Gold Cup Info

[Aint No Rest 4 The Wicked]

First I would like to say that I know nothing about 1911s. I am a Glock guy and have never owned a 1911. I bought my dad a Colt Gold Cup in Stainless Steel back in 1993. He loves it but has never shot it much (200 rounds maybe) he is not a big shooter anymore. I would like to know if it is reliable and if these Gold Cups are nice, Do they shot well? etc... Thanks in advanced as I have no experience with them.

[Braxton1]

Welcome to Single-Stack Division!!!

The following is applicable if you intend to shoot the gun a lot. If not, the Gold Cup is plenty nice to shoot, either casually in IPSC or for it's intended use in NRA Bullseye matces.

To successfully run a Gold Cup in IPSC or IDPA, there's a few things that you'd need to be mindful of:

1. The most-common problem with a Gold Cup, especially when doing high round count stuff like practical shooting, is breaking the rear sight pin on the Eliason rear sight. It is usually a roll pin and is quite small, so it takes quite a beating. I would prophylactically replace it with an appropriate diameter piece of drill rod. They NEVER break at a convenient time!

2. A good lubricant would be necessary, since stainless steel rubbing against stainless steel will sometimes result in galling. I use Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, but there are many good lubes out there, including Slide-Glide from our host.

3. If you leave the trigger stock, you should be good. If you try to take it down to the poundage that all your buddies are running, then you'll need to replace that heavy steel trigger with a lightweight aluminum unit from Greider Precision. The G.C. has a wider and heavier trigger than a standard 1911, so a couple of extra parts were added in the trigger system to compensate for the gun's tendency for trigger bounce (the Sear Depressor and its spring). To get a really good trigger, the 'smith will remove those parts and replace the trigger with aluminum.

4. I'd get someone to draw file on the corners of every part on that gun. Early-'90s Colts were sharp-cornered as all heck, so a de-horning job would be in order.

5. While not absolutely necessary unless you shoot it a lot, if the gun has a collet-style bushing, it would be good to have it replaced with a traditional solid bushing. Those fingers can break off and it's a bear to clear that jam....

Other than that, the other mods that people like to do are pretty straight-forward (magwell, front strap grip tape, extended/ambidextrous safety, extended mag release).

Edited September 7, 2010 by Braxton1

[ParaGunner]

The only sure way to find out is to go out and shoot it.....a lot.

[Aint No Rest 4 The Wicked]

Welcome to Single-Stack Division!!!

The following is applicable if you intend to shoot the gun a lot. If not, the Gold Cup is plenty nice to shoot, either casually in IPSC or for it's intended use in NRA Bullseye matces.

To successfully run a Gold Cup in IPSC or IDPA, there's a few things that you'd need to be mindful of:

1. The most-common problem with a Gold Cup, especially when doing high round count stuff like practical shooting, is breaking the rear sight pin on the Eliason rear sight. It is usually a roll pin and is quite small, so it takes quite a beating. I would prophylactically replace it with an appropriate diameter piece of drill rod. They NEVER break at a convenient time!

2. A good lubricant would be necessary, since stainless steel rubbing against stainless steel will sometimes result in galling. I use Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, but there are many good lubes out there, including Slide-Glide from our host.

3. If you leave the trigger stock, you should be good. If you try to take it down to the poundage that all your buddies are running, then you'll need to replace that heavy steel trigger with a lightweight aluminum unit from Greider Precision. The G.C. has a wider and heavier trigger than a standard 1911, so a couple of extra parts were added in the trigger system to compensate for the gun's tendency for trigger bounce (the Sear Depressor and its spring). To get a really good trigger, the 'smith will remove those parts and replace the trigger with aluminum.

4. I'd get someone to draw file on the corners of every part on that gun. Early-'90s Colts were sharp-cornered as all heck, so a de-horning job would be in order.

5. While not absolutely necessary unless you shoot it a lot, if the gun has a collet-style bushing, it would be good to have it replaced with a traditional solid bushing. Those fingers can break off and it's a bear to clear that jam....

Other than that, the other mods that people like to do are pretty straight-forward (magwell, front strap grip tape, extended/ambidextrous safety, extended mag release).

Thank you very much for the info.

[chirpy]

The "Gold Cup" is the target version of the Colt 1911. It is a good place to start if you want to get into NRA type Bullseye shooting. Not as good as a custom BE gun but good to start. As mentioned, there are a few problems but not many.

