Question on 1911 Series 70 9mm

[ZBill]

I have been following an interesting thread on satin/bright nickel Series 70 Gov't Models on the Colt Forum. They seem to all have blued triggers. I have a 1979 blued Series 70 Gov't Model 9mm with a satin nickel trigger. Interesting. Is this the correct trigger? Thanks, Bill

 

[tipoc]

"Is this the correct trigger?" It's not the original trigger, unless the fella took the trigger out, nickled it, than replaced it, which I suppose is possible. But no there was no run of factory blued guns that went out with nickle triggers.

tipoc

 

[Jim Watson]

Sorry, tipoc, early Mk IV Series 70 Colts had satin nickel triggers on blue guns; along with sandblasted walnut grips and large "billboard" roll markings. Later guns had blue triggers, checkered grips, and smaller markings. About half and half or thereabouts.

What about the roll marks and grips on yours ZBill?

 

[ZBill]

Here is a picture.

Checkered grips, satin nickle trigger, larger roll marks. Dates to 1979 on Proofhouse. Thank you for the input, what a great source of information. Bill

 

[Jim Watson]

Your grips may have been replaced or Colt may have been in a transition period on the cosmetics. I do not have a reliable source from the period to be sure which. The early S70 sandblasted grips were not pretty to start with and did not wear well, so you are just as well off except for the minutae of collecting. The nickel trigger and large roll marks do match, however.

 

[ZBill]

Thanks Jim

I could not figure why the trigger would have been swapped, but you never know. Odd that I have a satin nickle .45 Series 70 with a blued trigger and a blued 9mm Series 70 with the satin nickel trigger. Any thoughts why Colt would have done that? Thanks for the information, Bill

 

[bannockburn]

I looked through a number of old gun magazines from the '70's and every one of them which had a Colt ad or a test piece done on a Colt Series 70, show the blued gun with the nickel trigger. Somewhere in the mid to late '70's, they replaced the sand blasted grips with the checkered pattern. I also recall some Government models which were satin nickel but had triggers, safeties, and slide stops all having a blued finish. They also had the early model Pachmayr grips with the pronounced lip at the bottom. Commanders usually were finished all the same; blued guns were all blue, satin nickel were all satin nickel.

 

[tipoc]

My bad, and I learned something. Thanks for the correction.

Below are two diffrent types of nickel GMs from the seventies, the rear sight on the satin nickel has been swapped, and the grips sre not stock, but other than that as they came from Colt.

tipoc

 

[bannockburn]

tipoc

I had a couple of bright nickel Colt 1911's, one a BB model, the other a Series 70. They almost always were all one finish, i.e. nickel. That is until they came out with the satin nickel Government model. Why they put all those blued parts on there I don't know; I thought it looked a little unusual. At the time I thought they offered the satin nickel finish to offset the fact that they didn't have any stainless steel models yet.

 

[ZBill]

please educate me

I get the impression that the satin nickel finish was a cost saving measure replacing the bright nickel finish. Is that correct? Which finiish has proved more durable over time in a working pistol? Thanks, Bill

 

[tipoc]

I get the impression that the satin nickel finish was a cost saving measure replacing the bright nickel finish. Is that correct?

That may be true in part. For a number of years both were produced side by side till stainless guns were produced. We are also speaking of two different methods of coating a gun. As some one above said the Commanders were generally offered in the matte nickel and the bright nickel Commanders are a bit rarer as I recall it. From what I've read the polishing for the bright nickel was a bit more exacting than for the satin. So it may have saved a bit of money there. But I'm not sure that Colt "replaced" the one with the other in order to save money. If the polished was the better seller they'd likely just charge a bit more for it. I could speculate but I don't know the facts of it.

As to durability, Since the job of a finish is to prevent the base steel from rusting both types of nickel could do the job if not abused. I've seen well worn versions of both. As they wear they can both get a bit rough looking. If the shooter tried Hoppes #9 on the nickel the bright would flake off, look bad and no longer do it's job. It's a matter of taste whether someone likes the worn look of one over the other. My impression is that the satin stood up to scratches better.

tipoc

 

[Jim Watson]

I know those satin nickel Combat Commanders, which were so common when the model was new, look like the proverbial dog's breakfast with even a little use. The plating doesn't have to be worn off, just ingrained with dirt in the texture of the blasted surface. Ick.