Along with a p38, a Luger, and a Broomhandle Mauser, I came into a 1911 "age of flight" mkIV series 70 Colt 1911. It had been fired; it was not abused, but it had been used. I've seen the special edition colts for sale, and it seems that unless they are in NIB condition, with box and papers, they aren't worth more (and are sometimes worth less) than their standard series 70 counterparts. So, I figured, if I own a shooter, I may as well make it into a shooter that I like!
details for anyone interested, if not, pictures lie below
To start with, the recoil spring was binding, so I ordered a new one from numrich and replaced it. I've read a bunch of horror stories about the series 70 collet bushing, so I also fitted a match oversize bushing to the barrel for a nice, tight, but near frictionless, fit. This also resolved a lot of binding issues since it puts less tension on the barrel than the collet bushing on lockup. From what I can only assume were too many slide-drops on an empty chamber, the hammer was following the slide. I fit a new sear to the stock hammer, smoothed everything up, and now I've got a nice 4-4.5lb pull with no creep, a little overtravel that will be fixed in the future with a better trigger, and that is consistent on both hammer hooks. I also added pachmayr american legends, that have been torn down and reglued so they won't fall apart like those in some reports I've heard. It's also got a new Wolff sear spring and a new disconnector, because someone electropenciled under the slide which wore the old one out. That has been polished smooth.
Since I can't find much information on the "age of flight" series guns, I thought you guys might be interested in seeing this slide. I have a polished blue slide coming in that I'll have cut for better sites, but this slide will stay unmolested in case I ever decide to sell, and I have to admit that it's growing on me enough that I may keep it on the gun for show n' tell
Anyway, I haven't done anything too drastic, and I have kept all the original parts, but it's been a good bit of work making it feel and run right. I'm bitten, and when the new slide gets in I'll have more work ahead of me, not to mention all the 1911's I'll have to buy after this one...
Without further ado, here's some glamor shots.
And one to show off the nice Colt finish
Thanks for looking!
details for anyone interested, if not, pictures lie below
To start with, the recoil spring was binding, so I ordered a new one from numrich and replaced it. I've read a bunch of horror stories about the series 70 collet bushing, so I also fitted a match oversize bushing to the barrel for a nice, tight, but near frictionless, fit. This also resolved a lot of binding issues since it puts less tension on the barrel than the collet bushing on lockup. From what I can only assume were too many slide-drops on an empty chamber, the hammer was following the slide. I fit a new sear to the stock hammer, smoothed everything up, and now I've got a nice 4-4.5lb pull with no creep, a little overtravel that will be fixed in the future with a better trigger, and that is consistent on both hammer hooks. I also added pachmayr american legends, that have been torn down and reglued so they won't fall apart like those in some reports I've heard. It's also got a new Wolff sear spring and a new disconnector, because someone electropenciled under the slide which wore the old one out. That has been polished smooth.
Since I can't find much information on the "age of flight" series guns, I thought you guys might be interested in seeing this slide. I have a polished blue slide coming in that I'll have cut for better sites, but this slide will stay unmolested in case I ever decide to sell, and I have to admit that it's growing on me enough that I may keep it on the gun for show n' tell
Anyway, I haven't done anything too drastic, and I have kept all the original parts, but it's been a good bit of work making it feel and run right. I'm bitten, and when the new slide gets in I'll have more work ahead of me, not to mention all the 1911's I'll have to buy after this one...
Without further ado, here's some glamor shots.
And one to show off the nice Colt finish
Thanks for looking!