and gave it a top-to-bottom cleaning and checkup. I took so much crud outta there that I wouldn't be surprised if the previous owner had never gone past routine maintenance. But it still ran 100%.
The backstory: I bought this Colt this past spring with the intention of using it as a plinker. It's a blued -70G suffix Mk IV Government model that was apparently someone's carry gun. The bluing shows a few areas of neglect and wear - the frontstrap is spotted, the bluing is worn off the high spots by the muzzle, the slide flats show numerous fine scratches from drawing/reholstering, the sides of the hammer are darkened, there are some hazy spots on the frame by the (factory original) grip safety, the barrel hood is showing its age, it has a faint 'idiot mark' from the slide stop (previous owner, i swear!) and the whole thing is so loose it rattles when you shake it - but boy does it run. I have about 650 rounds through it without a single problem. In the past, someone did a fine job of throating the barrel, but it retains the collet bushing and stubby guide rod. This gun even feeds 230gr Hydrashoks with zero problems!
So tonight I had a few hours to kill and decided to give it a top-to-bottom going-over. The mag catch had been getting a bit stiff so I figured I'd clean the whole thing out and be done with it. Field stripped, ran some patches through the barrel and they came out clean - great, just how I left it after the last range trip. I cleaned everything thoroughly and polished the flats as best I could before moving on to the detail strip. This is probably the 10th time I've taken it completely apart - the first was immediately after I bought it, with a couple of practices in between. Then it got down and dirty.
Casualties:
and that is what it took to get this Colt the cleanest it's been in a long time. Internally, that is.
It may not be pretty, it may not be as bank-vault-tight as a Baer or Valtro, and it doesn't have anything that could be even vaguely described as 'Tactical' - but it's a Colt, and I love it. I wish it could talk - it probably doesn't have any war stories to relate, but who knows?
But then, if it could talk, it would have talked its way into a box headed for Ted Yost's workshop already The only mods I've treated it to are a pair of Altamont Colt-medallion double-diamond grips, 6 Wilson 47D mags (though it still works fine with all my factory Colt mags) and some new Wolff springs.
I'll probably take it to the range tomorrow or Thursday and see how it does (hopefully 100% as usual.)
Oh, and the mag release is a lot smoother now. Turns out it was a bunch of crud mixed with a tad of surface rust on the mag catch itself.
The backstory: I bought this Colt this past spring with the intention of using it as a plinker. It's a blued -70G suffix Mk IV Government model that was apparently someone's carry gun. The bluing shows a few areas of neglect and wear - the frontstrap is spotted, the bluing is worn off the high spots by the muzzle, the slide flats show numerous fine scratches from drawing/reholstering, the sides of the hammer are darkened, there are some hazy spots on the frame by the (factory original) grip safety, the barrel hood is showing its age, it has a faint 'idiot mark' from the slide stop (previous owner, i swear!) and the whole thing is so loose it rattles when you shake it - but boy does it run. I have about 650 rounds through it without a single problem. In the past, someone did a fine job of throating the barrel, but it retains the collet bushing and stubby guide rod. This gun even feeds 230gr Hydrashoks with zero problems!
So tonight I had a few hours to kill and decided to give it a top-to-bottom going-over. The mag catch had been getting a bit stiff so I figured I'd clean the whole thing out and be done with it. Field stripped, ran some patches through the barrel and they came out clean - great, just how I left it after the last range trip. I cleaned everything thoroughly and polished the flats as best I could before moving on to the detail strip. This is probably the 10th time I've taken it completely apart - the first was immediately after I bought it, with a couple of practices in between. Then it got down and dirty.
Casualties:
- 20-some Q-tips
- about 15 paper towels
- half a bottle of CLP
- a bit of Mpro-7 spray cleaner
- just a few drops of Firepower FP-10
and that is what it took to get this Colt the cleanest it's been in a long time. Internally, that is.
It may not be pretty, it may not be as bank-vault-tight as a Baer or Valtro, and it doesn't have anything that could be even vaguely described as 'Tactical' - but it's a Colt, and I love it. I wish it could talk - it probably doesn't have any war stories to relate, but who knows?But then, if it could talk, it would have talked its way into a box headed for Ted Yost's workshop already
The only mods I've treated it to are a pair of Altamont Colt-medallion double-diamond grips, 6 Wilson 47D mags (though it still works fine with all my factory Colt mags) and some new Wolff springs.I'll probably take it to the range tomorrow or Thursday and see how it does (hopefully 100% as usual.)
Oh, and the mag release is a lot smoother now. Turns out it was a bunch of crud mixed with a tad of surface rust on the mag catch itself.
