Colt series 70 gold cup trophy lite for bullseye?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the forums and I am wondering if the colt series 70 gold cup trophy lite would make a good starter .45 for bullseye. I see the SARO recommended quite frequently but I really like the stainless steel with the blue grips. I’m sure eventually I’ll send it out for a bushing, trigger and accuracy package but right now I’d like to still be able to afford shooting the thing. Would this be a decent 1st 1911 / bullseye gun considering I’m just starting out and so far just shoot a ruger mk iv and 9mm? Thanks, Casey

Stainless guns can't have as tight tolerances between the slide and frame. That is why you see almost everyone with carbon steel guns. I purchased a Gold Cup and was dissatisfied with the accuracy and fitting of the parts overall. Had a new Nolan barrel , bushing , link, full length guide rod fitted. That didn't fix the sloppy frame to slide fit on my carbon steel gun. But, it is accurate now. 
Purchased a Springfield RO .45 , had a roll trigger installed. It was accurate out of the box. Should have just bought the RO first.

I wondered why I have only seen national match colts and never stainless in the sales forums. I may end up with the range officer after all. Thank you for saving me the trouble!

This must be the one; Springfield 1911 Range Officer .45 ACP 5 In 7 Rds Cocobolo Grips Black Parkerized? 699 on grab a gun. Can’t beat that!

Get the SA RO. RO barrels are fit from the factory better than most of the guns I'm working on these days. Can't believe how many hacks are out there. Install EGW angle bore bushing and 0.200 slidestop pin. Helps a lot. And of course a trigger job.
Jon

Thank you, I will do just that

What about the SARO elite Target is it worth the $100 more than the standard RO?

I didn’t see any big differences other than cosmetic, sights and I think one has ambi saftey?

Jon Eulette, I appreciate your observations and advice. On the EGW website, I saw the .200 slide stop pin but for the bushing, there are 5 pages of them. Could you be a little more specific on which bushing?

Buy the prefit angle bore from Brownells. The ID is very close and minor polishing will get you there. OD same thing. Or use dimensions from Brownells website to order from EGW.
Jon

https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/barrel-parts/barrel-bushings/1911-angle-bored-bushing-prod6138.aspx
This one I think ?

Yes sir

Thank you for all the help, much appreciated!

This is worth a look for anyone considering a Springfield purchase ; https://www.springfield-armory.com/instant-gear-up/

Is the SARO elite just as good as the base model? I’d assume so but want to double check that it’s suitable for a build. Thanks!
Edit; found my answer on here. Finish flakes, fiber front sight. I’ll go base model

Why can’t stainless be fit as tight as carbon steel?
Kurt

http://pearlitesteel.com/carbon-steel-vs-stainless-steel/

kjanracing wrote:Why can’t stainless be fit as tight as carbon steel?
Kurt

It can, but not the stainless steels used in guns.

kjanracing wrote:Why can’t stainless be fit as tight as carbon steel?
Kurt

Besides answering kjanraccing, this is also in response to the original post about using a stainless Gold Cup for Bullseye.

 Stainless steel frames & slides can be made to be fairly tight, but it takes more work than if working with carbon steel.  And in the end the stainless frame/slide cannot be fitted as tightly.  Stainless steel galls very badly when it's exposed to tight rubbing/sliding, where as carbon steel gets smoother.  The basic Range Officers in carbon steel, right out of the box require very little work to be made to shoot Expert scores.  With very little additional work they will easily shoot Master scores.  If you already had a Colt, then you'd be saving money by shooting it, since you're a new shooter.  What about a .22 to start out.  You can now shoot the entire 2700 with a .22.  Of course if you have a lot of money to throw at the sport, then skys the limit as to how much to spend.  However, unlike all the other shooting venues, in Precision Pistol, you cannot buy points.

Cheers,
Roddy

Thanks Roddy. That makes a lot more sense. I do have a ruger Mark iv hunter .22 with an ultra dot. That’s about where my budget falls. It’s what I use to practice a couple times a week. I was not aware you could shoot the whole 2700 with .22. I’ll be picking up the Saro in a few weeks (ny’s a slow process) because I’d like to have a 1911, and eventually have the trigger and a few other things done to it but this won’t be until next year. I figure I’ll shoot it as is and it’ll still shoot better than me for now. I’m only at a 3” group at 50’ with my ruger and have only been shooting one handed a month or so. I was also wondering if one could use the same frame and swap slides to change calibers? Does anyone do this or is the fit just not there? Thanks again, Casey

You can have multiple slides fit to a pistol. Ejector needs to be changed when switching from 45 to a smaller caliber.
Jon

Thanks for the responses, will definitely help me in my planning. Here in NY we have quite the process and it gets more difficult every year. Should have my range officer in about a month +\-. Lots of paperwork and waiting.
Best, Casey

Jon Eulette wrote:You can have multiple slides fit to a pistol. Ejector needs to be changed when switching from 45 to a smaller caliber.
Jon

Jon, being a newbie, can you give a little more detail about the ejector needing changed?

Bob

Bob,
The ejector is different on the 45 vs 9mm. So if you put a 9mm slide on your 45 lower the ejector needs changed to a 9mm ejector for the 9mm slide to fit.
Jon