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Federale
11th June 2006, 19:10
A week ago I picked up two used Colts. The first was a Colt Lightweight Commander. It looked like this:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/c99094e0.jpg

The second was an Officer's ACP. It looked like this:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/a980be60.jpg

A week later, after a delivery from Brownells and some time at the bench, they look like this:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/DSC00762.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/DSC00772.jpg

New springs were installed, pins inspected and replaced as necessary. A complete cleaning and relubing was performed. I installed new slide stops and safeties and I fitted drop-in Wilson beavertail grip safeties. I swapped some new triggers in. I also added Magwells (I like magwells :) ) The Commander has an Ed Brown and the Officer's has a Kimber one. I changed the grips and deemed myself good to go for now.

The Commander went to the range this morning and performed very well. No problems whatsoever, although it will not hurt to swap in a new recoil spring. The old one is going. The trigger now breaks right at 4.5 pounds and is very clean. I know that some question the drop in packages, but I installed one from Nowlin and it really works well.

See:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/51361d77.jpg

The only thing left at the moment is to get a new set of sights installed.

The Officer also went to the range this morning and also impressed. No problems or issues and although it doesn't quite have the same degree of accuracy as the Commander, it is still very good. I also installed a Nowlin kit, but had to do a little work on the magwell and mainspring. It breaks at 5 pounds, which is still nice and manageable.

A busy week, but I am very happy with the results! :D
1911Tuner
11th June 2006, 19:26
Ai'ght!

I see that LW Commander is a pre-Series 80 pistol.

I'll give ya 75 bucks for the hammer, slidestop and thumb safety... :D
Federale
11th June 2006, 19:30
Ai'ght!

I see that LW Commander is a pre-Series 80 pistol.

I'll give ya 75 bucks for the hammer, slidestop and thumb safety... :D

I think I'm going to hold onto the parts for the time being, but if I decide to get rid of them, I know who to find. . . ;)
1911Tuner
11th June 2006, 19:52
dammit... :(

:D
Elmo C
11th June 2006, 21:26
Nice job on the Colt's,Just goes to show you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear,a few parts and some time and walla. The only thing I find is penny's some one didn't want.
wichaka
11th June 2006, 23:11
Ai'ght!

I see that LW Commander is a pre-Series 80 pistol.

I'll give ya 75 bucks for the hammer, slidestop and thumb safety... :D


I bet you would.......... :D
1911Tuner
13th June 2006, 18:40
I bet you would.......... :D

SHUSH! Cantcha see I'm workin' here?

:lh:
Bud White
13th June 2006, 19:01
Good looking Work
dakota1911
14th June 2006, 03:20
Just a question. The 25'... is that feet, yards, meters, inches, or what? How did you shoot it? The group looked simular to my Colt XSE LW Commander when I shot it over sandbags at 25 yards or 75 feet. The first round of 16 I shot was off a little and the rest made a hole. The result was a group like that.
Federale
14th June 2006, 06:37
Just a question. The 25'... is that feet, yards, meters, inches, or what? How did you shoot it? The group looked simular to my Colt XSE LW Commander when I shot it over sandbags at 25 yards or 75 feet. The first round of 16 I shot was off a little and the rest made a hole. The result was a group like that.

25' is 25 feet. Two hands, out of the holster, fire, put the sights back on target and fire again through the magazine, reload, fire second magazine. Probably about 15 seconds total. Not speed shooting and not target shooting either. Just trying to put all the rounds through the inch white circle as fast as I can.

I don't use sandbags or benchrests.

FWIW, the sights that came with this Commander are terrible out past 15 yards. The front sight is way too thick and the pistol shoots slightly below the point of aim. Trying to hit this type of target for any type of grouping would be a chore.
1911 Shooter
14th June 2006, 07:41
Nice work, that Commander is sweet!
Phil
14th June 2006, 07:52
Wow, what beautiful guns. Even your photography improved once you got 'em all gussied up. :D
Jeffrey
14th June 2006, 12:13
Very nice work indeed.
Federale
14th June 2006, 16:49
Thank you everyone!

This evening I loosened the allen screws holding down the rear sight to find that it was easily removeable. What I found was this:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/a10c0e18.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c270/dspipes/3b0aa635.jpg

So, several questions came to mind and I figured that the collective wisdom here could help me get some answers.

First, what's the small hole? It is tapped for a screw, but had nothing to do with the sight (I believe it was an old Millet sight) that was on the pistol.

Second, can you tell what kind of dovetail cut I've got here? I'm assuming that it is a standard Colt cut, but the screw hole threw me off.

Third, later on down the road I will likely send the pistol in for refinishing and have new sights installed, however, for the time being I want to shoot the heck out of the gun before losing it for a few months. So, based on these pictures, what sights are available that could be installed now, on this dovetail?
.45FMJoe
15th June 2006, 00:09
oooh oooh oooh!

2 birds flying over a woman wif big breasassisses ... on golden lake. ;)
ColtCustom45
15th June 2006, 14:07
:confused: oooh oooh oooh!

2 birds flying over a woman wif big breasassisses ... on golden lake. ;)
.45FMJoe
16th June 2006, 17:39
:confused:


Obviously you have never seen "In Living Color" or more particularly the Jailhouse Win, Lose or Draw skit where the "ssissess" endings first came from. :D