FWIW

Richard

[NickJ]

When I first started shooting USPSA matches my pistol was a Gold Cup. I shot 10's of thousands of rounds through it, no problems with the collet bushing. The fix for the rear sight is simple- after sighting in, measure the gap between the sight base and the top with a feeler gauge. Remove the elevation screw, insert an o-ring of the appropriate size, reinsert the elevation screw, and use the feeler gauge to get back to the proper gap. Your roll pin won't break, and you will not have irreparably damaged the sight.

[NickJ]

And you'll want to install a beavertail grip safety, or at least bob the hammer.

[xsniper]

Welcome to Single-Stack Division!!!

The following is applicable if you intend to shoot the gun a lot. If not, the Gold Cup is plenty nice to shoot, either casually in IPSC or for it's intended use in NRA Bullseye matces.

To successfully run a Gold Cup in IPSC or IDPA, there's a few things that you'd need to be mindful of:

1. The most-common problem with a Gold Cup, especially when doing high round count stuff like practical shooting, is breaking the rear sight pin on the Eliason rear sight. It is usually a roll pin and is quite small, so it takes quite a beating. I would prophylactically replace it with an appropriate diameter piece of drill rod. They NEVER break at a convenient time!

2. A good lubricant would be necessary, since stainless steel rubbing against stainless steel will sometimes result in galling. I use Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil, but there are many good lubes out there, including Slide-Glide from our host.

3. If you leave the trigger stock, you should be good. If you try to take it down to the poundage that all your buddies are running, then you'll need to replace that heavy steel trigger with a lightweight aluminum unit from Greider Precision. The G.C. has a wider and heavier trigger than a standard 1911, so a couple of extra parts were added in the trigger system to compensate for the gun's tendency for trigger bounce (the Sear Depressor and its spring). To get a really good trigger, the 'smith will remove those parts and replace the trigger with aluminum.

4. I'd get someone to draw file on the corners of every part on that gun. Early-'90s Colts were sharp-cornered as all heck, so a de-horning job would be in order.

5. While not absolutely necessary unless you shoot it a lot, if the gun has a collet-style bushing, it would be good to have it replaced with a traditional solid bushing. Those fingers can break off and it's a bear to clear that jam....

Other than that, the other mods that people like to do are pretty straight-forward (magwell, front strap grip tape, extended/ambidextrous safety, extended mag release).

Plus 1 on this info.

#1.Probably the most important.

#2.Just keeps it looking nice.

#3.So true

#4.Will make it easier on the hands

#5.I never had a problem with this, but it sounds like the voice of experience.

GOOD LUCK

[Bandit]

Make sure a 16 - 18.5 pound recoil spring is installed. A lot of bullseye shooters run light springs (~12lb) which will severely beat your slide when you shoot ammunition that makes major power factor. I have seen a guy crack a slide when he bought the gun used, didn't check the recoil spring weight, and shot a bunch of hardball through it.

The collet bushing was made of spring steel and brought out by Colt in the '70's. Production ran until (I believe) the late '80's. They usually don't cause a problem; however, if the inside diameter of the slide was machined too small the fingers of the bushing are stressed and can break.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Bandit

[norbs007]

FWIW, here's my early 90's Series 80 Gold Cup which I think very close or similar to your stainless version.

Pretty much all that Braxton1 said was done, except the sights were replaced with a set of Bomar BMCS. The picture below shows how the slide top was filled with a portion of the Eliason sight. The whole thing was dehorned, replaced with an S&A magwell and trigger with a 2lb. pull, match bushing, Ed Brown beavertail and ambi-safety, Wilson 2-pc. guide rod and 13lb. spring. The smith checkered and raised the front strap and kept the original barrel and hammer.

This is what I started out shooting IPSC matches way back, it runs very well with lead or molly SWCs.

[Aint No Rest 4 The Wicked]

I would Love to make the Old Man's Gun that nice. Thank you very much for the info. I am going to call around to see what the work is going to cost me.

[flycaster]

I would Love to make the Old Man's Gun that nice. Thank you very much for the info. I am going to call around to see what the work is going to cost me.

Do that- but why not shoot it a bunch first to see how it "fits" you? I wouldn't put a lot of money into a pistol unless it was right for me. Plus, it might just be a lot of fun right away!

Chuck

[calishootr]

+1 to everything Braxton said, very well done, I would do all of that, and add a brown beavertail(much more comfortable than that 'stub' colt puts on em) and safeties(nice an wide so you can have the thumb aid in recoil control) to it and call it a day...

[waynes_world_45]

yup...My Gold Cup wears a Brown Beavertail, Wilson Extended Safety and slide release, commander hammer, one piece mainspring housing/mag well, and solid barrel bushing

I tried the one piece guide rod set up, but it was just a pain and I took it out.

I checkered the front strap and trigger guard myself...did a poor job but it's a shooter, not a beauty queen