Speaking on my own, I'd avoid anything made from about 1970 till about 1995. but I might be prejudiced a little bit. Those were the years of the vaunted '70 Series guns. I had several of them, and spent a lot of money making them work, too. Or making them more accurate AND work, whatever makes you happy. The '70 Series guns only lasted till about '83, but the Series 80 guns that followed on often had poor finishes. I currently have a 1991 gun built in Colt's Custom Shop that is no great shooter, and still not especially reliable, either. I also have a current production Colt .38 Super that's been brilliant. Colts either come out great, or piss poor excuses of a gun.
I've moved on, from being a "true believer" to just buying whatever floats my boat, but quite honestly, there are a gazillion other 1911 makers these days that make guns as good as, or better, than Colt.
