[Durangokid]

It makes no sense to you because your knowledge of 1911 Colt Pistols is limited. The first major Post war change to the 1911 pistol occured in 1970. This was the addition of the steel finger bushing to improve the accuracy of the Gold Cup. This change was designated as Series 70 1911 Colt Pistols. This change followed thru all 1911 pistols except the Commander pistols. The Commanders retained the older Pre 70 solid bushings. No Commander pistols made by Colt were ever disignated Series 70.

[wayno148]

Me likey

[canebrake]

Originally Posted by Durangokid

It makes no sense to you because your knowledge of 1911 Colt Pistols is limited. The first major Post war change to the 1911 pistol occured in 1970. This was the addition of the steel finger bushing to improve the accuracy of the Gold Cup. This change was designated as Series 70 1911 Colt Pistols. This change followed thru all 1911 pistols except the Commander pistols. The Commanders retained the older Pre 70 solid bushings. No Commander pistols made by Colt were ever disignated Series 70.

Durangokid is correct, and let's put to bed this long mis-used term that relates the lack of the Colt firing pin block safety system to the "Series 70" designation.

There are way too many different names/designations of the Colt 1911 pattern pistol but for simplification lets look at the following three;

1. The Pre-Series 70 guns

This typically refers to the commercial production of 1911's from 1912 through 1969. Only minor changes were made to the original JMB design during this period.

2. The Series 70

In 1970, Colt introduced the first major design change to the Government Model in nearly 50 years. (1924 M1911A1) For accuracy improvement, the barrel and barrel bushing were redesigned. It utilized four spring-steel "fingers" that gripped the muzzle of the barrel as the gun returned to battery.



By tightening this fit Colt was able to improve the accuracy of the average production gun. Models using the new barrel/bushing setup were the Government Model and Gold Cup, which were designated the "Mark IV Series 70" or simply "Series 70" pistols. The new "collet" bushing, as it came to be known, worked well to improve accuracy but was occasionally prone to breakage and was phased out sometime in 1988. Colt reverted back to the solid bushing in all of their pistols at this time.



NOTE: The 4 1/4" barreled Commander pistols retained the use of the solid bushing and were not designated "Series 70" pistols albeit the term is erroneously applied to both Combat Commanders and Commander Lightweight Models produced from 1970 - 1984.

3. The Series 80

In 1983 Colt introduced the "MK IV Series 80" pistols which incorporated a new firing pin block safety system.



ALL of Colt's 1911-pattern pistols incorporated the new design change so even the Commander and Officer's ACP pistols became known as Series 80 guns. (Not to be confused with the bull-barreled Defender and New Agent "Series 90" pistols.) It should be noted (to add more to the confusion) that from 1983 until 1988 the Government Model and Gold Cup "Series 80" pistols used the "Series 70" type barrel and collet bushing but were known as Series 80 guns. Also (to add even more to the confusion) the current production "Series 70" models O1070A1CS and O1970A1CS do not use the "collet" bushing.
There was one other design change made, a re-designed half-cock notch. On all models the notch was changed to a flat shelf instead of a hook.



This is why, with a "Series 80" gun in the half cocked condition, when you pull the trigger the hammer will fall. With a "Pre-Series 80" gun you need to thumb the hammer to return it to the down position.

[Powersportgiant]

Originally Posted by Durangokid

It makes no sense to you because your knowledge of 1911 Colt Pistols is limited. The first major Post war change to the 1911 pistol occured in 1970. This was the addition of the steel finger bushing to improve the accuracy of the Gold Cup. This change was designated as Series 70 1911 Colt Pistols. This change followed thru all 1911 pistols except the Commander pistols. The Commanders retained the older Pre 70 solid bushings. No Commander pistols made by Colt were ever disignated Series 70.

I did not understand your post because of the grammar used in it. I get it now that you meant "not a colt 70 series" where you said "no Colt 70 series".

Thanks Cane for the info. What a great 1911 guy for knowledge and explanations !!

[Durangokid]

The last sentence is very clear. There are many books on the 1911 Pistol and the "Grammer" is clear.

[okdonk]

I'll pay for the shipping.. and an extra $50?
*just want to join n enjoy the crowd here*
Nice find u got there and congrats buddy!

[Powersportgiant]

Originally Posted by okdonk

I'll pay for the shipping.. and an extra $50?
*just want to join n enjoy the crowd here*
Nice find u got there and congrats buddy!

Thank you sir. I appreciate the nice comment rather than something that makes no sense.

[Quentin]

Very informative write up, Cane! Over thousands of rounds I never broke the collet bushing in my Series '70 but then I read how fragile they can be. I figured it was one more thing to go wrong at a bad time so it now sits in the original box and the pistol now has a standard bushing just in case...

[canebrake]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Very informative write up, Cane! Over thousands of rounds I never broke the collet bushing in my Series '70 but then I read how fragile they can be. I figured it was one more thing to go wrong at a bad time so it now sits in the original box and the pistol now has a standard bushing just in case...

I have no empirical data to support my theory, just a canebrake gut intuition, but I think if JMB were to have gone on and furthered his 1911 development to include competition and high end firearms, the "collet" bushing would have been an option.

I think Colt's mistake was to include this bushing in all full-size production 1911's. Had they used it only in the Gold Cup the design would still be here today.

Why do I say that? I'm glad you asked. The Gold Cup, and it's owners are not the same shooter/owners as the majority of us. You know to whom I speak, we're the tinkerers, can't leave it alone, this can't work and needs an upgrade knuckle dragging surface breathers. (self included, just look at my guns )

This Minute of Angle level of accuracy isn't needed in a minute of bad-guy combat fighting weapon. The production 1911 is a combat fighting weapon. The Gold Cup is a MOA piece.

I'm confident the collet bushing's propensity to fail was based on the above mentioned neanderthal owners and NOT on it's design.

Just my

[axxe55]

Cane, what is the purpose of the colleted barrel bushing? and how does it make it more accurate? i too realize most people who buy the Gold Gup are looking for the most accurate Colt 1911 and are striving for the utmost in accuracy and most are not the typical 1911 shooter. just another curious question, can you still get a colleted barrel bushing?