Anybody actually own and shoot one of the various models of Government, Rail, or Gold Cup 1911 versions?

Do they work?

Do they last?

Edit in post 23 April 19:

With the total lack of response, no need to bump it up and embarrass myself since apparently no one else ever bought one.  

Previously bought a Remington R1 and shot up all my ammo.  This Colt .22 was cheaper than buying more .45acp just to make brass.

Bought the Walther/Colt .22.  Inexpensively. Ran perfectly the first 250 rounds put through it.  Zeroed sights.  Locktited in place.  Trigger not bad, trigger pull gauge 5 1/4#, fairly crisp.  All features work 1911 like correctly.  No surprises.

When new outta box, hand cycled slide 250 times.  Dry fired dropping hammer against thumb 50 times. Do not actually dryfire.  Pin hits barrel per manual.  OMG, yes, I can and do read.  Stripped, cleaned, and re-lubed.

Then ran 250 rounds perfectly.  Dirty now.  Needs cleaned.  Cleaned today.  No unusual wear.  Almost no discernible cycle marks in sliding finishes. Looks barely fired.

Fired CCI MiniMag40, Blazer40, Federal AutoMatch40, CCI MiniMag36HP.  All impacted UNDER the front sight white dot, not at top of front sight housing.  AutoMatch40 dead on under center of front sight dot.  Liveable but not ideal.  Don’t know if this is the intent like some new designs of sights or just off a bit in front sight height.

AutoMatch minimally powered, but works because hotter loads used first broke it in.

Hotter loads an inch lower.

All in all, worth the $249.99.

Aluminum slide, steel barrel, metal frame composition unknown, 1911 parts in trigger system.

12 round SS magazine seems tinny/flimsey like most Walther mags, but works 100%.

Looks and feels and operates like a .45acp.  Runs 100%.  More mags in UPS.  Other than point of impact under front dot, seems perfect.

Only updated this should someone actually care.

Oh, yeah, photos:

Gun:



Shootable:



More UpDation:

Got two mags in UPS.  Hadda test them.

Friend and I took a steel Champion Diamond popup .22 target and three DuraSeal ball/box/stars out with his Ruger and this Colt.  Both of us ran 250 rounds through our guns.  Colt perfect function with original and two new mags.

This makes 500 rounds without a malfunction through Colt in three mags.  Almost all Federal AutoMatch.  No big noise or recoil.  It just runs the slide and works.

.

Not even a primer screw up yet.



More editing:

Got two more mags.  Finally had a .22LR ammo problem.  One round of Federal Auto Match was way under-powered.  Big woof, ejected the empty rolling out of the slide, short stroked, kinda obvious the ammo.  Auto Match is minimally powered and less doesn't work.

Remington 40RN Golden bullets is the other end of power.  Operates the slide faster than needed.  Way zippier than CCI MiniMag/Blazer.  Cases start to bulge in feed ramp as slide opens.

649/650.  Damn.

Trigger stable at 5 1/4#, no moving parts unusual wear, the two 10 round mags I took the spacer out of work perfectly with 12 rounds,  outside finish on slide shows a scratch on the nose.

Edit:  Another 160 rounds of Federal AutoMatch through five magazines.  809/810.  Getting tired of everything shooting low and having to aim under the front dot.  May look for a taller rear sight.

Edit:  Factory front sight set screw jambs front sight upward the maximum making it shoot lower than needed.  Fitted front sight to sit lower in dovetail.  Shim and LockTite.  Base of dovetail sitting on slide cut flat now.  Perhaps 0.02” lower on the caliper.  Gotta shoot it and see if material difference.  Should be about two inches lower.

Edit:  Shot it.  Impact point raised 2 inches bottoming out the front sight with Federal AutoMatch.  Somewhat easier to aim.  Fired another 140 rounds altogether.  Some Blazer.

Experimenting, found a way to induce a short stroke event with the weak AutoMatch ammo.  Previously just used 12 rounds per mag.  Today loaded 12+1 to start.  Firing the chambered round, #13, will not operate the slide through a full stroke due to the round, #12, at the top magazine having so much pressure on the bottom of the slide.  I suppose it qualifies as a malfunction, but it is ammo.  The Blazer blew the slide back normally 13, 12, 11, >1.

948/950.  One under powered AutoMatch and one  AutoMatch 12+1 short stroke.  The AutoMatch is the most accurate and hits under the dot.

Still not happy with the under the dot sights.  Two weeks ago, I used the Walther contact system to ask if there were other sights available to properly
zero the pistol.  Not word one back, not even the usual computer thank you for your question.  Guess Walther CS is going to get an unhappy call.

Called Walther CS about low point of impact.  Pleasant Parts/CS guy advises:
-no alternative Walther sights are available for rail gun version of Colt .22.
-no sights from NM version or Government version fit the rail gun version.
-the Walther sight dovetails are proprietary and no commercial sights are available.

