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  1. #1
    Member Miami_JBT's Avatar
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    Cool Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    I carried a GLOCK for fifteen years as a cop and in the end, since I've hanged up the badge. I've dug into the back of my safe and pulled out some classic beauties that just scream Americana and quality craftsmanship.





    My Colt MKIV Series 80 Government Model (made in 1984) and Smith & Wesson Model 586 (made in 1982).


    The Colt Series 80 is loved by some and hated by many. I happen to be in the loved by some category.





    The Prancing Pony made the gun "drop safe", but many target shooters disliked the additional bits and friction the firing pin block added to the design and trigger pull. Well, Massad Ayoob shared my thoughts on the matter back in 1990. He stated "the box-stock Government is a combat pistol"; he was referring to the MKIV Series 80 Government Model. I agree with him, the MKIV Series 80 is a combat pistol meant for the two-way range, not a target shooter meant for shooting paper on a one-way range.


    My Colt has been spruced up a bit. It has a Wilson Combat checkered front strap, trigger, and two-piece full length guide rod along with a set of three-dot sights installed by Miami area gunsmith, Somarriba. Prior to me getting my grubby paws on it, it was my Father's and it served him well as a off-duty carry piece in the mid to late 1980s.





    The Smith & Wesson L-Frame line of revolver though, never had a love hate relationship with shooters. The gun has been loved since the moment it was released in 1980 and it continues to be produced to this day. It took everything that was great from the K-Frame and N-Frame and mated it into the right size.





    The gun was sent off to the mothership due to a recall. The original no dash models suffered from primer flow back into the firing pin bushing with some hot 125 grain Remington loads and that would lock up the gun. As such, Big Blue replaced the firing pin bushing with a smaller hole and the hammer nose with a smaller one made for the smaller hole in the bushing.


    While it was there, the Performance Center slicked up the internals. This gun is slicker than whale snot. She's very controllable while shooting 125gr .357 Magnum loads. Recoil is very manageable and follow-up shots are no problem.


    The Colt is also a very controllable shooter too. .45 ACP is no joke and is a hell of a round. Yes, 9x19mm is fabulous and I finished my LE career carrying a Gen 4 G17. But .45 ACP can do some fun things in a 1911. The usual load I carry isn't a 230gr JHP, it is a .255gr SWC.





    Both have had their factory stocks replaced. The wheel gun wears a pair of Herrett's Shooting Star stocks and the slab side wears a pair of Colt OEM Rosewood grips meant for a XSE Model.











    In the end, these guns are still great self-defense platforms when they're well maintained. These are guns you have to maintain like a sports car, not like a beater econo-box four-banger. If you treat your vehicle like your lawnmower. Then a GLOCK is for you, not these guns. But if you can properly maintain them, they'll do their job.
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    Wow such beauty's...
    I am definitely a fan of the 1911

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  3. #3
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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    That S&W looks so bad ass.


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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    Great write-up. I particularly like the quote from Ayoob re the series 80 being a combat pistol. I think that those of interested in guns sometimes err on the side of sport focused features when it comes to our fighting guns.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    Quote Originally Posted by oafpatroll View Post
    Great write-up. I particularly like the quote from Ayoob re the series 80 being a combat pistol. I think that those of interested in guns sometimes err on the side of sport focused features when it comes to our fighting guns.
    Except the 1911, and 1911A1 were... combat guns. Without the added safeties and they appear to have worked just fine in combat. Heck even the M45, and M45A1 are both series 70 based guns, aka no added safeties.

    Also the gun is designed with the half cock notch as the drop safety, which it does a great job at unless bubba did a trigger job.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    Quote Originally Posted by Stevin View Post
    Except the 1911, and 1911A1 were... combat guns. Without the added safeties and they appear to have worked just fine in combat. Heck even the M45, and M45A1 are both series 70 based guns, aka no added safeties.

    Also the gun is designed with the half cock notch as the drop safety, which it does a great job at unless bubba did a trigger job.
    I hear you. Plenty people fell to 1911's in combat before they went series 80. I don't think that was Ayoob's point though. What I understand it to mean is that dumping on it due to it have a less excellent trigger doesn't invalidate it a tool for combat.

  7. #7
    Member Miami_JBT's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tired of Polymer and Kydex, back to carrying Blued Steel and Wood in Leather

    Quote Originally Posted by oafpatroll View Post
    I hear you. Plenty people fell to 1911's in combat before they went series 80. I don't think that was Ayoob's point though. What I understand it to mean is that dumping on it due to it have a less excellent trigger doesn't invalidate it a tool for combat.
    Bingo

    People scoffed at the Series 80 because it wasn't a Series 70. Yes, 1911s prior to the Series 80 were combat pistols too. But the Series 80 made them BETTER combat pistols. No different than when Bug Blue improved hammer block in the original M&P line in 1945 after a US sailor was killed by a loaded revolver discharging when accidentally dropped onto a steel deck.

    It made the M&P better just as the Series 80 modification made the 1911 better.
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