Accurizing Gold Cup Series 70 9mm .

I bought a current production  Gold Cup Series 70 9mm and really like the gun . I do want to install match barrel to improve accuracy.
Questions:

Would a proffesionally installed high quality match barrel ( bushing , link) be enough ?

If You were setting up this gun ONLY to shoot  premium/duty type  147JHP factory ammunition (Hornady, Federal HST, Ranger etc) out to 50 yards,  what barrel and what barrel twist would You pick ?

Thank You

It seems like most Smith’s I work with prefer Springfield to colt. I think colt doesn’t hold tolerances that well these days.
Refit slide and frame , new barrel bushing, link, pin. Probably a new ejector and extractor. New firing pin stop, remove min trigger bits , correctly fit a new trigger. Gunsmith may need to dress up breach face, feed ramp, and tube magazines
Kart and Kkm are both 1-16 9mm I believe

How much do you want to spend ?

I just recently built a newer Gold Cup. The frame to slide fit was really my biggest complaint; it was pretty loose. After fitting the barrel I got all the vertical play out and a lot of the horizontal. Since you are sighting off the slide it doesn’t make much difference. It also had a lot of tooling marks I had to address. Now it’s a very accurate pistol. So they can be built to shoot! Go for it!
Jon

I had the same options and went with the Springfield Range Officer. I had two done, one 9MM and a 45 ACP. Dave Salyer did the smithing and I am very satisfied with the result.

If your going to buy a new barrel anyhow then why not go with the 38 Super? With the "comp" brass and a couple of new magazines your in business. The super has some options for really nice lower recoil groups. And if you end up carrying it then it can also go a lot hotter. Just my .02

Len

You have not said how accurate it is currently, or how good the trigger is.  If you are planning on shooting full power loads see if a good bulleye smith can tune it before you change parts like a barrel.  An option might be keeping the barrel and having a bushing fitted and the rest of the gun tuned.  Let us know how it works out.

Hmmm.  It will hold a 10 ring at 25 yards for 10 shot groups off the bench.  Gun is 100% stock.  My  choices are :   sell it , leave it stock and enjoy it for what it is or have accuracy job done .

I would get an accuracy job done, they are nice pistols.

Where would You send it?

Probably kc Crawford, Salyer, Clark, Eulette.
Depends on your location.

I'd shoot some 50 yd with various ammo first to see what you've really got.

You did not say where you are but let us know, there are a few other smiths out there who know what they are doing as well.

I can tell you welding the barrel and refitting it will be your only good option for a Gold Cup in my opinion. The hood cut in those slides are different than government models. With that said a properly fit Colt factory barrels shoot just as good as a “match barrel”. I weld and refit probably 100 every year and promise a new bushing with refitted barrel is best option for a Gold Cup. Save yourself some money sir! Good luck!

You mean they dont make match oversized barrels for Gold Cup 9mm? Basically I am stock with Colt barrel?

Yes, they do make gunsmith fit Gold Cup barrels.
Welding up and refitting with a bushing is not a bad option

Sheriff1962 wrote:You mean they dont make match oversized barrels for Gold Cup 9mm? Basically I am stock with Colt barrel?

It can be done, but they have to be made special. There may be someone I do not know of, but most companies may charge you extra or make you wait longer for having to special make that barrel. If you have a government model slide to compare the hood deminsions of your Gold Cup to I would encourage you to do so. A lot of guys try to fit a standard match fit barrel to a Gold Cup, and take half their barrel hood off trying to make it fit the Gold Cup specs which is why I posted this. If you can find a match barrel made specifically for a Gold Cup or refit up your existing Gold Cup barrel you will be better off than trying to fit a barrel made for a standard government model.

Why is it taboo to fit a standard government slide match barrel to a GC or NM slide? Hood width is the only difference. Narrowing the hood isn’t rocket science. It’s been done this way with excellent results for decades.
Jon

Jon Eulette wrote:Why is it taboo to fit a standard government slide match barrel to a GC or NM slide? Hood width is the only difference. Narrowing the hood isn’t rocket science. It’s been done this way with excellent results for decades.
Jon

Your right it can be done. I just did one last week but it is a lot more work. I do not have a measurement, but I probably took 50 thousands off 1 side of the hood with none taken off the other side. Would not call it taboo at all, but most people do not know they have options on this with some options being much easier and cheaper than others especially with a Gold Cup. I will have to take a photo of the next one that comes by or maybe someone will be me to it. I just read this is a 9mm though, and would be curious to know how those compare to the 45 Gold Cups. The Colt 38/9mm barrels of old sure do not shoot the way their 45's do in my experiences.

Jarvis is one of several that provide G.C. custom barrels.

If you weld a factory barrel like a colt how can you fit the upper lug correctly ?

Chris Miceli wrote:If you weld a factory barrel like a colt how can you fit the upper lug correctly ?

You can’t! That’s why old school welded up barreled pistols kick like hell. The accuracy tuners and silver soldered shims reduces lockup and they come out of battery faster. Unless your willing to hard fit upper lugs and get off center firing pin strike or bush the slide. 
In today’s day and age welding barrels should be a last resort.
Jon