I am looking a two Gold Cup pistols trying to decide which to buy.

One is a stainless pistol with the slide marked - Gold Cup Series 80 Mark IV -. It has a spur hammer and a lacks the beaver tail style grip safety. All series 80 pistols I have previously looked at had rowel or commander style hammers and I am wondering if the hammer and grip safety have been replaced. The trigger on this pistol is also unusual. It is more than 1/4 inch wide and the exposed end of over-travel adjustment screw is cross drilled for a pin to be used as a lever to turn the screw. This pistol appears to have seen considerable use but does not look abused or neglected. s/n 209xx

The other is a blued pistol with the slide marked -Gold Cup Trophy-. There is no marking on the slide indicating it's series but since it does have the beaver tail grip safety and commander hammer I suspect it is a series 80. This pistol appears to have been fired very little. s/n GCT095xx

Both pistols have much better triggers than the Springfield I am planning to replace. Both have some noticeable side play in the slide to frame fit. They don't rattle but you can rock them sideways a bit.

Questions:

Do you think the stainless pistol has had original trigger, hammer and grip safety changed? If they have been changed is this necessarily a bad thing?

What is the difference between the Gold Cup and the Gold Cup Trophy pistols. I plan to use this pistol for both bulls eye shooting and action pistol competition. For this use, is one model more preferable than the other?

Can these pistols still be accurate despite the slide movement?

I am new to the pistol shooting sport and any help / advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
John Wilson

Here is a link that might help you.

http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/history/nm.htm

More important then the slide movement would be the barrel to bushing fit.
You also can have your slide to frame tightened.
The gun or gun's may still be accurate the way they are, now are they competitive? Only shooting them will tell.

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Slide to frame fit is a very, very, very small part of the accuracy equation. Barrel bushing to slide and muzzle to barrel bushing fit are important as is the fit of the barrel hood and upper lugs to the slide and the lower lugs to the slide stop. Sloppy fits in these areas usually means poor accuracy. Also important are easy to see sights and a great trigger action. As for the difference between the Series 80 Gold Cup and the Gold Cup Trophy, I think the Trophy is the current model and has a rear sight similar to a BoMar instead of the Elliason rear sight.

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All Colt Gold Cups will have the wide adjustable trigger, regardless if SS or blue. The hammer should also be the longer spur type on either pistol, I have never seen a Gold Cup with an original round hole Commander style hammer. The older Series 70 Gold Cups had the wide grip safety, but I am unsure if all Series 80 Gold Cups did. The best improvement that Colt did to the Gold Cup was to replace the Eliason rear sight with the Bomar sight, although I have only seen the Bomar on the SS models. The Eliason sight is held in place by a single cross pin that has been infamous for loosening and falling out. The Bomar is held in place by a dovetail and is much better overall. I have never tried a Gold Cup trigger that was bad, although some are better than others. The Gold Cup is the best bulls eye gun you can buy over the counter and is an excellent base gun for other competitive shooting.

Sandman, Stans & Randy Colt,
Thanks for taking the time to advise me on this issue.

The information you provided plus that gained by reading through the archive threads on the Gold Cup gave me a very good understanding of the various models of this pistol.
Using that knowledge I decided to purchase a NIB Stainless Gold Cup Trophy from a local dealer.

I shot it yesterday. Using Winchester 230 gr.FMJ (Wal-Mart),the first 5 shots went into a 1-1/4" group at 25 yards. Yes, I did change the "light" recoil spring for the "heavy" one before firing this ammunition.

This pistol shows astonishing potential and makes on wonder what it will do with "match grade" cartridges?


I have only recently come to pistol shooting from High Power rifle competition. In that discipline it is recommended to condition new match quality barrels with a complicated regimen of cleaning between the first 50 or so shots fired through it. Is this necessary or recommended for match pistol barrels also?

Regards,
John Wilson

One solution is to just buy both

I don't know of any break in procedure, although I'm sure there are several. You are only dealing with 5" of barrel so any effect of a break in would be minimal at best. Just clean it well and have fun.