usnavydoc
17th February 2009, 11:14
I woke up excited yesterday....it was the day to pick up my Colt Special Combat from my dealer.
I cleaned it and lubed it to get it ready to be broken in. My first impressions of the gun:
The gun came with two chip mccormick shooting star magazines, which I am not too familiar with. They seemed ok and had basepads on them. The gun itself had a blued finish, which was done very well and evenly. I noticed that it had a lot of sharp edges for being a carry model, especially the front sight blade. The rear, which is a novak adjustable with tritium, also had some sharp edges, albeit nowhere as sharp and clumsy (for carry) as the Bo-Mars. The slide to frame fit was good, but nowhere as tight as my buddy's Les Baer (more on that later). Colt did a good job with fitting the beavertail safety, no uneven gaps. The ambidextrous safety levers appeared to be thinner than the old Special Combat I had, which were nice for carry, but needed quite an effort to engage it. I figured that it was tight because it was still new, so I decided to see what happened after it was broken in. The barrel had "Colt NM" engraved on it, and it felt a bit heavier and more solid than the barrel in my MKIV Series 80 enhanced. The trigger did not have much creep, and broke like a glass rod. I was surprised that the front strap did not have any checkering (for this price it should have it, IMHO).
I called one of my buddies, who has a Les Baer Premier, to join me at the range and bring his gun for a comparison. We both went gun shopping for our guns at roughly the same time, he tried to convince me to get a Baer with him, but I told him the story of my old Special Combat that I sold to help with my divorce and that I wanted to get another new one; so he went and bought the Les Baer while I bought the Colt.
I brought the following ammo: 100 rounds of Magtech 230 grain FMJ, 50 rounds of 230 grain Remington Golden Saber, 100 rounds of Federal HST HP 230 grain +p, and at the range I bought 50 rounds of range ammo (reloads). I brought several magazines to try on the gun - Wilson Combat Elite Tactical, Chip Mccormick Shooting star, the Colt mags that came with my MKIV enhanced, and a Wilson Combat 47D mags. All of the mags mentioned above are 8 rounders.
I began with the range ammo. The gun failed to feed 8 times, and kept the slide half open after it fired. I tried different magazines, and it would always end up jamming. I tried the ammo on my buddy's Les Baer, and it did the same thing, so we concluded that the ammo was bad and stopped using it.
Next I used Remington Golden Sabers. All rounds fed without problems, except for the last round (#8). The last round failed to feed in all of the magazines. Accuracy was ok, but not much better than the MKIV enhanced that I have. The Magtech came next, and all fired and fed without any problems, except for the last round - the slide was open as if it was empty, and the round sat between the magazine lips and the feeding ramp. The Chip Mccormicks had less tendency for not feeding the last round, but did so occasionally.
I was surprised, but the Federal HST +P were the most accurate of the group, and all fed reliably...again, except for the last round. The +p recoiled a bit more, but was manageable, and I was able to quickly line up the sights for follow up shots.
With the exception of the range ammo, my friend's Les Baer fired all rounds without any issues...and the groups from the gun were much tighter...I normally shoot better than my friend, but the gun made him a good shooter today.
At the end of the day, we were tired and went back to our respective homes. Besides being dirty, like it should be after so many rounds, I noticed that the wood grips had come loose, and re-tightened them. I took the gun apart, cleaned it, and lubed it. Upon inspection I noticed that the slide's dustcover on the right side had a white rub mar on it. It appears that this gun is also suffering from the dreaded frame rub problem . I normally wouldn't be too concerned since this is a carry gun / work gun, but for the price I paid, ($1700 after taxes) I expected some refinement from the top of the line Colt.
After putting the gun back together, I decided to put some gun oil on the ambi safety to try to make it a bit easier to engage, without any success. As a matter of fact, I can't even engage the safety with one hand. The only way it budges is if I use one hand to pull the safety lever away from the frame. While pulling the safety lever away from the frame with one hand, I use the other hand to push it up. It worries me that engaging the safety became a two hand operation. If I don't pull the safety lever away from the frame, it won't move even it I try to muscle it with two hands.
So to sum it up, I am pretty disappointed with this gun. I expected it to be reliable and accurate as my old Special Combat, and at the very least be more accurate than the MKIV enhanced. Colt did make better guns in the 90's. To add insult to injury, my buddy told me I should have listened to him and bought a Baer. No doubt, his gun is nice, and for now, I am jealous. He paid a few hundred dollars more than I did, and it seemed to be money well spent.
I am a Colt fan, so it hurts to see that the quality of this custom shop piece isn't what it should be. I thought they fit the slide to the frame, so the frame rub surprised me.
I did a search in this forum and noticed that many have the frame rubbing against the dustcover problem - and those who sent the gun to Colt for repairs got it back after a long wait and the problem was not repaired. What can I do to fix the safety lever so it engages? Walking around with a cocked and unlocked gun isn't the best idea for me. As far as the last round not feeding, what do you recommend I do to fix it? I am considering putting a 18.5 LB recoil spring.
I am contemplating whether to call Colt and send it in for repairs, or to spend a few hundred dollars to send it to Wilson Combat to fix and perhaps finish it with armor tuff, while getting faster turnaround times.
Anyone know why the ambi safety won't engage normally? Is it something easy to fix?
For now, I can't trust my life with this weapon...so no ccw with it at least not until it is fixed. Would you recommend me selling the gun, sending it to colt to fix, or just avoid the headache and heartache and send it to Wilson Combat? Part of me wishes that I would have bought the Baer...spending a lot of money on something that has so many problems can be disheartening.
