New 'to me' Colt Combat Commander Series 80

[azrider]

So a good friend of mine decided he wanted to part with his Colt Combat Commander Series 80 in .45 ACP that was made in 1987 shot some and holstered more. Me being the helpful friend took it off his hands for a very good price. I was able to shoot it before I bought it. It came with 2 original Colt marked 7 round magazines. I shot the pistol well and we did the deal. I have a current Gold Cup and other1911s ,but this is my first Series 80. I did a field strip and cleaned it and lubed it. I noticed a couple of things. First, the mainspring seems like it came from coil over shocks off a dually pick up. Second, the short trigger leaves something to be desired for my grip/trigger finger and the sights just don't make it with my very experienced eyes.

I was thinking of doing the following to make this into a decent defensive firearm. First, replace all of the springs. Most of my range time is with my reloads which are in the 800-850 fps. What recoil spring would you all recommend given my grip strength is not what it used to be. Second, so I don't replace the mainspring with another from a dually pick up, where do I find a spring that will send the hammer forward and ignite any primer. The current mainspring does a real good job a denting the primer, too deep in my mind. Third, I found a source who sells Colt trigger that are take offs and I used one of their long triggers in another 1911 and it turned out well. Is this possible with the Series 80 Colt? Is a trigger a trigger a trigger?

[dakota1911]

Some years ago I bought a 1991 in SS. I call it my truck gun as it was in the tool box of a truck covered in dirty oil and other nasty stuff. I asked my friend why it was there and he said you couldn't hit the side of a barn from inside of the barn with it. The trigger was not good. He was going to give it to me but I have had bad luck in the past with people giving me guns so I gave him $300 for it although I was not sure what I had. It was in a flap holster which did protect it and which I did throw away.

Anyway I detail stripped it, cleaned it and put all new springs in it. It had an unnamed mag in it which I got rid of. Putting it back together it did have a horrible trigger pull. I decided to shotgun it with pieces from my parts box. I fit a new sear from Wilson Combat, a new disconnector from Briley, and new Series 80 parts from Cylinder & Slide. Now the Cylinder and slide parts are nicely done but plated in Titanium nitride? Anyway they are Gold in color. Next I fit a long solid trigger from Nighthawk Custom and it took some time to fit it. I could never get the non metallic MSH to look real silver again so I ordered a SS one from EMC. Almost all the parts were ordered through Brownells by the way. I also put on some wood stocks ordered from Colt back when Colt sold parts on their website.



Not sure but if you get a long trigger that came out of a Colt it might just drop in and work. I was happy when my SS MSH from EMC went in with no fitting and it fits nicely. And the rubber grips that were on it initially have finally outgassed and are no longer stinky after a few years on the top shelf of my outside workshop.

[SHOOTER13]

Nice Pickups Gents...!!

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[kenhwind]

Colt OEM triggers seem to be "a trigger is a trigger" and should be drop-in.
Wolff Gun Springs is your friend for springs.
I'm a believer in Colt standard weight mainspring as well as recoil spring.

[azrider]

Thanks guys for the recommendations. I'm going to order up the trigger and new springs. This one is destined to be a shooter. Thanks again.

Azrider

[rlacrossjr]

Nice pickup. I like the ISMI springs over Wolf, ISMI aren’t your conventional spring. They made of chrome silicon, say the recoil can last 15,000 rounds. But ISMI says for carry change then yearly.


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[azrider]

I'm going to give Wolff Springs a call tomorrow. My big question is what pound mainspring should I use and corresponding recoil spring. According to Wolff's website, the factory mainspring is 23# and the recoil spring is 16#. I'm looking for a set of springs that will operate the pistol without damage and yet not take so much effort to rack the slide. I have three others that I'm able to rack the slide with much less effort.

azrider

[rlacrossjr]

I'm going to give Wolff Springs a call tomorrow. My big question is what pound mainspring should I use and corresponding recoil spring. According to Wolff's website, the factory mainspring is 23# and the recoil spring is 16#. I'm looking for a set of springs that will operate the pistol without damage and yet not take so much effort to rack the slide. I have three others that I'm able to rack the slide with much less effort.

azrider

My current setup is Mainspring (Hammer) ISMI 22 lb and Commander Round Wire Recoil Spring ISMI 20 lb, normally get from EGW. I have done the standard ISMI 18lb recoil with ISMI 19lb with no issues shooting standard loads. Mine is my Carry so I stayed with ISMI 22 Hammer and either 18 or 20 lb ISMI. Have both switch back and forth, and don’t see or feel any different between the two. Also running flat bottom FPS. Mine also 45ACP, for 9mm think 16# is standard. Have seen users with 9mm go down to 14# recoil and 19# hammer on carry. 17# hammer is questionable for reliability, I changed down to 17# in my Mimber raptor and it went full auto on me.
I did email colt to see if I can purchase there new dual spring recoil system, but have not heard back yet.



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[azrider]

My current setup is Mainspring (Hammer) ISMI 22 lb and Commander Round Wire Recoil Spring ISMI 20 lb, normally get from EGW. I have done the standard ISMI 18lb recoil with ISMI 19lb with no issues shooting standard loads. Mine is my Carry so I stayed with ISMI 22 Hammer and either 18 or 20 lb ISMI. Have both switch back and forth, and don’t see or feel any different between the two. Also running flat bottom FPS. Mine also 45ACP, for 9mm think 16# is standard. Have seen users with 9mm go down to 14# recoil and 19# hammer on carry. 17# hammer is questionable for reliability, I changed down to 17# in my Mimber raptor and it went full auto on me.
I did email colt to see if I can purchase there new dual spring recoil system, but have not heard back yet.



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Wow, that is the type of feedback I was hoping for. I'll talk to Wolff and see what they recommend. I shot commander again today with no issues, except the difficulty in racking the slide. Thanks for info and that is one great looking pistol you have there.

azrider

[rlacrossjr]

Wow, that is the type of feedback I was hoping for. I'll talk to Wolff and see what they recommend. I shot commander again today with no issues, except the difficulty in racking the slide. Thanks for info and that is one great looking pistol you have there.

azrider

I can tell you the compression of a ISMI is smoother than OEM or Wolff. I was a Wolff all the way until I found ISMI from EGW. I know some out there that say leave OEM. But I consider OEM/Wolff conventional oil and ISMI Full synthetic. Both work just depends on if you want the extra benefits. If ISMI make it I install it.

I wish I had pictures, they don’t seem to loose length or strength like the Wolff/OEM ones do.

On a side note if you want to go FLGR. Get EGW commander 1/4 setup, but don’t get there 22# flat-Wire. Get a glock 19 in either 15 or 18#s. ISMI makes all the flat-wife’s on the market, from Wilson combat to glock. 40,000 round life with flat-wire setup.

I’m weird as I range shooting with flat-wire FLGR bur I carry GI setup.


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