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Thanks to my friends over at Valkyrie Arms I was able to pick up the new 2012 Colt Gold Cup National Match. Here is some info and a quick review.
The National Match / Gold Cup National Match has a long history with Colt. Original "National Match" guns were built by the government for service marksmanship competitions. As shooting sports gained popularity with civilians, Colt introduced a National Match version of their pistols in the 30s and 40s.
Civilian gun manufacturing was paused during WW2, but in 1957 Colt began making the National Match pistols again.
In 1970 Colt added the words "Gold Cup" to the rollmark so the gun was known as the Series 70 Gold Cup National Match.
Similarly in the 80s and 90s Colt released the Series 80 Gold Cup National Match.
In 1997 Colt dropped the National Match terminology and released the "Gold Cup Trophy".
Before today I had in my collection a representative example from each of these generations (1960s National Match, 1970s Series 70 Gold Cup National Match, 1980s Series 80 Gold Cup National Match, and early 2000s Gold Cup Trophy).
Well, last month I read that Colt is re-releasing the Gold Cup National Match at the SHOT show. Naturally since I have every generation the hunt was on to find one! Without further ado, I present the 2012 Gold Cup National Match (foreground)
So what's my take on this new generation? Before I get into it, let's talk a bit about what makes up a Gold Cup National Match (GCNM)
To me, there are some distinctive features that GCNMs are known for. For example, for the longest time, every GCNM had Colt's famous royal blue finish. It also had a flat top serrated slide, Ellison sights, and the traditional tang hammer.
But beetle, are you saying that Colt should not modernize the gun? I'm fine with that. For example, in the pic of the 4 generations you can see that the Gold Cup Trophy has a modern beavertail safety as opposed to the traditional grip tang safety. That's cool, I like that. I'm on the fence about the skeletonized hammer, but I can learn to accept it. At least the Gold Cup Trophy sports a flat top slide and Ellison sights.
So what's not to like on the new 2012 Gold Cup National Match? Well, probably my biggest gripe is that it loses the flat top serrated slide in favor of a generic/boring round top slide. It also loses the Ellison sights for Bomar sights (which aesthetically look clunky compared to the Ellisons). And it loses the nice beavertail in the Gold Cup Trophy to go back to the grip tang safety.
In other words, it lost both the nice features of the old GCNMs (flat top slide, ellison sights) AND the Gold Cup Trophy (beavertail grip safety).
Here are the twins:
Rear view -- compare the hammer and safeties. National Match left, Trophy Right.
Top view. The flat top slide is sooooo much nicer. National Match left, Trophy Right.
In terms of finish, believe it or not, the new 2012 GCNM has even less pre-polishing done than even the Gold Cup Trophy from a few years back. You can tell in the pictures that the finish is not as nice as the Gold Cup Trophy, which is far far away from the Royal Blue that Colt used to famous for.
However, fit on the new GCNM is very nice. Slide fit is tighter than I've ever seen on a Colt. This is the first Colt that I've handled that doesn't have the "colt rattle". Trigger break is clean and I'd estimate it at 5-6 lbs. (a guess).
In conclusion I'm a bit confused by this new GCNM, especially since they continue to sell the Gold Cup Trophy. To me it almost feels like the Gold Cup Trophy should be the Gold Cup National Match, and vice versa. I would have liked to see the traditional features of the Flat top slide, ellison sights, famous Gold Cup National Match roll mark, along with the updated beavertail.
Oh well, as a nice bonus my gun has the 100 year medallions in the grip. This one must have been made right as 2011 was ending.
Anyways, there is a new family member in my Gold Cup National Match collection. I'll need to update the family pic!
The National Match / Gold Cup National Match has a long history with Colt. Original "National Match" guns were built by the government for service marksmanship competitions. As shooting sports gained popularity with civilians, Colt introduced a National Match version of their pistols in the 30s and 40s.
Civilian gun manufacturing was paused during WW2, but in 1957 Colt began making the National Match pistols again.
In 1970 Colt added the words "Gold Cup" to the rollmark so the gun was known as the Series 70 Gold Cup National Match.
Similarly in the 80s and 90s Colt released the Series 80 Gold Cup National Match.
In 1997 Colt dropped the National Match terminology and released the "Gold Cup Trophy".
Before today I had in my collection a representative example from each of these generations (1960s National Match, 1970s Series 70 Gold Cup National Match, 1980s Series 80 Gold Cup National Match, and early 2000s Gold Cup Trophy).
Well, last month I read that Colt is re-releasing the Gold Cup National Match at the SHOT show. Naturally since I have every generation the hunt was on to find one! Without further ado, I present the 2012 Gold Cup National Match (foreground)
So what's my take on this new generation? Before I get into it, let's talk a bit about what makes up a Gold Cup National Match (GCNM)
To me, there are some distinctive features that GCNMs are known for. For example, for the longest time, every GCNM had Colt's famous royal blue finish. It also had a flat top serrated slide, Ellison sights, and the traditional tang hammer.
But beetle, are you saying that Colt should not modernize the gun? I'm fine with that. For example, in the pic of the 4 generations you can see that the Gold Cup Trophy has a modern beavertail safety as opposed to the traditional grip tang safety. That's cool, I like that. I'm on the fence about the skeletonized hammer, but I can learn to accept it. At least the Gold Cup Trophy sports a flat top slide and Ellison sights.
So what's not to like on the new 2012 Gold Cup National Match? Well, probably my biggest gripe is that it loses the flat top serrated slide in favor of a generic/boring round top slide. It also loses the Ellison sights for Bomar sights (which aesthetically look clunky compared to the Ellisons). And it loses the nice beavertail in the Gold Cup Trophy to go back to the grip tang safety.
In other words, it lost both the nice features of the old GCNMs (flat top slide, ellison sights) AND the Gold Cup Trophy (beavertail grip safety).
Here are the twins:
Rear view -- compare the hammer and safeties. National Match left, Trophy Right.
Top view. The flat top slide is sooooo much nicer. National Match left, Trophy Right.
In terms of finish, believe it or not, the new 2012 GCNM has even less pre-polishing done than even the Gold Cup Trophy from a few years back. You can tell in the pictures that the finish is not as nice as the Gold Cup Trophy, which is far far away from the Royal Blue that Colt used to famous for.
However, fit on the new GCNM is very nice. Slide fit is tighter than I've ever seen on a Colt. This is the first Colt that I've handled that doesn't have the "colt rattle". Trigger break is clean and I'd estimate it at 5-6 lbs. (a guess).
In conclusion I'm a bit confused by this new GCNM, especially since they continue to sell the Gold Cup Trophy. To me it almost feels like the Gold Cup Trophy should be the Gold Cup National Match, and vice versa. I would have liked to see the traditional features of the Flat top slide, ellison sights, famous Gold Cup National Match roll mark, along with the updated beavertail.
Oh well, as a nice bonus my gun has the 100 year medallions in the grip. This one must have been made right as 2011 was ending.
Anyways, there is a new family member in my Gold Cup National Match collection. I'll need to update the family pic!
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