Price Check: Mid-Eighties Colt Officer Model 1911

[Joe_Pike]

I had a guy offer to sell me a mid-eighties Colt Officer 1911 today and, so far, can't make up my mind about it. It has what looks to be a parkerized finish and standard Colt grips. The finish is pretty good except for the front strap. It has wear like maybe someone was shooting it with a ring on their finger and it also has a small idiot scratch. It has the original box and two magazines that he has added floor plate bumpers to (he says they were made for Colt mags).

Anyway, he wants $700 for it. I looked on Gunbroker and found mostly stainless or lightweight Officer models that had been sold. For no good reason I'm feeling like $700 may be about top dollar for this particular gun but don't have much to base that on. If it were a Commander I would probably go ahead and buy it or if I thought this was a deal too good to walk away from I would jump on it.

So, is my intuition about right? Is $700 about what this thing should bring?

 

[WC145]

I'd want it in the $600-$650 range but only if it is unmodified and relatively unworn. If he's the original owner and can give you all of it's history that helps, having the box and stuff is a bit of a bonus but I wouldn't pay more for it.

 

[Joe_Pike]

He is the original owner and it does appear to be unmodified (except for the bumpers on the floor plates). He claims to have carried it some but shot it only to qualify (ex-law enforcement).

 

[mikejonestkd]

I'd ask to test fire it before buying- the mid 1980s were a pretty shaky period for Colt- a labor strike, management issues and serious quality problems.

If it is reliable then its worth in the $650- $700 range around here.

 

[TimW77]

"I'd ask to test fire it before buying- the mid 1980s were a pretty shaky period for Colt- a labor strike, management issues and serious quality problems."

Although I love Colts, the "Officers Model" has a very bad reputation...

Maybe why Colt remamed it the "Defender"... After fixing the problems?

About two years ago a friend tried to sell his at a gun show. Not a single dealer was interested at any price!

I didn't want it either but to stop his whining and after he gave me several boxes of holsters, duty belts and other equipment and more, I gave him $225 or $250 for everything...

T.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

in 2006 I paid $654 for a Mark IV Officers ACP in "good" to "very good" condition, and I was very satisfied with my purchase. $700 nine years later doesn't sound like a bad deal.

Although I love Colts, the "Officers Model" has a very bad reputation...

Maybe why Colt remamed it the "Defender"... After fixing the problems?

Only people looking to denigrate the Officers ACP complain about it. Several years ago I was visiting a friend in another state and we went shooting. We each brought a couple or three different handguns. One that he brought was a Mark IV Officers ACP. He let me try it, and it was love at first shot. I started looking for an Officers ACP as soon as I got home from that visit.

My friend reloads, because he shoots a LOT, He also isn't shy about his reloads -- they are "stout." He told me that he used to go home at lunch every day and run 50 to 100 rounds through that Officers. His guesstimate was that it had probably 10,000 rounds through it, and it ran like a Swiss watch. He wouldn't sell it then, and he still has it.

I don't carry my Officers ACP, because it's too nice. I picked up an M1991A1 Compact (same pistol in a plain wrapper), and that's one of my two primary carry pistols. I have zero worries about its reliability.

Colt didn't rename it "Defender." The Defender is a completely different pistol, with a different recoil system and a different size slide and barrel.

P.S.: The Colt Officers Model was a revolver.

 

[damienph]

I agree that $700 is a fair price. My "Officer" sized 1911 is not a Colt but a Springfield Armory Ultra Compact. I heard all kinds of bad stuff about them, specifically that every 1911 with a barrel under 4" has reliability issues. I have Pre-Series II Kimber Custom, Colt Series 80 Gov't, and a 1954 Colt Commander. My Ultra Compact gets shot more than the three of them combined, and is very accurate and reliable.
I think you should give that Officer a try.

 

[hoghunting]

I had a guy offer to sell me a mid-eighties Colt Officer 1911 today and, so far, can't make up my mind about it. It has what looks to be a parkerized finish and standard Colt grips

With the parkerized finish it sounds like the 1991 Officers model. Colt cranked out the 1991 models as a less expensive alternative to polishing and bluing, and it was also available in a bead blasted stainless steel. He might be wrong on the mid-eighties.

 

[RickB]

The Officers ACP model was introduced in 1985, so "mid-'80s" is a possibility.
If it is a "1991" compact model, then mid-'90s is closer to the mark.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

If it's the "1991" model, it won't say Officers ACP anywhere on it. The rollmark of the slide will be in large, ugly letters and it will read "M1991A1" and the right side will read "Compact Model."

 

[Joe_Pike]

Well, I didn't buy it Saturday. The guy lives in another town, so, it's not convenient to go look at it. He claimed it was from the mid-eighties and was a purchase he made while he was in law enforcement, so, I was just going by what he said. I didn't look at the serial number to get the exact year.

