The magazines hold twelve rounds and are steel in construction with a load assist button that you can pull down to aid loading. I have used one of Oceania Defence’s Walther PPQs that had this type of suppression and I can tell you that it is really quite effective, although a little dirty when you remove the shroud for cleaning! There is also the option of having an integrally suppressed barrel too, which is basically a ported barrel with a barrel shroud. It is externally threaded to take a barrel shroud but this is an optional extra. The barrel is 300mm long and has a barrel twist rate of 1 in 13 3/4-inches and has six grooves. On the left-hand side is ‘COLT GOLD CUP TROPHY’ that has been laser engraved. The diagonal slide serrations are limited to the rear of the slide, as per the traditional 1911 look, but are very tactile and easy to engage, even with sweaty hands. Better builtĪpparently, the aluminium slide is less prone to wear, unlike the GSG’s and is actually lighter in weight too but to be honest, the main weight of the pistol comes from the extra long UK legal barrel and the heavy zinc alloy frame. I think maybe a white dot on them would make target acquisition faster for me, at least! Otherwise, the sights work very well. The sights on the pistol are plain black and feature no dots or illumination, which is a bit of a shame. Tools are provided with the firearm to adjust the rear sight and a hex key can be used to adjust the front sight. Setting your sights The sights are good, with the rear being fully adjustable for windage and elevation, with the front being a dovetailed adjustable type. It broke crisply on my trigger pull scale at just over five-pounds. As you can see, it is ‘skeletonised’, with holes in it and not only does it look great, but it shaves a little bit more weight off the gun. The grip safety or ‘beavertail’ grip safety works just like on a conventional 1911, as you would expect, as well as the usual frame mounted safety catch on the slide, although on the Trophy it is not ambidextrous and is just located on the left-hand side.Īll other controls, such as the mag release, are in the usual 1911 locations! The trigger is single action, as you would expect, as this is a 1911 after all. They are rubberised and offer plenty of grip but also look loads better and fatten up the pistol grip too so, if you have bigger than average hands, then I think you will find it more comfortable in the hand. The grips are much better in my opinion than normal 1911 pistol grips, as these ones are wrapped around the front too, rather than just panels on either side. Yes, unfortunately we have to put up with this bar sticking out of the rear of the gun, as per UK law but to be fair, it isn’t that noticeable when holding the pistol. The ‘coat hanger’ then well, it is pretty minimalistic, as it is just a plain bar, rather than like the GSG’s, where they have a bulb-like weight on the end so, already, weight has been saved here, even if it is just a few ounces. Let me take you on a tour of the Gold Cup then and see what’s so good and maybe not so good about it, if anything.
However, there is a new kid on the block! From Oceania Defence, I bring you the Colt Gold Cup Trophy from Walther! The first thing to strike me, when I handled one, is how lightweight it is and that can only mean one thing felt recoil will bring a big smile to your face! Why this gun then and not a GSG for example? Nothing against GSG but this pistol is a little bit more refined and with that, a little more expensive, as to be expected. But the GSGs are a little weighty for what they are and to be fair, there has never really been anything else out there for the 1911 fan, apart from the Tunnel Target Sports 1911s, which I personally haven’t seen much of in recent times. I’ve owned one myself and they are great fun and, not only that, there is so much that you can do with a 1911 as far as customisation goes if, of course, you are that way inclined! Not only that, but they do come in a variety of different colours to suit most tastes. 22lr here in the UK has to be the GSG 1911.