DHart
Member
Though I've long loved the traditional mil-spec styled Colt 1911's and have a bunch of them, I've thought that Colt really needed to get moving with the XSE line to appeal to the masses of 1911 buyers who prefer the more contemporary style 1911 being sold en masse by Kimber and Springfield... with the ramped Novak-style combat sights, larger thumb safeties, front slide serrations, lowered & flared ejection ports, higher cut grips, and dovetailed sights. Much as I love my series 70 Colts, I've become increasingly attracted to the more contemporary styling offered on the XSE line. I won't have a series II design 1911 and the parts quality and reliability in the new Colts beats both K and S, so the XSE was just the ticket to scratch my itch.
I recently bought an XSE Government in blue steel. The gun is VERY recent manufacture, just a couple of months ago! My reaction on receiving the gun? All I can say is WOW. Colt has put together a monster-beautiful, all-American piece of forged, blued steel.
Slide to frame fit is just a bit snug (not too tight) and feels like the slide is riding on glass rails... very smooth and precise. Quite possibly equal to or smoother than the smoothest feeling slide to frame fit on any of my two dozen Colts.
Bushing is snug, but removes fairly easily.
Fit and alignment of parts is even and precise everywhere.
Ambi-thumb safety snicks on and off with very positive positioning.
Trigger pull is about 4.75 lbs., clean and crisp, excellent for defense use.
Barrel feet cut perfectly... rear slide alignment is perfect.
No play whatsoever in the barrel hood - rock solid.
Bluing finish and polish is Colt all the way, perfectly uniform and gorgeous - not a flaw to be found.
Rollmarks are beautiful, tasteful, even, and aligned perfectly.
I made a couple of mods to reflect my preferences for set-up.
I replaced the rosewood checkered double diamond grips with Kimber double diamond black rubber grips, which give a stealthy tactical look and feel that I love on this particular gun.
I replaced the flat MSH with my preferred arched, serrated MSH... just a more comfortable feel for me and I love the look as well.
I plan to replace the grip safety with a Wilson upswept style grip safety to gain a little higher hold and I will most likely put in a solid, short trigger because I just like that look and feel with the arched MSH.
None of these mods were needed, by any means, but are just personalizations which I prefer.
Still undecided on leaving the full length guide rod or going with traditional mil-spec short GR... I may just leave it as is... the added out-front weight will contribute ever so slightly toward quicker follow-up shots.
Accuracy is very good from my brief initial shooting.
Reliability is as typical of the two dozen or so brand new Colts I've bought over the last three years... no break-in required to run flawlessly right out-of-the-box. I fired 80 rounds of PMC 230 gr. FMJ in just a very few minutes... not shooting for great precision, but more for defense quickness and as a check for reliability during rapid fire. All 10 magazine's full were gobbled up as quickly as I could pull the trigger with flawless reliability. Just as I would have expected from a new Colt.
Among quite a few very cool Colt 1911's that I have, this one is now definitely my favorite. I've even come to love the look of the forward slide serrations! The gun has a nice contemporary look to it, but still retains the characteristic Colt charisma and charm... no other 1911 can offer this.
All I can say is that I really love this gun and I'm thrilled to see Colt putting out such a finely made work of functional art. My only hope for future production would be to see an upswept beavertail grip safety be standard factory equipment because it will give a little higher hold and that's what the masses would like to have on a contemporary-styled 1911. Replacing a grip safety is not a big deal, but it would be nice on the XSE to go with that design just to really finish off the "contemporary" style of the gun.
I could not be happier with this magnificent XSE... the gun looks even better in person than in the pics, with a deep, beautiful black bluing.
I recently bought an XSE Government in blue steel. The gun is VERY recent manufacture, just a couple of months ago! My reaction on receiving the gun? All I can say is WOW. Colt has put together a monster-beautiful, all-American piece of forged, blued steel.
Slide to frame fit is just a bit snug (not too tight) and feels like the slide is riding on glass rails... very smooth and precise. Quite possibly equal to or smoother than the smoothest feeling slide to frame fit on any of my two dozen Colts.
Bushing is snug, but removes fairly easily.
Fit and alignment of parts is even and precise everywhere.
Ambi-thumb safety snicks on and off with very positive positioning.
Trigger pull is about 4.75 lbs., clean and crisp, excellent for defense use.
Barrel feet cut perfectly... rear slide alignment is perfect.
No play whatsoever in the barrel hood - rock solid.
Bluing finish and polish is Colt all the way, perfectly uniform and gorgeous - not a flaw to be found.
Rollmarks are beautiful, tasteful, even, and aligned perfectly.
I made a couple of mods to reflect my preferences for set-up.
I replaced the rosewood checkered double diamond grips with Kimber double diamond black rubber grips, which give a stealthy tactical look and feel that I love on this particular gun.
I replaced the flat MSH with my preferred arched, serrated MSH... just a more comfortable feel for me and I love the look as well.
I plan to replace the grip safety with a Wilson upswept style grip safety to gain a little higher hold and I will most likely put in a solid, short trigger because I just like that look and feel with the arched MSH.
None of these mods were needed, by any means, but are just personalizations which I prefer.
Still undecided on leaving the full length guide rod or going with traditional mil-spec short GR... I may just leave it as is... the added out-front weight will contribute ever so slightly toward quicker follow-up shots.
Accuracy is very good from my brief initial shooting.
Reliability is as typical of the two dozen or so brand new Colts I've bought over the last three years... no break-in required to run flawlessly right out-of-the-box. I fired 80 rounds of PMC 230 gr. FMJ in just a very few minutes... not shooting for great precision, but more for defense quickness and as a check for reliability during rapid fire. All 10 magazine's full were gobbled up as quickly as I could pull the trigger with flawless reliability. Just as I would have expected from a new Colt.
Among quite a few very cool Colt 1911's that I have, this one is now definitely my favorite. I've even come to love the look of the forward slide serrations! The gun has a nice contemporary look to it, but still retains the characteristic Colt charisma and charm... no other 1911 can offer this.
All I can say is that I really love this gun and I'm thrilled to see Colt putting out such a finely made work of functional art. My only hope for future production would be to see an upswept beavertail grip safety be standard factory equipment because it will give a little higher hold and that's what the masses would like to have on a contemporary-styled 1911. Replacing a grip safety is not a big deal, but it would be nice on the XSE to go with that design just to really finish off the "contemporary" style of the gun.
I could not be happier with this magnificent XSE... the gun looks even better in person than in the pics, with a deep, beautiful black bluing.
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