Colt came out with their CCS ( Colt Competition Series ) line a few years back – with the intent of offering multiple upgrades on a government model pistol as a “package” included with the pistol – saving the end user a considerable amount of time and money in upgrading a government model to the level offered – all things considered – did they come up with a good “package” ?

Well let’s take a look shall we ??

Let’s see how many boxes we can check – G10 Grips with thumb relief ( to get to the mag release easier ) – skeletonized trigger with over travel adjustment ( smooth – no serrations ) – memory bump grip safety / beaver tail – commander style hammer – adjustable Novak style rear sight – fiber optic front sight – additional fiber optic inserts included – extended thumb safety – no ambidextrous safety – see pic below . . .

The G10 grips are decent for texture – and really look good!!

Vertical serrations on the mainspring housing – but nothing on the front??

A look at all the pieces – hope I can get it back together – LMAO !!

A look at the “dual spring recoil system” . . .

The barrel to bushing to slide fit is excellent – zero play . . . that being said my only real ding on it??

Lateral play between the slide and frame – hard to see but the slide moves left to right just over 40 thousandths – is it excessive ?? – the pistol still shoots real good but I just can’t wrap my head around letting something like that out the door . . .

Even with that play it does real good . . .

My blushing bride – 2nd time firing a 1911 – 1st time was a 45 caliber – she just about pooped herself – the muzzle blast caught her completely off guard . . .

First string of fire for her . . .

Second string of fire after some grip and stance adjustment . . .

The black felt tip dot?? – Aim Small / Miss Small !! Pretty damn good considering it’s the first time running a 1911 Platform . . .

Thoughts . . .

The black finish CCS in 9 mm is real hard to find but are good looking – I wanted one in 9 mm since 9 mm in a 1911 platform is a gateway drug to 45 caliber – it’s a lot easier to start a relatively novice shooter to the 1911 platform in 9 mm rather than 45 caliber – All of the buttons – bells – and whistles – they come together nicely and make for a good looking and a good running platform – I believe current MSRP is around 900 Dollars or so ( I actually lucked up on this – it was NOS ) and a good balance of features and performance vs price point – the only thing I would have added would have been some type of mag well but you start hitting the hard spot of cost vs profit vs price point – for me the grip texture could have been a little more aggressive – but that’s my preference . . .

Would I recommend the gun?? Folks . . . we have been through this before . . . I AM an enabler – so of course I recommend getting 4 of them – one in 9 mm and one in 45 caliber black finish and one each in stainless – you really didn’t expect less from me – did you???

And a note for those of you who don’t realize it – there is no such thing as a “Test and Evaluation” gun – no “free” ammo – no free nothing – it comes out of my and my blushing bride’s pockets – if I tell you it’s decent ( whatever the hell it is ) you can take it to the bank – I ain’t gonna feed you a line because a revenue stream depends on a positive review – a lot of folks want reviews of this that and the other – ain’t gonna happen – we do what we can do with what we got . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!