Colt Combat Commander 38 Super

[toplot]

Just got a Combat Commander and I'm confused over the series designation. 70 or 80?..Ser# 80BS29XXX. I'm primarily looking for the mfg date. (Notice how many H&R guys there are on here now?, thought they were rare. Hafta start spraying for them if it gets any worse LOL)

 

[Jim Watson]

I think if it has the 80 prefix then it is a Series 80 gun.
You can tell for sure by locking the slide back and turning the gun over to see the firing pin block plunger next to the disconnector cut.

I know that "Series 70" has become Internet Shorthand for "lacking a firing pin block" but from 1970-1983 it had the specific trademarked meaning of a Colt Government model with the Acurizor collet type bushing. So there is no such thing as a Series 70 Commander because they never used the collet bushing. Guns made in that period still had 70 prefix serial numbers, which tends to confuse people.

If you yearn to know the year of manufacture, call Colt; they will tell you that but no more without paying for a factory letter.

 

[toplot]

Thanx Jim..It's a really nice pistol with lots of extras and I didn't want to misrepresent it when it's advertised

 

[rcmodel]

I agree the 80 serial number prefix makes it a Series 80 gun.

Besides the firing pin block in the slide Jim mentioned?

If the hammer is missing the positive intercept notch, or "half cock safety" when you lower it down? And continues to drop lightly to the slide if you pull the trigger then?

It is a Series 80.

rc

 

[Perfesser]

Wonder if you have a "FrankenColt" there...my Combat Commander (45) has " Colt Mk IV series 80" and the horse emblem on the left side of the slide (as does my GM), and the serial number does not start with "80". I got it used (almost unfired) sometime in the 80's.

 

[Mike Faires]

Does it have a plastic trigger, if so it is a series 80.

 

[Jim Watson]

Its not a series 80 unless it has a firing pin block in the slide and the levers in the frame to actuate it.
All that other stuff is interchangeable and does not define Colt series 80. I have a Springfield hammer with no undercut half cock that will pull off the "safety stop" and I have various guns with plastic triggers. Colt is rather careless about numbering and marking. Look for the important stuff, the working parts.