When it comes to defensive handguns, in my opinion, carry what works best for you. Picking a defensive handgun is a personal experience, and many factors need to be considered, such as accuracy and reliability. Then some elements may make a slight difference, such as sights and trigger pull, while not as important as reliability and accuracy, is worth considering.
The Colt Custom Carry Limited is a purpose-built handgun with necessities like reliability and accuracy and plenty of enhancements folded in.
Here you see the Stan Chen extended thumb safety, grip safety, mainspring housing/magazine well, and rear drift adjustable sight. All these parts are of the highest quality and are properly fit in the Colt Custom Shop. The Harris trigger broke cleanly at five and a half pounds with a cat hair of take up and a touch of overtravel. The trigger is adjustable for overtravel; however, I left it as a factory set. G10 stocks are plenty aggressive to keep a solid purchase of the pistol. The finish is a smoke-grey ion bond.
The barrel bushing and recoil spring plug are from Evolution Gun Works as are the sear and disconnector. It is no secret I am a huge fan of EGW parts. The bushing was a snug fit to the Colt National Match barrel but not so tight a bushing wrench was needed.
Here you will see the drift adjustable serrated black rear sight, outstanding slide to receiver fit, and the palm swell on the grip safety.
The front sight is a Novak night sight, allowing for an ideal sight picture with the singular dot on the front sight drawing your eye and the black rear sight offering no distractions. The top of the slide is serrated to cut out any glare between the sights.
The magazine well allows for a bit faster reloads but requires magazines with extended base pads for a consistent positive lock. The front strap and mainspring housing as checkered at twenty-five lines per inch.
After 400 rounds, all the insides looked exactly as they should, albeit a bit dirty. While 400 bullets is not a great deal down the tube, if something was ill-fit or inferior, it would have shown up.
3 round groups shot from a rest at 25 feet
This is an expensive pistol at an MSRP of $2,599, but I believe there is justification for that price. We went through the list of top quality parts used in the pistol, which is built and fit in the Colt Custom Shop. As we discussed, with a purpose-built defensive handgun, you want to stack the deck in your favor as much as possible, which often costs money. In my opinion, I would prefer a nice gun with options that gives me an edge over one that is “almost as good.” Some complained about just how aggressive the G 10 stocks were, but for a fighting pistol like this, you may be sweating, bleeding, have gloves, and such stocks are warranted. I am thankful to see the Colt Custom Shop turning out a practical fighting handgun with modern updates. The only complaint I had was the two supplied seven-round Wilson Combat magazines, as I am not a fan of that magazine. I did run various other magazines through the Custom Carry with no issues and prefer the Check-Mate magazine well over any other.
Specifications
Overall length: 7 3/4″
Barrel length: 4 1/4″
Height: 5 1/2″
Width: 1 1/4″
Weight: 33 ounces
Stocks: G10
Trigger: single action
Finish: smoke grey ion bond.
Sights: Front white dot night sight, rear black U notch drift adjustable for windage
MSRP: $2599
Acknowledgments
Looks like a nice feature package for $2,600. That’s about a grand less than a similarly configured Nighthawk or Guncrafter 1911. Fit and finish doesn’t look as nice as those $3,600+ 1911’s, but that’s nice savings. And it’s built and tuned by the Colt Custom Shop. Very nice.
First, a big “Oorah” to Corporal Buster. Like most Marines, he’s a pretty boy.
Second, loved the review. Looks like a well-made pistol, and at that price point, it ought to be. I can see that being a deterrent to sales. Most of us Maker’s Mark drinkers can’t afford the Van Winkles, and I imagine the same holds true for most 1911 owners/carriers. Yet higher-end 1911s are their own niche market, and this model might give Dan Wesson and Wilson Combat pause.
So are you keeping this one, Hunter?