COLT XSE LIGHTWEIGHT COMMANDER 45 ACP

Very nice Colt, an excellent addition to any 1911 collection, but as usual, it needs some upgrades to make it a real shooter. The haller is much heavier and thicker than shoiwn in the photo. The one on mine will be a nice paperweight. I put on a used Ed Brown lightweight silver hammer, a Kimber magwell with a 19 lb hammer spring, honed the sear and disconnector, and it NOW has a beautiful 3.5 lb trigger pull, very crisp. The Cerakoting is nice, but the gray is a bit dull. It would be nice if Cerakote could make some semi-gloss or glossy colors to make them gleam like a high-polished bluing. I do like this gun, but the price a high due to not being fine-tuned out of the box. I also replaced the Colt grips with some VZ Operator magwell grips, and it now feels excellent. Colt should do more cooperative work with VZ and Smith & Alexander to upgrade their antiquated plain-Jane guns. Their Special Combat Government models comes with a Smith & Alexander magwell, VZ Slant grips, and a somewhat improved trigger assembly. For just under $2000 price tag for the Special Combat model, they should select a Cylinder & Slide Ultra Light 3.0 Hammer assembly kit, which costs less than $200. This kit makes any Colt a real tack driver & an all-day shooter.