[olympus123456]

I am getting ready to purchase a colt combat commander XSE. I noticed that they also make it in a lightwieght commander. I plan on using this gun as a carry piece, but i also plan on shooting an IDPA match about 3 times a month. Which commander would best fit my needs, the light weight or the regular commander?

[RONSERESURPLUS]

Hello all

RON L here = SERESURPLUS



As far as Commanders go, I've had Both, the Commander in Alloy and the Combat Comnmander in steel! I got the Combat Commander, as I thought the alloy Model would not hold up! Bad mistake, I bought it new from a fellow who claimed to have fired near 3K rounds through it, I shot an Honest 10K and then sold it off to a fellow who still uses it! If your looking at weight, how it feels to carry or fire, take that into account, the steel frame gun was good, but not worth getting as the alloy commander stood up quite well to all the punishment!



Not sure if your concerns were about it holding up, Or how it felt when firing it or?

[TattooPaul]

The LTW should be fine as it's light weight is a plus and if you stay away from a steady diet of +P ammo the alloy is plenty longlived. Also - if the ramp is anodized DO NOT polish it!!! Removing the anodizing will expose the soft alloy underneath and you'll get scratching and gouging very easily. The anodizing is critical to surface durability.

For me personally, I'd go with steel but I have alloy frames with thousands of rounds and no problems. One thing you may want to do is have Colt dehorn the slide. I have a full-sized XSE and the front serrations will tear up a nice leather holster in no time. I need to send mine in for this as I have to use a Galco Yaqui strap holster. It scarred my Milt Sparks IWB holster with just few draws so no more of that until those front serrations get dehorned.

Good luck!

[stumpy]

I just clean the ramp on my alloy frame till it shines again, you say, stay away from polishing, what is considered polishing using a Dremel or something? Thanks

[Gun Looney]

Polishing is anything that removes the anodizing (the dark finish on the all surfaces of the frame. It's there to protect the aluminum underneath.

Springfield is using ramped barrels on their alloy framed guns to solve the problem.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by Gun Looney

Polishing is anything that removes the anodizing (the dark finish on the all surfaces of the frame. It's there to protect the aluminum underneath.

Springfield is using ramped barrels on their alloy framed guns to solve the problem.

As it should be.

Doc

[Gun Looney]

Originally Posted by Doc

As it should be.

Doc

If building a LW Commander from scratch I'd still go with the standard (non-ramp) barrel then hard chrome the frame to protect the alloy ramp. I had a LW Commander built with a ramped barrel and it's never worked as well as my others, and there's NO going back after that huge notch is milled in the frame. Plus JMB didn't design it that way.......(grin).

[DoubleAction]

Combat Commander for Shooting.

[hdfxrs91]

Just my preference, but I prefer the steel Combat Commander. If you're not sure, then there is only one answer: Get both!

[matt g]

I went with steel when I bought my Kimber Compact II. I like to have the extra heft, in case things ever come down to someone needing to be pistol whipped.