Selling my Colt

D

doomonyou

Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
149
I have my Colt Defender for sale at a local gun shop. I paln to replace it with a different EDC pistol. I want a .40 or .45 cal. I am leaning to a Glock 27, but I am interested in the Kimber and Springfield Armory lines. Do any of you have any of the above guns? What can you tell me about the Kimber and Springfield. I am fimiliar with the Glocks.
 
I have several Colts and I just bought a Glock 27.

Of the model you have, and the Glock, I don't see the advantage of trading one for the other, unless you don't feel comfortable carrying 'cocked and locked.'

I can assure you, a Colt in good repair and checked periodically by a competent gunsmith, is every bit as reliable and safe as a double action of DAO automatic. It's just an older design. As for the calibre, I shoot and reload both the .45 ACP and the SW .40, and I keep a supply of Gold-Dots and Golden Sabers around for each pistol. They are terrific self defense rounds.

I admit, confidence is a big factor in carrying a pistol. If you doubt the Colt, send it to Terry Tussey for a reliability package.
 
What Tourist said! I wouldn't be too quick to sell that Colt. Don't get me wrong, I have a couple of Glocks, and SA's that are great shooters, but I love my Colt pistols. The Defender is on my wanted list.
 
Thanks for the responses. What is funny is that I have never fired the Colt. I bought it on an impulse on day a few years ago. It has set in its box in my gun safe ever since. I have never carried a 1911 so yes I need to learn to carry cocked and locked. I own a Glock 23 so I am fimiliar with the workings of the Glocks.
You don't hear much about the Colt Defender. Everyone says sell it, get a (insert popular .45 here). Can you give me info on how to get a hold of Terry Tussey.
Tourist, what do you think about the Glock 27?
 
Doom,

Just do a simple engine search on Tussey Custom. We go back +20 years. Tell him 'the insane Sicilian from Wisconsin' recommended him.

As for the Glock 27, I think it does everything that I need, and that it was designed to do. That's not a slap, it has to be the way it is.

The butt hits me in the middle of the palm, not the best fit, but it's a carry gun.

The sights are wide and coarse so you can pick them up when the panic sets in. You just put 'the ball in the bucket' and squeeze the trigger.

It takes down easy, it cleans easy, it holds nine in the mag plus one in the pipe and it comes with a spare mag--that's 19 shots of .40 to stop the aggressor. I like the number.
 
imho the glock compact series (19/23/32) and subcompacts (26/27/33) along with the polymer kahrs (P9,PM9, and the .40s) are the very best carry guns around, bar none.

light, easy to shoot, plenty accurate, reliable, whats not to like??

1911's are good also, but they do require a more advanced shooter, someone whos willing to learn the ins/outs of the things to work the best, safely, imho.

good luck

greg
 
I am really leaning towards a Glock 27. I don't know what it is but I am not real partial to my Colt. I don't know why this is.
 
Doom,

I don't know how much you like to travel, but you might consider this. (First, there's no reason you can't have both.)

However, if you're traveling through a smaller town, or some of the areas I go to in South Dakota, and something breaks or you run out of ammo, it's a good bet that the smaller gun shops and hardware stores will have parts, springs and ammo for a 1911. Their gunsmith is probably better versed at repairing a Colt or clone, as well.

(The last time I went, I took three rifles. A simple fall can damage a scope or bent up a rifle action. Vacation over.)

Give the 1911 a chance. It has been the standard of all other firearms for 100 years. That doesn't happen by chance. My Colt Enhanced has fired over 5,000 shots of commercial and handloaded ammo without a stoppage. Other than my Ruger 22/45, I shoot it the most, and you are in trouble if I can reach it!

So why did I buy the Glock. Simple. Size, a large backlog of .40 combat ammo, the 'sweat' factor, ease of my left-handed wife to shoot in an emergency and the 'abuse factor.' A carry gun is going to get dinged. Right now, it's easier to watch a Glock get beat up than one of my beloved Colts.

Of course, that's now.
 
Glock, Kahr.

Simple, Reliable.

Grab, squeeze, Bang, repeat, reload.