Pretty much ends that.

Gotta again test fire for POI with original ammos.

Finally kicked this thread up.  I like the gun, but its sorta odd.  Well worth price if it holds up.

But still, I must be the only person ever to buy one and shoot it.

Having tired of the weak axx Federal AutoMatch barely operating the slide, not being sure about ammo selection or accuracy, having lowered the front sight to raise point of impact, and otherwise being curious, I decided it was time to seriously evaluate.

1).  1025 rounds fired, 2 malfunctions both connected to Federal AutoMatch being very weak (one abnormally low power woof and one 12+1 loaded short stroke), 1023 rounds flawless function.

2).  5 magazines and the gun showing almost no wear and certainly nothing abnormal.

3).  Trigger stable at 5 1/4 to 5 1/2 pounds.  Decent.  Hard and then just breaks.

4).  Ammo:  Today for fun shot six 12 shot groups with:
-Federal AutoMatch 40RN 325 bulk box
-CCI MiniMag 40RN 100box
-CCI Blazer 40RN 50 box
-CCI MiniMag 36HP 100 box
-Remington Golden Bullets 40RN (twice) 100 box

5).  Photos of groups:  white paster at left side “7” IDs each brand.  The blue cross is the approximate 12 round group center.  Targets are 6” ShootNC fired at 25 yards.  The sight picture is with the dots aligned 000 centering the front dot on the center of the target.  Driving the dot is the term.  Sitting with a padded hand rest.













6).  Ammo conclusion:
-the two CCI MiniMag 40 and 36 grain rounds are the most accurate and consistent.
-the Federal AutoMatch is simply the worst ammo.  The three off the ShootNC were not my doing.  Simply fliers.
-the Blazer was going decently and then one plopped off the black.
-the Remington, got me there.  Lands here, there, and everywhere.  In general, lower than others which is not helpful.
-a 20 shot composite of the two Remington groups just makes a pattern, basically low, which is not helpful:



7).  Gun conclusion:
-the too low shooting sights with no options to change are a pain in the axx, but after some mods, driving the dot works.
-the Colt/Walther .22 itself is not very accurate nor consistent.  The groups are just too large.  
-In comparison, my Ruger 22/45 Lite with the same effort will make 2” groups.
-on the other hand, the thing is a hoot to shoot, feels, 1911 real, and functions properly.
-as to function, but for the weak AutoMatch, it would have run 1000 rounds WITHOUT ANY malfunctions of any kind.
-no more AutoMatch for it.  CCIs or Blazer.  The Remington can get shot up in something else.

8).  For $249.99, hell yes, for grins.

Thanks for the semi-review. I just ordered one for my 6 month old daughter for when she gets bigger to go shooting with a gun that looks like dads.

Thanks.  Pretty much the ins and outs of function.  But for two AutoMatch ammo lack of powers, 1000 rounds without a malfunction or failure to fire.

If you buy a magazine, get the twelves in the first place.  Or leave the tens as is.  To remove the epoxy glued spacer in the tens with a heat gun and reshape the plastic spring guide that tries to melt is a trick I would not do again. It has to be shortened so 12 can load and have room to seat the mag catch if the slide is closed.  Both 10s work perfect for 12 after mods.

The Federal Auto match takes a big intense whack to set it off.   A Smith 43 fails to fire 1/4 or 1/6 of the time.  An AR15/22 fires brick after brick and never fails to fire.

CCI ammo is the choice.

I have the same gun, love it, and have put probably 2,000 rounds through mine and had a single failure to fire, which for .22 in my experience is shockingly low.

Found a website that sells magazine upgrades I  considering. I would also like to upgrade the trigger, as compared to my .45 1911 it’s not that great.

Walther/Colt 1911 .22 upgrade parts.

They do offer a fiber optic sight option for the rail gun on the 2nd page of the site.

I've got the govt model. After about 200 rounds I notice that the slide stop is scratching the finish off the slide, see photo. This happen to anyone else? Anything I can do to stop it? Fiddle with the slide stop, extra lube?

I would personally black out all the dots then carefully file the front sight until point of aim and impact match.

The Dawson front sight is so tall the gun would shoot even lower.

The Dawson front/rear set hangs so high, they look odd.

https://www.taylor-tactical-supply.com/colt-gi-sight-set-p/dawson-colt-310-139.htm

I am thinking it is better left as it is.

Thanks for the detailed report on these.

I've looked at one of these a few times, but was hesitant to buy one. Also looked at the GSG model.

Ive been shooting a lot more 22 lately, a 1911 model should be fun.

Had the Gold Cup version on order but after reading the OP had reservations.  After it arrived I sighted it in.  It shot low as well; raised the rear sight until it shot to point of aim. I was then able to get 1 inch groups at 15 yards with Winchester Dynapoints. Only put 50 rounds through it but had zero malfunctions. Now happy with it!