Hello,
I want to buy the Colt 1911 70 series but I am worried about what I could be missing if I pass on 2000-3000ish custom versions like STI, Infinity, etc.
Are custom builds a noticeable improvement over the classic 1911?
Kind regards.
Is this your first 1911? If it is, I think you should stick with the Series 70 (repro?). It will more than likely suit your needs at the moment, and it will give you some familiarity with the design. It will also let you decide what things you like and what things you want to change and ultimately if you even like 1911s. At that point you can always send it to a custom smith, and they can rebuild/upgrade it to your specs.
A couple years ago, I was on the verge of purchasing a beautiful Nighthawk Custom Heine Government Model 1911 for nearly $3000 from a local dealer. After long consideration, I purchased 2 new Colt 70 series repros, one stainless, one blued, a bunch of Wilson Combat mags, and a few thousand rounds of ball ammunition to practice with. I shoot the hell out of the stainless model and leave the blued model alone. I have never looked back.
Plus, for not much more, and if I ever get tired of the webbing of my hand getting chewed up, I can always send the 1911’s back to Colt for the O package upgrade.
Although I forgot to mention that there has been one bad side to my decision, I’m a Colt fanboy now.
The first two responses are spot on. Not to be glib, but basically if you don’t know the difference already, don’t waste your hard earned money on the more expensive gun. A stock Colt is a great place to start, and will provide you with not only a good baseline to form opinions about the 1911 and what additional features you may or may not want (or if you even like the design at all), but it will also form a very solid foundation to build a nicer custom gun down the road if you so chose. If at some point you get tired of it and “don’t get” the 1911, you should have little trouble selling a clean Series 70 repro.
Not to beat the automobile analogy to death, but a high-end (custom/semi-custom) 1911 is the Ferrari of fighting pistols----------top performance and handling but requires more maintenance, operator knowledge/experience and a pocket full of cash. Ask yourself if a Ferrari should be your first car.
Very good question. I presently have six Colts. Two fully customized by very respected smiths, two had five or so items done by respected smiths and two were barely touched. It seems that the quality coming out of the Colt factory is so good these days that you would do well to take a series 70 and shoot it as is except to possibly do the mods that might make your shooting more efficient like an ambi saftey if you are a
lefty or to add your preferred sight set-up. I normally get an ambi safety and a reliability job (has to be a very reputable gunsmith) and black out the rear sight and add a bead or white dot w/Trijicon up front.
My six or eight month old Lightweight Government Model has been extremely accurate so I would never even need to have a bushing fitted on it and am totally happy with my reliability job and gold bead.
It did a number on the web of my hand with the stock wood grips so I actually stuck an old Hogue finger groove type grip that was sitting around on the gun and it tamed it and made it shoot way better.
As much as I love my full custom Colts, I would be satisfied with my more basic Colts if I needed to, say for financial reasons.
After the basic few mods that you may feel you need, I think what a full custom job from a top smith should be all about is to enhance the long and short term reliability by upgrading parts and the bling and accuracy enhancements are secondary.
I shoot a lot and take my concealed carry very seriously. Colt gives you a good gun with good parts right from the factory, so, over the years I have become more confident in my minimally modified Colts but the extra money that I spent on some of my guns does give me a bit more of a warm fuzzy.
I have also owned:
Springfield Custom, Les Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk, STI, and DoubleStar 1911s. Of these, the only gun that had no issues was the Springfield Pro.
If I could do it all over, I would have all of my Colts with the same level of mods on them as I have on them now, and my Springfield Pro.
All of the other brands were a disappointment and way overpriced for what I got. Actually the DoubleStar rail gun was a good value with excellent parts but it did need a reliability job form my local smith.
He even liked the quality of the components on it.
Enjoy a Series 70 as is or with minimal mods to it and then you can always fully customize it later.
If I were really tight for money and this was to be a duty gun, the Colt
would be my first choice for a factory gun that I would be comfortable with. I would, as minimum, still get a reliability job and change any parts that my gunsmith would recommend changing for enhancing reliability.
If it is a duty gun and you could afford it, a well modified Colt or a Springfield Custom Shop gun would be a wise choice, in my opinion.
What do you miss? Very little for most people. Get the Colt.
Thanks all for your replies. The gun will be a kind of range/collection gun just for fun. No intention to shoot nobody. 
Simple answer, Yes. But that holds true with almost anything you throw money at. WILL YOU be able to tell the difference is an entirely different question.
V/r
Uglyguns
Then get whatever fits your “collection” or accumulation.
This is kind of a loaded question, with any gun, but even more so with a 1911. Many “purist” or, as I call them, fat old bald guys, abhor any changes from what Colt put out in 1943, or at most what Col Cooper pontificated about as “necessary”.
Only you can really decide what you “need” or want in your gun.
I’ve had 1911’s ranging from a 1943 Remington Rand, to an older comp gun, with various states of modification in between.
For me, I would “miss”
High vis sights
High ride grip safety
Larger thumb safety
Magwell
Light rail
Ext. mag release
Gunner Grips
That’s on a Colt, where the small parts and build quality, are generally very good. On cheaper or other brand guns, where cost saving materials are used, or manufacturing steps are skipped, I may miss even more.
I have no use for a “classic” style gun anymore, never really did, I suppose.
I good friend of mine talks about his brother, who shot a bone stock, Colt series 70, from the 70’s, forever. He struggled and never really shot well. But always dismissed my friends Series 1 Kimbers, as unneeded fluff or “bling” as many old timers call it. Until, he shot it, it was like a light bulb goin off.
Of course, my friend dismissed Wilsons as no better then his Kimbers, until he shot one, and bought two.
Any off the shelf 1911 is going to be a compromise of sorts. Even basic guns will lock you into things like slide serration style’s. In between guns, will lock you into even more.
I think the Colt Rail gun and Springfield MC Operator offer a good compromise of features, quality and price. They also allow you to build on a quality gun as funds become available.
Of course if you have the money, you cant really go wrong with a Wilson, Baer, Nighthawk, etc
The 1911 world is very broad, complicated and multi faceted, there is no easy answer.
Bob
R Moran’s post was more thorough than mine, but pretty spot on.
I have been known to buy Series 70 Repros from Colt, vacuum seal them, then toss them in the safe. Why? Because they’re the perfect guns to customize. Why let STI or any other company decide what features your gun is going to have? Shoot the hell out of it, note what modifications would suit your shooting style, then send it off to a custom gunsmith to have it rebuilt to your specs.
Finally ordered the O1970A1CS.
Awesome! I’m sure you’re going to enjoy it a lot.
Excellent post!:big_boss:
Smart man. For your current needs, I don’t think you could have done any better. Great platform for future customization too.