My brother and I would request the catalogs from the various firearms companies and lust at the shiny objects of our desires in the 70's. One of which was a Gold Cup National Match. While I have a Colt Combat Elite series 80 I've had since 91 that I have shot 1000's of rounds through with great satisfaction, I've not owned a Gold Cup but my friend Jorge had one NIB he decided I needed more than him. I assume the 2nd spring is for a heavier, or lighter, load but there were no instructions in the box about what or where to use it.

There is action pistol shooting at my new club I may do and I certainly enjoy the bowling pin shoot at the CF pig hunt so maybe I'll end up being a decent pistol shot if I spent some time at it. Regardless, looking forward to doing some loading and shooting.

Nice.
Have a Springfield, still want a "real" 1911. One with horses.

I had the Gun Digest, etc., as a teenager, too, and the one I always thought I'd end up with was a Browning BDA .380, which was actually made for Browning by Beretta. It only came with exactly those features under the Browning name, though. Basically, it was a miniature Beretta 92. Never got one.

Very cool!

I had one of those Combat Elites too, great pistol.

Like a moron I traded it in on a skeet gun

Carried a 1911 as a tanker in Germany around 69’ and was bitten by the bug. Bought a Series 70 in 83’ and a 1950’s production a few years ago. Love the weapon and love shooting it. I guess that’s all you can ask.

Welcome aboard, ostrick.

That is awesome. The only pistol, especially I REALLY want is the one that belonged to my grandpa that my POS cousin somehow has....

Hard to beat the GCNM. I have several

The factory Gold Cup has two springs - a standard 16# and a 14# for wadcutter/light loads. The 14# spring has green paint on the end, which seems to be on the right side of the photo. There should also be two magazines, an eight round hybrid and a seven round wadcutter. The hybrid has tapered feed lips and the wadcutter has straight lips.

Not 1970s, but:

The Series 70 GC's have always had an appeal to me, aesthetically speaking, & always seem to have a unique feel in the hand with I really like.

I've had 3 over time and I have one now with relatively low round count that doesn't see much range time anymore.

Unfortunately, most are a little on the fragile side compared to the typical durability of the Government models & not really overly accurate compared to genuine competitive guns.......................3" at 50 yds with match ammo is doing pretty damn good with a GC.

Keep an eye on the pin that holds the rear sight on as well, as they have a tendency to come out...............if it starts to move, take it out & put a slight kink in it which will make it significantly harder to tap back into place but will make a measurable difference in keeping it there.

And, you'd be best served to keep you loads to the low side of hardball.............the GC slides are light & the guns don't like to be beaten up much over time.

MM

I’m certainly on the low side with loads. Heaviest .45 load use is a 200 gr and the majority are 185 over 3.5 of Bullseye

Congrats Pugs. A GCNM was actually the first pistol that I ever bought. I absolutely loved that pistol. But, during hard financial times as a newly wed, I grudgingly parted with it to help cover bills. I’ve had others over the years, but that one was special and wish I still had it.

Have fun with yours!

3.5 BE & 185's is a nice loading.

MM

That's a newer Gold Cup with a standard weight slide and 'Bo-Mar type' sights (dovetail).

Yeah, you're right, John................I didn't look that close.

PUGS, disregard the comment about the rear sight pin as that only applies to the older, Elliason sights.

The Bomar on your gun is much better than the older version.

MM

Thanks gents. Yes, new production, well, maybe 5 years ago. It didn’t come with a 2nd magazine but I have several already including a couple Chip McCormick that work well in my other 1911.

Nice snag!

Nice. I remember those books/digests too.

I never had a childhood Colt I wanted bad until I owned it, sold it and THEN realized what I had. Cold in 38 Super, nice little carboard box, etc. 500 bucks on both ends back in the day. I should start looking for one again.