Colt Gold Cup Series 70 questions

[Quinc]

1st question

How can you tell if your GC is the Goverment, Commander, or Officer? I ordered a Government 16 lb Steel Recoil Spring from midway and it is 3x bigger then the spring I took out of it. I put the new spring in anyway and the recoil doubled. I'm thinking I have the wrong one and want to order the right one this time.

2nd question

Can someone point me to the original front sight on midway? Shooting a while back the front sight broke off. And I had the GS put on an after market one and i don't like it, at least that's what I'm blaming my bad aim on.

3rd question

Is there a way to have the slide stay open after the last round?


last question

Any recommendations on a cheap-ish holster? I don't have any intentions on using the holster but would like to have one just in case I need it.

Thank you very much!

And just so you get something out of this thread here are some chicks with guns

[Argonaut]

#1, All gold cups were standard 5" government length guns, #2 Go to Brownells and buy a factory Colt Part #3,Slide should stay open, if it doesn't the magazine may have a problem #4 Gold Cups have a rib on the slide and may not fit in all M1911 holsters Gold cups are clearly marked, measure the barrel, if it is shorter than 5" it is a Commander or shorter yet, an Officers model;

[B Strong]

1st question

How can you tell if your GC is the Goverment, Commander, or Officer?

Government has a 5" barrel, Commander 4.25" barrel, Officers 3.5" barrel, and I've never encountered an Officers GC.

I ordered a Government 16 lb Steel Recoil Spring from midway and it is 3x bigger then the spring I took out of it. I put the new spring in anyway and the recoil doubled. I'm thinking I have the wrong one and want to order the right one this time.

Sounds like you may have received the wrong RS.

2nd question

Can someone point me to the original front sight on midway? Shooting a while back the front sight broke off. And I had the GS put on an after market one and i don't like it, at least that's what I'm blaming my bad aim on.

Check with Colt.

3rd question

Is there a way to have the slide stay open after the last round?

If your slide isn't locking tio the rear, you either have a magazine follower issue, or a slide stop issue. Try a fresh 1911 mag. If that doesn't work, go to a friend with a known working slide stop in his 1911, borrow his, and try it in your GC.


last question

Any recommendations on a cheap-ish holster? I don't have any intentions on using the holster but would like to have one just in case I need it.

Thank you very much!

And just so you get something out of this thread here are some chicks with guns

My answers in bold, above.

Never put a GC in a cheap holster. Save your money for extra mags and ammo, and save up for a good quality holster.

[B Strong]

#1, All gold cups were standard 5" government length guns, #2 Go to Brownells and buy a factory Colt Part #3,Slide should stay open, if it doesn't the magazine may have a problem #4 Gold Cups have a rib on the slide and may not fit in all M1911 holsters Gold cups are clearly marked, measure the barrel, if it is shorter than 5" it is a Commander or shorter yet, an Officers model;

At different times, Colt has made meany special runs of GC's in the Commander length.

[trashman]

At different times, Colt has made meany special runs of GC's in the Commander length.

Whoa...that is cool -- I had no idea that Colt made these, ever!...

--Neill

[smguser]

If it is a true Gold Cup Series 70, Colt, Brownells, ect. won't have a narrow tenon front sight for it. You can get front sights that have a different shape, with the correct height in the narrow tenon, but not an exact duplicate for the original sight. I've been looking for years with no luck.

The slide staying open may be because of the recoil spring. If it is to long, it may be going into coil bind before the slide goes back far enough to have the slide stop engage on the last round. I'd start with replacing the recoil spring before doing anything else. I think most Gold Cups came with something like an 18 pound spring, but I''m not positive.

[Colt]

Common causes of slide not locking back:

Magazine
Magazine springs
Recoil spring
slide stop

As for the front sight - Colt may have them (but may not).

As for correct recoil spring - unless your pistol says Gold Cup Commander, it's more than likely a Government model (5 inch barrel). Standard weight is 16#, but if you're shooting target ammo, it could be less. If I recall, Gold Cups used to ship with two springs - one lighter for the lighter target loads, and one standard 16 pound spring.

[Quinc]

Thank you for the replies!
bought the governemnt 16# spring, and it is huge compared to the spring I replaced.(i shoot 230gr store bought ammo) I have also tried 4 different magazines and the slide does not lock after the last shot, it does lock fine when I do it manually. If I can't find the front sight does anyone have any suggestions for a different front sight?