What is Colt doing?

1585 Views 14 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Sgt405, Nov 19, 2013

SamColtFan

Discussion Starter · Nov 18, 2013

I looked at 6 factory new Colts today. One was a stainless "Commander" with rubber grips and the other five pistols were O1991s in blue. The five blue Colts all had the same double diamond wood grips. What I noticed is the wood grips looked like cheap imports and were too short. The right grip on each pistol not only was undersized but the top of each grip was cut at the wrong angle. I compared a Remington R1, and the Ruger SR1911, which both had properly cut and sized grips. So what's going on with Colt? These grips are a definite detraction from the natural beauty of a Colt 1911. Are any of you you seeing issues with recent Colt double diamond wood grips?

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

MARKO65

· #2 · Nov 18, 2013

It's been going on for years i'm surprised you didnt see tooling barks either like i have seen on many 1911 models.....poor QC and pride in one's work.

Marko

kenhwind

· #3 · Nov 18, 2013

The reason they are short is to acommadate an ambi safety.
But you are correct on them being narrow. The ones on my LWT XSE GM left something to be desired, but at least they were actually checkered. I saw a newer Colt someplace and the grips looked like they had lines on them not checkering.

SamColtFan

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 18, 2013

kenhwind said:
The reason they are short is to acommadate an ambi safety.
But you are correct on them being narrow. The ones on my LWT XSE GM left something to be desired, but at least they were actually checkered. I saw a newer Colt someplace and the grips looked like they had lines on them not checkering.

I have ambi-Colt DD wood grips on Colts and none of the grips look out of spec like the new wood grips. The best looking grips that I saw today were the black rubber Colt Commander grips.

Joe A.

· #5 · Nov 18, 2013

The grips on my new GCNM are narrower than than the grips on my 1991 GM. I wondered why the GCNM felt different than my GM.

dsk

· #6 · Nov 19, 2013

MARKO65 said:
It's been going on for years i'm surprised you didnt see tooling barks either like i have seen on many 1911 models.....poor QC and pride in one's work.

Marko

You must not have looked at very many recent-production Colts lately. Having been a Colt collector for the past 25 years and owning examples from pretty much every generation, I have to say the new ones Colt has been turning out are the best they've made since the mid 1960s. However I agree with SamColtFan that the rosewood grips look a bit cheap, but then again so did the "Coltwood" plastic stocks from decades ago. I immediately took off the ones on my new S70 repro and replaced them with some Hogues. When Colt first began using double-diamond rosewood grips on their pistols they sourced them from Chip McCormick (or at least the same vendor), but later switched to Altamont where I believe they get almost all of their grips now.

chaosrob

· #7 · Nov 19, 2013

I guess they could be like S&W and ship a lot of canted barrels and overtorqued barrelled guns out. Granted most of my recent Colt's are out of the Custom Shop I have to say their quality has been top notch. I am very, VERY happy with my new Colt's

weagle99

· #8 · Nov 19, 2013

Somewhat of a drift: I have been wanting a Special Combat Government for some time. An all blue example I handled in the LGS recently left me underwhelmed to be honest. Like all Colts the roll marks had pushed up edges (no after polish) and the bluing didn't seem that special to me. There was a noticeable gap between the magwell and frame. I wasn't seeing quality that seemed to match the cost.

Maybe I expect too much.

kolchaka127

· #9 · Nov 19, 2013

For a long time Colt AR15's were slapped together with no real appearance quality control. Functioned fine but glue would be overdone, and appearance ugly. I figure they thought "It's a military style weapon and looks don't matter". Same attitude that American car makers and their unions had for years - "It'll do. They'll buy anything. It's Miller Time." But QC is better now with the VN War over and mucho competition.

T.May

· #10 · Nov 19, 2013

The last few new examples I have seen, with the rosewood grips all had the ambi cut on the right grip. I don't like to see this if it doesn't have the ambi safety to go with it. I understand that buy one…fits all mentality but it cheapens the gun in my opinion.

Reactions: 1

SamColtFan

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 19, 2013

dsk said:
You must not have looked at very many recent-production Colts lately. Having been a Colt collector for the past 25 years and owning examples from pretty much every generation, I have to say the new ones Colt has been turning out are the best they've made since the mid 1960s. However I agree with SamColtFan that the rosewood grips look a bit cheap, but then again so did the "Coltwood" plastic stocks from decades ago. I immediately took off the ones on my new S70 repro and replaced them with some Hogues. When Colt first began using double-diamond rosewood grips on their pistols they sourced them from Chip McCormick (or at least the same vendor), but later switched to Altamont where I believe they get almost all of their grips now.

dsk, I believe they are Altamont grips. My Series 70 reproduction also came with them and I haven't gotten around to changing them out. They're too short and out of spec. The Hogues are a definite improvement. The current crop of Colts are really looking quite nice, but as always, I have to hold them before I buy them.

arjay

· #12 · Nov 19, 2013

My s70 repro came with what I believe we're Chip McCormick rosewood with a hairline crack.I thought they looked cheap ,so I replaced them with some early 70s stocks.

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Kingcobb

· #13 · Nov 19, 2013

While the grips on my 1991 aren't the greatest quality, they are the correct size. This gun is a year old and I haven't found any quality control issues with it. Oh and I have looked at a couple of SCGs over the last year at Collectors in Houston and they all seemed to be of very high quality, I want to say Brent commented in another forum that all the SCGs are done by the Custom shop.

SamColtFan

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 19, 2013

arjay said:
My s70 repro came with what I believe we're Chip McCormick rosewood with a hairline crack.I thought they looked cheap ,so I replaced them with some early 70s stocks.

Nice vintage Colt grips. Sweet pistol.

Reactions: 1

Sgt405

· #15 · Nov 19, 2013

I am going to use the word "decent" to desribe them. Nothing extraordinary, just decent. My Carry Lightweight Govenment I purchased last year was nice and tight but left a lot to be desired. Too many sharp edges, poorly done sights, the dreaded plastic msh. I wish Colt would leave off the ambi thumb safety and dehorn the guns for the same price. That would be a good tradeoff in my book.

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