty old and dirty but I recall being a bit shiny at one point.

[Saigon1965]

Neil - 70s series all the way for you - Besides it goes well with the disco theme you wouldn't want to get caught with the 80s now would you -

For the money - The repro are really nice -