1911 Gold Cup Barrel Fitting

[deltaenterprizes]

I have 3 Colt Series 70 Gold Cups in 45ACP that were submerged in nasty water for an extended period of time due to Hurricane Katrina that I am bringing back to life!
One of them has a stainless match barrels but two had the original blue barrels.
I was able to get a new drop in barrel from Midway but when I went to order the other one they were discontinued and Colt is unreachable.
I went on eBay and found what was supposed to be a drop in Gold Cup barrel but ended up being for a Government Model instead!
The only difference is that the hood is narrower on the Gold Cup barrel but I didn’t want to have to fit it.
Now that the weather has cooled off a bit I was able to get into my shops and get some work done.
I made a jig that holds the barrel square while marking and fitting the hood and it worked well and the lock up is tight!
The next thing was fitting the barrel to the bushing and it was tedious but it came out nice.
This may be an ugly duckling but it should be a good shooter!
I need to order an ambidextrous safety before I put it together to go shoot it and that is the next step!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Did you take some photos you'd like to share?

DG

[deltaenterprizes]

Did you take some photos you'd like to share?

DG

If you want to see ugly Gold Cup pictures I can email them to you but I don’t know how to post them on here!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I used to refinish metal (guns) so I might burst into tears at the sight of rusted Gold Cups. I was actually hoping that you had taken photos of the repair/re-fitting operations for the benefit of those members who may follow seeking guidance. Reference material.

So, having done all of these operations myself, I am (first thing) curious about how you fitted the new barrel to the bushing. I used to do it by coating the interior of the bushing with White Clover valve grinding compound, then inserting the barrel and turning it back and forth until eventually it slid through the bushing.

As for fitting the barrel hood to the slide, I'm just enough of a cave man to have done it by hand and eye with a sharp, small, triangular file, filing on only the hood, with repeated assemblies/dis-assemblies until it fit, thus observing the old rule to file only on the least expensive part.

Anyway, I applaud you for bringing back some fine pistols to usefulness. I'll bet that despite their looks, they will shoot well.

DG

[deltaenterprizes]

The barrel was a tight fit in the bushing so I colored the barrel and took a fine jeweler’s file and made a couple of passes around the circumference and when it got close I used cloth backed sandpaper to remove the last half thousandth.
It is still a tight fit but it will wear in when I start shooting it.
A friend had replaced the original bushing with a solid bushing so it was already fit to the slide.

[deltaenterprizes]

To fit the hood I used the I made to hold the lugs in the proper orientation and scribed a line with a razor blade to indicate how much metal needed to be removed.
I painted the hood with black marker so that I could easily see the mark.
I did like you and made a few passes with a fine file and checked the fit.
It did not take as long as I thought it would but it needs to be done slowly and when you will not be interrupted.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Nice going--always more than one way to skin a cat. Well, usually...

DG

[deltaenterprizes]

Nice going--always more than one way to skin a cat. Well, usually...

DG

I should have gone into the machine shop and done it in the lathe but my reloading room is air conditioned and the machine shop is not.

[turtlezx]

dang wasnt katrina 20 years ago ???

[deltaenterprizes]

dang wasnt katrina 20 years ago ???

Yes, it was! I went through medical issues that left me debilitated and in 2015 I got cured! I have been working on Remington 700 rebarreling and Mauser rebarreling!
A gunsmith had much of my collection until a year ago and I also moved!
Work and details as a Reserve Deputy take up time.
The triple digit temperatures prohibited me from working in the shops for several months!
I was avoiding this project until I was finished reading Kunhausen’s book on Colt 1911s also.

[deltaenterprizes]

I put the rest of the gun together and I am going to test fire it when I get time.
Everything is nice and tight! It should be a good shooter!

[Hahndorf1874]

Years ago I rebarreled my GC, wasn’t happy with the groups the factory shot, I used a Bar Sto with a solid bushing hand lapped.Went from a 3” to a solid 2” gun @ 50 mts.sometimes a little better.All testing done in my Ransom Rest. Cheers Mal in au.