Colt series 80 MkIV

[burrhead]

Sometime in the '80s I bought a new series 80 Colt GM with MkIV rollmarked on the slide. I have
ever since thought that MkIVs were all series 80's but it recently come to my attention that at
least some series 70's are also marked MkIV. Just what denotes a MkIV? Are the Series 70 MkIVs
transition models? TIA

 

[Jim Watson]

No.
Mk IV Series 70 was the original designation in 1970.
The S70 guns had the collet bushing and cosmetic changes from earlier G.M.s. Colt was just in a "Mk" phase and fad of model designations, and that not very consistent. There was the Trooper Mk III revolver of 1969. But I guess their ad man forgot they had used Mk III on the .38 Special Gold Cup of about 1962. And I don't recall a Colt Mk II anything. Anybody else?

The Series 80 introduced the firing pin block in 1983, not 1980. They stayed with the collet bushing for a while, which may have been the basis for staying with the Mk IV designation - they upgraded the Trooper to Mk V somewhere in there - but, starting with the 10mm, went back to the solid bushing.

Very little rhyme or reason I can tell. Maybe a real Colt scholar will be able to make sense of it.

 

[riverdog]

Mark IV is supposedly in honor of "Mark Ivey" a former Colt employee. It was on both my Series 70 GM's and is on my Series 80 Officers Model, two different guns with very different design features. Other than sharing the basic Browning design,the only thing they have in common is caliber ... and the Mark Ivey tribute.