The Colt Series 70 once referred to Colt .45 ACP semi-automatics made in the 1970s. But now Series 70 can also refer to more recent reproduction guns. The fundamentals are the same as the original: nice looking, blued, reliable, and while not overly feature-rich, having most anything many people would want right out of the box.

The gun’s checklist tenders few surprises. So this is a full size single-action Government .45 ACP with a 5” long barrel. Overall length is 8.5”. Capacity is 7+1.

The sights are non-adjustable and there’s a spur hammer and a tight group of narrow vertical serrations in back.

The beavertail safety grip is medium length while the thumb safety and slide stop are beveled. The grips are classic and traditional double-diamonds. This means they are made of rich wood with long dark grains and diamond checkering. They also have the arrowhead (“diamond”) flat-head screw surrounds.

So how does the Series 70 compare to the Series 80 that followed with some refinements in the 1980s? First, the Series 70 architecture confers a slightly swelled mainspring housing. It also has the Series 70 firing system, meaning it lacks a firing safety pin that exists in the Series 80s, etc. [Firing safety pins prevent discharge if the gun is dropped hard on its muzzle. In fact, the gun won’t discharge unless the trigger is pulled all the way.]

On the other hand, not having the firing safety pin makes maintenance easier, which is a big reason many prefer the Series 70. The Series 70 has simpler sights, a short trigger, a small ejection port, non-beveled magazine well and some other differences such as the shape of the trigger, bushing type, etc. The Series 80 has a raised pad at the bottom of the beavertail grip safety that provides improved contact even when one holds his or her hand further up the grip.

The Series 70 has a standard guide rod rather than the Series 80’s extended guide rod and a larger thumb shelf on the thumb safety than on earlier 1911s.

The Colt Series 70 1911 is a rugged and dependable Colt that features high maintainability and repeated accuracy. It’s Made in USA.