1978 Gold Cup

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Not very accurate and the rear sight will fall off without warning. But they are a beautiful gun. I sent mine to a real gunsmith and had it accurized then shot it for a decade of serious bullseye. It is my backup gun and still a favorite.

I actually have a letter from Colt in the early 1990's where they say it will shoot 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches at 25 yds. That's barely the black, much less the 10-ring.
 
doc540

That's a real beauty you've got there. Lonegunman is right; change out that roll pin with something solid (I used a section of a drill bit), and you should be good to go with the rear sight. When I had mine, some people told me to change out the recoil spring as supposedly it was set up for only light target loads. I never did and my Gold Cup functioned just fine with everything from 185 gr. target loads to 230 gr. hardball.
 
I have to jump into this discussion also. I shot three gun bullseye target shooting back in the mid 70's to the mid 80's and used an out of the box Series 70 Colt Gold Cup pistol for both center fire and 45 stages of the match. My Gold Cup was easily the most accurate center fire pistol or revolver, and would easily shoot out the ten ring at 25 yards from a firm rest. In almost ten years of weekly practice and match shooting, I had to replace my front sight (fell off) and replace the that split pin in my rear sight with a solid one. Also I regularly replaced all springs after approx 2000 rounds. Outside of the forementioned, I never had a bit of trouble with my Colt.
 
lonegunman said:
Not very accurate and the rear sight will fall off without warning. But they are a beautiful gun. I sent mine to a real gunsmith and had it accurized then shot it for a decade of serious bullseye. It is my backup gun and still a favorite.

I actually have a letter from Colt in the early 1990's where they say it will shoot 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches at 25 yds. That's barely the black, much less the 10-ring.
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Dang, wish I would've known that before I blew $600 on such an poorly-made, inaccurate looker. ;)
 
My experience with S70 GCNMs (I've owned 2) is similar to Lonegunmans.

Both did have good triggers and very pretty finishes, but otherwise they were not well made: very poor barrel/slide fit, very loose slide/frame fit, rough and sloppy internal machining, mediocre accruacy at best.

Others report much better results, so it seems that their quality was spotty. Still, if Docs pistol was $600 it was a steal. They're usually fixable and there isn't much out there as purty!
 
I have a 1970 unit. Was the quality degrading as the years of manufacture went on?
 
Sweet gun!!! I am always on the lookout for a good looking Colt Gold Cup under $700.
 
Colt has been all over the board over the years as far as quality goes on all of their 1911s. Gold Cups are IMO nice guns, some are a LOT more accurate than others. The sights have always sucked big time. Colt has never seemed to think they were a problem. That can be fixed though. Be sure you have the correct recoil spring installed for the ammo you're using.
 
I had a Series '70 GC but sold it because I too wanted better accuracy. Before I bought it, I read about the magic accuracy (nevermind the loose barrel and slide no different than other production Colts). But mine would not cooperate. Maybe it didn't like me. Today, I'd pick a Springfield Trophy Match instead if I were looking for a decent target pistol.
 
When Colt first introduced the National Match pistols back in the 30s they were meticulously hand fitted and tweaked and were extremely accurate guns. That only lasted a couple of years. Then when they brought the Gold Cup they got a little creative with their marketing. I have seen quite a few though that were poor shooters but when fitted with a match bushing and a Dwyer Group Gripper became tack drivers with the factory barrel still in place. Just removing the slop in the barrel/slide fit makes a huge difference.
 
Colt barrels are very accurate. I guess one could send it to Doug Jones at AccuRail to tighten it up. That might push the barrel down closer toward the slide stop for a snuggier fit. The rear sight coming apart can be adressed by a shock buff and matching the recoil spring to the load, thereby preventing the slide from battering against the frame.
 
doc540 said:
Dang, wish I would've known that before I blew $600 on such an poorly-made, inaccurate looker. ;)
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Hey Doc,
Don't get yourself all worked up until you shoot it. It may surprise you. You could have spent twice as much and still got a gun that isn't anymore accurate.
I'm picking up a Colt GC trophy Saturday for a really good price. If it needs some work, I still know I can get it up to snuff.
Besides, you may be pleasantly surprised. 600 bucks seems really cheap for that Colt. No doubt you can always get your money out of it.
 
I have one from around the same time. It was a gift when I was promoted to SSG. It shoots better then I am capable of and is a fine gun as far as I am concerned. I didn't get the box and all the paperwrok with mine though.

I just recently bought its little brother (Combat Commander) to fill out the collection. Now all I have to find is one of the LW Commanders.

WB
 
Tables have turned, and I've sold it back to the original owner.

He asked for first dib's, and he got first dib's.

That's the way it's supposed to work, right?
 
"You sure are fickle, that one looked like a keeper to me.

Yep, about as fickle as my job I no longer have, hoss.
 
Sorry to hear about your job situation. That sure was a nice pistol. Maybe he will hold it for you until your job situation changes?
 
Sorry to hear that Doc. I could probably make 3 phone calls and have two guys ready with cash to buy that gun for $600.

While the one I picked up today is a newer GC trophy, I have to say, the one I bought is very well made. The roll pin was about to fall out of it, so I pulled it out and replaced it with a homemade solid pin.
Maybe I got lucky, this sucker shoots just under 2" groups @25yds from a sandbag.
 
I bought a new, 70 series, Gold Cup, many years ago, and wasn't happy with the accuracy.

I sent mine to Clark Custom, when Jim Clark SR. was still alive, and when it came back, it would shoot 2" at 50 yards.:D

I haven't dug it out of the safe in years. I probably should, just to see if I can still shoot.
 
Sorry to hear about your job situation. That sure was a nice pistol. Maybe he will hold it for you until your job situation changes?

He would, indeed, do that.

But when I hit my stride again, I'll find another one.
 
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