I cleaned it and lubed it to get it ready to be broken in. My first impressions of the gun:
The gun came with two chip mccormick shooting star magazines, which I am not too familiar with. They seemed ok and had basepads on them. The gun itself had a blued finish, which was done very well and evenly. I noticed that it had a lot of sharp edges for being a carry model, especially the front sight blade. The rear, which is a novak adjustable with tritium, also had some sharp edges, albeit nowhere as sharp and clumsy (for carry) as the Bo-Mars. The slide to frame fit was good, but nowhere as tight as my buddy's Les Baer (more on that later). Colt did a good job with fitting the beavertail safety, no uneven gaps. The ambidextrous safety levers appeared to be thinner than the old Special Combat I had, which were nice for carry, but needed quite an effort to engage it. I figured that it was tight because it was still new, so I decided to see what happened after it was broken in. The barrel had "Colt NM" engraved on it, and it felt a bit heavier and more solid than the barrel in my MKIV Series 80 enhanced. The trigger did not have much creep, and broke like a glass rod. I was surprised that the front strap did not have any checkering (for this price it should have it, IMHO).
I called one of my buddies, who has a Les Baer Premier, to join me at the range and bring his gun for a comparison. We both went gun shopping for our guns at roughly the same time, he tried to convince me to get a Baer with him, but I told him the story of my old Special Combat that I sold to help with my divorce and that I wanted to get another new one; so he went and bought the Les Baer while I bought the Colt.
I brought the following ammo: 100 rounds of Magtech 230 grain FMJ, 50 rounds of 230 grain Remington Golden Saber, 100 rounds of Federal HST HP 230 grain +p, and at the range I bought 50 rounds of range ammo (reloads). I brought several magazines to try on the gun - Wilson Combat Elite Tactical, Chip Mccormick Shooting star, the Colt mags that came with my MKIV enhanced, and a Wilson Combat 47D mags. All of the mags mentioned above are 8 rounders.
I began with the range ammo. The gun failed to feed 8 times, and kept the slide half open after it fired. I tried different magazines, and it would always end up jamming. I tried the ammo on my buddy's Les Baer, and it did the same thing, so we concluded that the ammo was bad and stopped using it.
Next I used Remington Golden Sabers. All rounds fed without problems, except for the last round (#8). The last round failed to feed in all of the magazines. Accuracy was ok, but not much better than the MKIV enhanced that I have. The Magtech came next, and all fired and fed without any problems, except for the last round - the slide was open as if it was empty, and the round sat between the magazine lips and the feeding ramp. The Chip Mccormicks had less tendency for not feeding the last round, but did so occasionally.
I was surprised, but the Federal HST +P were the most accurate of the group, and all fed reliably...again, except for the last round. The +p recoiled a bit more, but was manageable, and I was able to quickly line up the sights for follow up shots.
With the exception of the range ammo, my friend's Les Baer fired all rounds without any issues...and the groups from the gun were much tighter...I normally shoot better than my friend, but the gun made him a good shooter today.
At the end of the day, we were tired and went back to our respective homes. Besides being dirty, like it should be after so many rounds, I noticed that the wood grips had come loose, and re-tightened them. I took the gun apart, cleaned it, and lubed it. Upon inspection I noticed that the slide's dustcover on the right side had a white rub mar on it. It appears that this gun is also suffering from the dreaded frame rub problem . I normally wouldn't be too concerned since this is a carry gun / work gun, but for the price I paid, ($1700 after taxes) I expected some refinement from the top of the line Colt.
After putting the gun back together, I decided to put some gun oil on the ambi safety to try to make it a bit easier to engage, without any success. As a matter of fact, I can't even engage the safety with one hand. The only way it budges is if I use one hand to pull the safety lever away from the frame. While pulling the safety lever away from the frame with one hand, I use the other hand to push it up. It worries me that engaging the safety became a two hand operation. If I don't pull the safety lever away from the frame, it won't move even it I try to muscle it with two hands.
So to sum it up, I am pretty disappointed with this gun. I expected it to be reliable and accurate as my old Special Combat, and at the very least be more accurate than the MKIV enhanced. Colt did make better guns in the 90's. To add insult to injury, my buddy told me I should have listened to him and bought a Baer. No doubt, his gun is nice, and for now, I am jealous. He paid a few hundred dollars more than I did, and it seemed to be money well spent.
I am a Colt fan, so it hurts to see that the quality of this custom shop piece isn't what it should be. I thought they fit the slide to the frame, so the frame rub surprised me.
I did a search in this forum and noticed that many have the frame rubbing against the dustcover problem - and those who sent the gun to Colt for repairs got it back after a long wait and the problem was not repaired. What can I do to fix the safety lever so it engages? Walking around with a cocked and unlocked gun isn't the best idea for me. As far as the last round not feeding, what do you recommend I do to fix it? I am considering putting a 18.5 LB recoil spring.
I am contemplating whether to call Colt and send it in for repairs, or to spend a few hundred dollars to send it to Wilson Combat to fix and perhaps finish it with armor tuff, while getting faster turnaround times.
Anyone know why the ambi safety won't engage normally? Is it something easy to fix?
For now, I can't trust my life with this weapon...so no ccw with it at least not until it is fixed. Would you recommend me selling the gun, sending it to colt to fix, or just avoid the headache and heartache and send it to Wilson Combat? Part of me wishes that I would have bought the Baer...spending a lot of money on something that has so many problems can be disheartening.