The Colt Competition Plus model and I did not get off to the greatest of starts. During the pre-shooting inspection when I disassembled the gun for inspection and lubrication. After scrubbing and lubricating the slide and frame rails, I reinstalled the slide onto the frame to hand cycle the slide a few times to better distribute the lube. There’s a tight spot that inhibits the slide’s movement. It’s not so tight that it wouldn’t work, but tight enough to possibly impede the slide’s velocity, and that can cause a number of cycling maladies.
Colt uses a Series 70 stainless steel lower on this gun. It is outfit with a strong-side-only extended thumb safety, a high sweep beavertail grip safety and the frame is undercut at the juncture of the triggerguard and frontstrap. It has well-executed 30-lpi checkering on its frontstrap and mainspring housing. The carbon steel, blued slide has a lowered and flared ejection port and a fluorescent front sight. The rear sight is low profile and can be drifted in its dovetail for windage. This particular sight is also adjustable for elevation, which is a handy feature for competitors that might use a handload for practice and jacketed ammo for a big match.
Advertisement — Continue Reading Below
What I found when firing the Colt Competition Plus was some failures for the slide to go into battery on the first three magazines. After that, the gun loosened up and I was able to fire another couple hundred rounds without any sort of failures. Accuracy was better than average, and I did like the sights on the gun. The fluorescent front sight was absolutely brilliant in the bright Arizona sun! Trigger pull was manageable at 4.25 pounds. The upshot is that the Competition Plus does possess most of the features that competitors and concealed carriers look for in a 1911.
