Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns COLT OFFICER'S MODEL ENHANCED

Ever since I went to the 'dark side" and started carrying a Glock (31), I always felt "dirty" . So the other day I found a used, NIB (still in the box with papers) Colt in 45 ACP and found it to be perfect for my grip and just the right size for CC. I looked up this "enhanced" business and this is all I found'

Extended "up-swept beaver-tail" grip safety.
Angled slide griping grooves.
Flat top slide with grooves.
Lowered and beveled ejection port.
Relief cut under the rear of the trigger guard.
Longer trigger.
Lightened Combat style hammer.

Anyway, the Glock is now in my night stand, replete with light. The Colt carries MUCH easier and besides, there's just something about "Colts"....

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If I were you, I'd run a minimum of 200 rounds of the ammo I had loaded in it, through it. Guns that short have a reputation for unreliability the full-size and Commander-size 1911's don't have. Maybe you already have and I'm not putting your gun down, just saying.

Yes, the timing of the slide and magazine follower are much more crucial for reliable performance on these chopped down 1911s.

PS The Officer's Model was Colt's response to the popularity of the Detonics .45. I remember when that was all the rage in CCW.

Ran fifty rounds through it, about half of them rapid fire. No issues...yet..

Plan to replace springs frequently to maintain that level of reliability on an old school chopped 1911.

Good for you, JorgeI!! Colt 1911s still work and carry well.

ummm ok?

Sounds Great, I had one but could never get to to keep firing when I wanted it to! Carried a Glock at work, they are a Work Horse! but came time I wanted a 10mm I started to buy a Glock, but went with a older Delta Elite! Love that gun!

"Enhanced". I'd guess that's a 90's model. Better than the original Officer's Model which came out in the 80's IIRC. I repeat, 200 rds. MINIMUM. JMO.

1993..

Yep, Colt is Colt & nothing else really is.............although some might actually be better.

Are you carrying that bad boy as intended, i.e., cocked & locked?

MM

If you want something even more concealable, look into the 9mm SIG P938. Similar to what you have, only smaller. The Colt Enhanced models were good guns. Before that only Gold Cup's would reliably feed premium ammo, without being worked on.

Nice! get 200 rounds of 230 fmj at the range, shoot that little fugger dry, heat the hell out of it, clean, re-lube, then check function again,

Jorge, TRH is right on this one. Chopped 1911's need more frequent spring changes. How often is subjective. Mostly due to spring quality and how hot the ammo is.

"On this one??" I'm nearly always right, 98.76% of the time. That's a verified percentage, too.

I had one. It was picky about what it would run reliably. IIRC I settled on the 230 gr. Hornady FMJ-FP. That bullet was a full metal jacketed truncated cone flat point. The only hollow point that fed reliably that I had access to was the Winchester 185 gr. Silvertip. Back in the pre Internet days you relied on the local gunshop for ammo and reloading supplies. That Silvertip load was a pretty mild load fired from a 5" barrel and I just didn't trust it to expand from the short Officers Model barrel so I went with the flat points for more reliable penetration. Eventually I swapped it on a Lightweight Commander. I developed a real fondness for the Lwt. Commander.

The comment about the Gold Cup made me chuckle. I had rough experiences with two different Gold Cups in the late 80's early 90's period. One had that five finger collet bushing. That damn thing broke in a match and tied the gun up like you cannot believe. The other had problematic sights. The rear sight roll pins either walked out occasionally or broke. The front sight took leave in a match and disappeared. Once I got that worked out I realized the "upgraded" guns weren't anymore reliable and probably not much more accurate than a good Government Model. I ditched the Gold Cups.

I love the Rampant Pony on a Gov't Model or a Commander. That was a long time ago, things may be different with today's 1911 pistols.

Jorge, since you didn't ask for any advice, you're getting WAY more than you requested.......but then, that's the Campfire for you. Since you didn't ask, I'll go ahead and throw some in too :-) ! The slide moves much quicker on Officers and Defenders than on Commanders and Govt. Models and can out run the springs in a standard magazine, especially old ones. I had some OLD mags from my Marine Corps days (45 years ago) that worked great in Govt. and Commanders but were spotty in a Defender, especially toward the bottom of the magazine (i.e. 6th and 7th rounds)......probably good to test fire the gun with any spare mags that you're likely to use as backup/reloads/etc. and make sure to shoot to slide-lock. JMO-YMMV. I certainly agree with you assessment, "there's something about a 'Colt's'".

But of course...

Gents, thanks very much for all the advice. I was not doubting TRH's comments, merely acknowledging the issue. I'll go ahead and run the remaining rounds through it. So far, it even fed those 185grain "Flying Ashtrays" with no issues. As to the magazine, it takes a six rounder, but it will accept and feed with a standard 7 rounder, although it stick out underneath. On the spring, I usually run heavier springs on mine, I get them from Wilson Combat. I suppose the make them for these as well. In all honesty, I'll not shoot it that much, just enough to satisfy me it will feed reliably, then just shoot it a few times/year along with all my other handguns.