No funny rituals to learn. No squeeze this, sweep that, tickle over here. Be careful not to do that, or it might go off unexpectedly. Carrying a Colt is like adding another woman to your life. Who needs the complication?

If something funny happens and you have to save your life suddenly, you don't want to have to remember whether to foxtrot or tango. There's many different guns with similar, but slightly different manuals of arms, but Glocks and Kahrs keep it simple. Simple is good when the fecal matter hits the whirling multi bladed air moving device.

John
 
Get yourself a 1911. They're historic, beautiful (unlike some of the others mentioned here), they point naturally, and their single action triggers make them highly accurate.

Before you buy, go to a range that rents handguns and try the models you're considering.

I'm partial to Springfields. You can get them from about $400 to $2400. The two models I have cost $389 and $525. I would look next at Colts and Kimbers.

A good place for information on the 1911 handgun is at http://www.1911forum.com/.
 
Texian,

I'm a fan of the 1911, and sometimes I don't think we do service to the pistol in telling younger guys "it's historic," or "tried and true," or like the mistake I made, referring to its 100 years of service.

As I've quoted Colonel Cooper, "Just because something is old doesn't mean it isn't good." However, in this day and age 6 month old software is from 'the stone age.'

One thing I forget to remind younger guys is that a lot of research was done on the calibre and the pistol during the early 1900's. I don't know of any other similar research than the Thompson-LeGuard trials (I might have spelled that incorrectly).

And the cartridge was built correctly; find out what payload you want to shoot, and THEN design a gun to shoot it. This is unlike the Luger, which was built and used, found wanting, and then re-barreled to largest cartridge it could take, the 9mmx19.

All people hear is 'old.' I remind them that V-8 Fords come from the 1930's, technology an eyelash away from the current Cobra.
 
I understand that there are a lot of military types with "new" 9mm handguns who would give almost anything for an "old" 1911 .45. Units that can switch back are doing it.

I kind of like the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
 
I won't get into the 9mm Para/Luger versus 45ACP debate as there is a ton of caliber bashing you can do on both sides. Both are good cartridges when loaded appropriately.

Regarding the 1911 series, depending on your pricepoint, I would consider buying a production custom. I don't personally like Colt for personal reasons related to management (and pandering to the anti-gun crowd who blame the everyone and everything but, the idiot who used it with ill intent). I also don't like the mod's to the series 80 mechanisms and the abortion they performed on the AR-15's so they could be sole source on over priced parts. I don't like the Springfield two piece barrels and the new key lock they use on their standard pistols.

Once you start talking about reliability packages to a stock pistol, I start thinking of Rock River and Les Baer. The Springfield and Kimber custom shops build good pistols too but, for that kind of money I will take the psuedo-custom approach of Rock River or Les Baer.

For when the fecal matter hits the fan, I will take a Glock everytime. It's not that the other pistols are bad choices, they are just not the best choice for me. Absolute reliability under severe use conditions has won me over. It's not a beauty contest after all. My concealed carry in Texas was a Glock model 20 - yes a 10mm cannon for the indecisive - heavy and slow or light and fast or both ;).

If I wanted a small carry pistol for when the fecal matter hits the fan, it would be a Glock 33. It is a proven round in use by law enforcement with realistic street results to back it up as a good choice for civilian street carry.

In the end, a pistol you believe in that you can use effectively is the best choice. A solid consistent performance from a Walther PPK in 32ACP is better then anything else on the planet if that is the one pistol YOU can use effectively under stress. Whether its an ice pick, carelessly driving a car, a pocket knife, a screwdriver or, something else - dead is dead when you use the tool with such intent.
 
I think you hit the mark saying 'properly loaded.' I have a Colt Government .380 ACP loaded with Gold Dots. You may be Mr. Huge at your local gym, but you won't walk away from that little giant killer. To be sure, placement is a factor, and this little custom puts 'em where I want 'em. ;)

More than anything it's confidence, and you've raised some valid points. I did see ONE two-piece barrel come apart. Not on the range, but when my friend took the gun apart for cleaning. I didn't even know they made such a thing until I saw it pull apart. Tussey put a Bar-Sto into the pistol as a replacement. That was nine years ago.

