Colt Defender Combat Elite Oooooooh yeah.

[57K]

Ghosthorse, that really is a good looking pistol. Colt ain't dead yet! Now, if they could only raise the money for CNC machines to make their revolvers!

[GhostHorse]

100 rounds in, and she's flawless! This pistol just feels sooo right. I haven't discussed the trigger; it's what I consider a perfect combat 1911 pistol. This is a series 80, so it has the firing pin block, but I don't feel it at all. It's going to stay. I've ordered some aftermarket grips.

Colt ain't dead yet!

They are doing great, if this pistol is any indication! I will admit the contrast in the finish level between this and my 90s Colt 1991 is pretty significant, but it's not really a fair comparison. This is a Combat Elite, and that was their basement economy 1911.

Now, if they could only raise the money for CNC machines to make their revolvers!

They are expanding the Cobra line, so I'm betting they are committed to revolvers. Which is great!

[BigBlue]

Congrats on your new Colt and on having a great Wife!

[230JHP]

Very nice. Congrats

[GhostHorse]

Well, dearly beloved and I went out shooting just now. She put 50 rounds through her Kimber Micro 380 - she's growing ever fonder of that pistol.

I put 125 through the Colt. It's now up to 225 rounds total. At about the 180 round mark, I tried out some JHPs. PMC Starfire. It fired all 25 of those with no malfunctions and very good accuracy. Here are 15 shot at 10 yards, about a shot every 2-3 seconds. Once again, the photo is rotated 90 degrees; if what's coming up were rotated 90 degrees clockwise, it would be correct. Also, the gun or I are hitting a bit to the right. I was aiming at the left edge of the circle to get these hits at 10 yards.



Now, here's the impressive part. I took ten of the JHPs and mixed them in a couple of magazines with some FMJ. It fired these mixed magazines flawlessly. I am very impressed by this.

Now, around round 205, I had a failure to extract. I bet a drop of oil or two would have prevented it, because a magazine or two before I started thinking about putting some oil on it, and realized I didn't bring any. And the round was a single I was firing off to get rid of it so I could then fire a full combat load of eight. I also fired several more trouble-free magazines after that one, some of them pretty rapid fire.

So, I remain highly impressed by and confident in this pistol. Particularly those mixed FMJ/JHP magazines. I am ready to start carrying this pistol. To apply the logic of my analysis documented in this thread https://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/f...0-exactly.html I look at the 200 proof rounds row. I have at least a 96.1% probability of firing all eight rounds without malfunction. The analysis was done for a particular bullet type, which isn't true in this case because most of the shots fired were with FMJ, but the mixed magazine test is (IMHO) more challenging, and it passed that test with flying colors. And each row of "n" shots assumes the "n+1" shot would have resulted in a malfunction, so the 200th line represents the 224 out of 225 real world results well.

Gad, this is a great pistol.

[jwc007]

Very very nice Colt Defender Combat Elite in .45 ACP you have there! Congratulations and may it serve you well!

[Tankercorps71]

Very nice indeed! I have been carrying the Colt Defender in .45ACP for the past 5 years and have put over 3,500 rounds through it with two failures to eject. I replaced the recoil spring mech. at 2,008 rounds and have had no further failures. I hope to reach 5,000 rounds before I have to replace the barrel. I have shot two other Colt Defenders and have found all three (mine included) to shoot to the right and down anywhere from 1 to 4 inches from POA at 15 yards. Now, I have very little problem producing 2" - 2 3/4" groups dead center at 15 yards.

[misPhyr]

Congrats on the nice looking and nice shooting heater.

[GhostHorse]

Glad to hear about your experience Tankercorps71! Did you adjust the sights to get those dead center hits?

I'm also glad to hear you got a couple of thousand rounds out of the first recoil spring assembly. I have read about 500 round intervals, which is pretty extreme.

[oso]

Very nice indeed! I have been carrying the Colt Defender in .45ACP for the past 5 years and have put over 3,500 rounds through it with two failures to eject. I replaced the recoil spring mech. at 2,008 rounds and have had no further failures. I hope to reach 5,000 rounds before I have to replace the barrel. I have shot two other Colt Defenders and have found all three (mine included) to shoot to the right and down anywhere from 1 to 4 inches from POA at 15 yards. Now, I have very little problem producing 2" - 2 3/4" groups dead center at 15 yards.

My Colt Defender was dead on out of the box, so I don't know if I was lucky or if you got one that the sights need adjusted. Why would you need to replace the barrel after only 5000 rds. ? Recoil springs, I don't replace the whole assembly just the springs which can be bought from wolff springs. Also I have only replaced them once at about the 2500 rd. count. If you do want to replace the assembly EGW sells one that looks pretty good for $50