 

[rock185]

Two acquaintances had those. One stainless, one matte blue. Both Jammamatics. Due to this I know I'm a bit biased against this particular model, but I know I would not pay that for a used Officers/Compact. Especially with no way to know if it functions reliably or not, other than possibly the seller's assurance.....ymmv

 

[JDBerg]

This setup will save you a lot of trouble with a Colt Officers 1911;

http://www.egwguns.com/index.php?p=product&id=80

 

[michael t]

Although I love Colts, the "Officers Model" has a very bad reputation...

Maybe why Colt remamed it the "Defender"... After fixing the problems?

Really My Colt Blue officer has been reliable since day one. I still have the famous shooting plug in mine . Is in my carry rotation '

As stated in another post Defender is a completely different pistol. Mine is also in carry .

2 totally different models . Have you owned either one ?

 

[rodfac]

A friend of ours (a parole officer here in Louisville) has had one for 6-7 years now and fires it regularly on our farm range...in fact he uses my Dillon 550B to keep himself in practice ammunition for the most part.

His personal Officers Model, a stainless steel one, is one fine pistol...absolutely reliable here on our home range with everything from his duty JHP loads through our hardball, and truncated lead alloy wadcutter handloads. I've done as well with it at combat ranges out to 15 yds as I've ever done with my full length and commander length .45's. It fits me, shoots well and is stock in every respect.

For those that condemn all pistols of a certain make or model, I'd add that all guns, and pistols especially, are individuals...ya gotta judge them as individuals...and this one that I have some experience with, is a gem.

Best Regards, Rod

 

[WC145]

Although I love Colts, the "Officers Model" has a very bad reputation...

I have no idea what bad reputation you're taking about. The only nagging issue the gun was the recoil spring plug, which a lot of people feel has been blown out of proportion by interweb chatter. There were complaints about recoil spring life early on but these days everybody pretty much understands that short recoil spring life is the nature of short 1911s.

Well, I didn't buy it Saturday. The guy lives in another town, so, it's not convenient to go look at it. He claimed it was from the mid-eighties and was a purchase he made while he was in law enforcement, so, I was just going by what he said. I didn't look at the serial number to get the exact year.

Huh. I think I would have least worked something out to take a look at it, who knows, you might have been able to work a deal on what might have turned out to be a really good gun.

 

[roadrash]

If I had the money in my pocket and It was in decent condition ,I would buy it.

 

[Joe_Pike]

Huh. I think I would have least worked something out to take a look at it, who knows, you might have been able to work a deal on what might have turned out to be a really good gun.

I looked at it once when he was in town but didn't get the serial number to nail down the date. The finish was also different than what I was expecting compared to my Combat Commander. Oh well, you can't buy them all.

 

[TimW77]

"Only people looking to denigrate the Officers ACP complain about it."

Come on guys try comprehending what was written, not just what you thought was said. I'm a huge fan of Colts, read my words! Elsewhere I've mentioned that I have carried a Colt on duty and off for over 35 years. Why would I denegrade the Officers?


"Colt didn't rename it "Defender." The Defender is a completely different pistol, with a different recoil system and a different size slide and barrel."

Do you understand the word "MAYBE"? Didn't claim it was. But, from what I read many years ago, the Defender was originally going to be a light weight version of the Officers. Again, according to what I read, by the time Colt fixed all the problems with the Officers, it turned into a very different gun. And, by that time the Officers reputation was not very good. So bad, maybe they thought they needed a new name for it... Which the new pistol had...


"P.S.: The Colt Officers Model was a revolver."

Funny, this is a semi-auto forum, mine is a semi-auto. Maybe that was the problem, everyone was trying to load magazines into their revolvers.

Here is a description for you, "The Colt Officer's ACP or Colt Officer's Model is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun based on the John M. Browning designed M1911. It was introduced in 1985 as a response from Colt to numerous aftermarket companies making smaller versions of the M1911 pistol."


"Really My Colt Blue officer has been reliable since day one. I still have the famous shooting plug in mine..."

michael t, Have you ever heard that "no 2 guns are alike"? As good as their products are, maybe that is why Colts has a Customer Service department like everyone else... Yours was good, mine was good but obviously many were not...

"2 totally different models . Have you owned either one?"

No, have not owned either but I've owned BOTH...
And Commanders and Government Models and Gold Cups in .45, 10mm, .40 and 9X19mm and an .22LR Ace and a "Conversion Unit"...

And, lets not forget the revolvers... Trooper Mk3s and Mk5s and King Cobras and a Diamondback and a Viper and a Cobra...

Almost forgot a Mustang...


"I have no idea what bad reputation you're taking about."

WC145, that is obvious, perhaps more reading and taking notes would help...
The following was said on another site...

"Although praised for its compact size, the Colt Officer's ACP has drawn criticism for being finicky with ammunition and..." THEIR WORDS, NOT mine but this goes along with what I can remember about the Colt Officers Model...

T.

 

[Nanuk]

I had a Colt OM that I bought when they first came out 1985 or 1986 I think. I could never get it to run with anything but hardball. After 20 years of playing with recoil springs, magazines and different loads I sold it.

The Armscore version runs better and cost almost 1/2 as much.