jlh820

It's going to be a long night, because tomorrow I pick up my new primary CC weapon, a Colt Defender, 3" 1911 in .45ACP.

Ever since I gave my son my LC9, it's left a hole in my collection that needed to be filled. I really liked the slimness and light weight of the LC9 and the fact it was chambered in 9mm. I looked at similar replacements, among which were the Sig 938, the Springfield EMP, the Kimber Solo and even (dare I say it's name?) a Glock 26. But I kept coming up on Kimber Ultra Carry articles and the size combined with the punch of a .45 swayed me over to the dark side! I've advised others to get what they want. I was settling for 9mm for CC when what I really wanted was a .45. Plus IMO nothing shoots as well as a 1911.

Then I discovered that Colt made a 3" 1911 in .45 - they actually make two, the Defender and the New Agent. I kind of like the New Agent, but I definitely don't like the sights. But the Defender is perfect! I love the matte stainless look, I love the Hogue grips with the finger grooves, it's a faithful 1911 even though it has a bushingless bull barrel and a guide rod with a bushing. It's got a skeletonized trigger and hammer along with an extended, upswept beaver tail. It carries 7+1 with the stock magazine and best of all...

It's a COLT!

However, I was beginning to get pretty discouraged when every place I looked was out of stock and my favorite LGS didn't carry them. And then, as if by fate, I was on the other side of town and thought while I was there, I'd check out a gunstore I knew was there. Low and behold, there was my Defender sitting in their case. And after tomorrow, the rest will be history.

I may install some Trijicon's later, but from what I've seen any good 3 dot sight system and a flashlight will do the trick. It does take two hands, but the tritium doesn't light up the bad guy!

"God made man, Sam Colt made 'em equal". I'm not sure who said that but tomorrow I'm getting equalized!

Neon Horse

Awesome! The Colt is a good looking, well working machine. Enjoy

dubshooter

Jealous. Hopefully I will be joining the club in a couple more months.

jlh820

Just got back from the gun dealer and...







How does it shoot? I'll let you know...

shootist

Awesome my dream carry gun wish I could afford one been wanting one for ever, been hoping Ruger might come out with one to make it more affordable for me.

jlh820

Thanks, I really like it. I've been wishing Ruger would come out with an SR45c, something along the lines of the SR9c or SR40c. If you still want a Defender, they are hard to find, but not impossible. If you checkout gunbroker.com and you want a new one, make sure NIB is listed since the used ones are often the same price as new ones.

shootist

I have no problem finding one and know a gun shop that has them in stock right now, the price tag is stopping me just out of my league.

scooter89

Congratulations. that looks like a pretty sweet gun.

jlh820

Well, that's half the battle and they are pricey. I had to pay full MSRP plus a $20 lay away charge. It has taken me awhile to save up for this gun.

jlh820

Thanks, I hope to take her out tomorrow and see how she shoots.

jlh820

Well, I went to the range Monday to fire my first shots through the Defender. My overall impression is WOW! I love this gun! Even the kid at the gunshop where I bought it said to be careful because it recoils more. It does? I didn't notice it. It is one sweet shooter!

I've read posts about the Defender .45's ejecting casings straight back and hitting the shooter in the head. I shot 100 rounds and did have one hit me in the forehead. But the rest all went where they were supposed to.

The Novak 3 dot sights are great. Very visible and dead on. It's a very accurate gun! I found the gun to be very managable and it returned to point of aim immediately after firing, making double taps reuse holes.

I did have 3 fail to feeds, but not enough to concern me with a brand new gun. But I'll keep an eye on it. The feed ramps don't appear to be polished, but that will soon be rectified.

Before shooting it I cleaned and lubed it using FrogLube. This was the first one of my guns that I shot after cleaning with FrogLube and I was amazed! Cleaning the day after was a breeze. I ran my bore snake down the barrel and the rest I just wiped off! No dirt, no carbon residue, nothing stuck to the gun and it was still well lubricated afterwards. Cleaning was a breeze and one would be hard pressed to tell that this gun had ever been fired at all.

So, range report. I've been buying too many guns lately and didn't have the funds to renew my range membership. So, I only had a 1/2 hour slot to shoot it. I fired it at 5, 7, 10, 15 and 20 yards and followed up with some 5 yard double taps. Because of the limited time, I fired more rapidly than I normally do, especially with a new gun. But I was very impressed with the results. The targets below show how it turned out. The rounds were fired approximately 1 per second using 2, 7 rounds mags per station. If you look carefully, I circled the stages with a black pen, but it's a little hard to see.

I didn't take pictures of the double tap shots since I reused the 15/20 yard target and aimed at center mass again.

5 yards, center mass


7 yards, head shot


10 yards, gut shot


15 yards, head shot


20 yards, center mass


This last pic is one I took when I got home. FrogLube is applied and then wiped off, leaving the gun looking and feeling dry. However, it permeates the surfaces and then seeps back out as the gun warms up. You can see in this image the FrogLube seeping out a bit under the rails.

punkinlobber

This is my compact conceal carry. I have it with Crimson Trace lasar grips adjusted for point of aim/impact at 15 yards.

Wilson Combat | Bill Wilson Carry Pistol

jlh820

That's a beautiful gun. I toyed with the idea of a Commander size but I really wanted this one to be the smaller 3" version. I see the WC advertises a 3-3½# trigger pull. I measured mine yesterday and it averaged 4lbs, 15oz on my Lyman gauge. I love light triggers but I'm comfortably with mine since it's for EDC.

James6591

Congratulations mate, fine looking handgun.

jlh820

Thanks, I'm loving it.