Pistols have improved so much over the past ten years that it amazes me. Although my 1978 double column SW 59 never studdered so much as one round, many did. My late model SW 4516-3 eats everything; I think it would feed cartridges backward.

Buy carefully. Clean them. Monitor their condition. Feed them clean, well made ammo. Oil appropriately. Practice.
 
Buy carefully. Clean them. Monitor their condition. Feed them clean, well made ammo. Oil appropriately.
Click to expand...

There you go with all those rituals again. I certainly believe in a clean gun when possible, but in the real world sometimes things happen at just the wrong moment, or a mag gets dropped in the dirt. Even if that happens, I want the bang to occur immediately when I squeeze the trigger. Winner again: Glock.

I'll concede that a fully prepped and comped 1911 race gun carried cocked and locked might be slightly quicker in the right hands in a match, but when the chips are down, gimme my Glock. We don't even have to get into the whole caliber issue as my preban (13&1 .45ACP) model 21 topped with Trijicon night sights and stuffed full of Hydra-Shoks will trump your 1911 all night long. It aint pretty, but we're not talking about a beauty contest here.

Then there's my favorite little gun, my Kahr P9. Stoked with +P 9mm fodder, it's the size of your little .380 (wait, maybe even smaller), but with a lot more wallop and the same manual of arms as my Glock. Nothing else to remember: Grab, Squeeze, Bang! The Kahrs have also garnered a pretty good relutation for reliability too.

1911s are certainly nice guns, I might even get one some day for fun, but in my mind it will always play second fiddle to the Glock as a defensive weapon.

John
 
Jmxcpter,

Of course, the life of a defense gun really is harsh. I've seen LEO revolvers that look like they got whacked by the steering wheel everytime the officer got out of the squad car. Surprising, many gunsmiths tell me that the action and bore of these firearms is quite nice upon trade in.

Mud, snow, rain and sweat are a reality, and of course, an immediate cleaning may not be possible. But I figure it this way. If my life might be on the line, it might be a good idea to check the bore periodically for obstructions, sort combat ammo for obvious dings, clean and lubricate when possible and get a revolver to a gunsmith at the first sign of a timing issue.

To be of value, a combat gun must be with you, at least nearby in a gun case. It does no good in a climate controlled drawer at your home. What I'm advising is service much like is needed with any 'hard use' implement, even a 4-wheeler. The harder you bang on something, the more it needs periodic service.
 
It was only a little toungue-in-cheek ball bustin. Relax. I believe in a regular regimen of maintainance like any sensible person.

I like my knives clean, sharp and well lubed where applicable and my guns clean, well lubed and loaded with fresh ammunition.

Our views are not that disparate, you even bought a Glock.

John
 
Jmxcpter,

Understood. I know your stuff. And like I've said many times, if you disagree with me, say so on point. It's the stuff of a good debate.:)

And I also realize that some handguns might require a more intensive maintenance schedule. I once fell in love with a 4-inch, nickel plated 'fitting room' Colt Python in .357 Magnum. (In those days, a more knowledgible gunsmith built those guns so ear-marked, and stamped his initials on the left side of the gun where the rear of the trigger guard meets the grip frame.)

I never loaded it hot. About the worst I ever did was a 158 grain lino bullet an a 3/4 max measure of Blue Dot. Consider it a +P .38 SPL loaded into a .357 case.

After about 1,000 rounds, it would spit lead from a timing problem, and it needed to go back to the shop.

Contrary, I hear Gaston Glock has one of the original Model 17's with over 100,000 rounds of 9mmx19 through it. Reports say that the group size is 'loosening up' a bit, but it is still running.

Obviously, the maintenance schedule for a Python and a Glock are different. But LEOs carry both of these guns for duty.

Jmxcpter, that's the point I wanted to make. Sorry.
 
Whatever you do DONT sell the Colt - unless its too me of course :) Really the older Colts are great and as good as Glocks are nothing beats a Colt .45 in my book. I have 3 G.I. Issue Colts and 5 series 70 and growing. They are great guns stock and if you send them off to Tussey or another top notch smith then they can not be beat - IMHO

Simon
 
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