[mod.rec.guns] Holding On To Your Parts

jkh@jade.UUCP (06/28/86)

Article: 7:3

A little over a year ago, I purchased an ambidextrous safety for my
Colt Government Model.  I carefully saved the original safety in case
I ever needed it again.

Well, a little more than a year later, the safety (which was repre-
sented as being Colt manufactured) broke!  The metal actually failed
in the right side.  I searched high and low for the original safety,
since you really can't safely operate the gun without it.  I couldn't
find it.

When I went over to Reed's Sport Shop in San Jose the next morning,
I was fortunate to find they had safeties in stock for the Govern-
ment Model.  They also told me that the type of failure I had with
the ambidextrous safety was common.  Hold on to your old parts when
you upgrade your gun!

I mailed the broken safety to Colt, and after about four weeks I
received a new ambidextrous safety.  This one is a different design,
which makes me skeptical about the parentage of the safety that
broke.  The new ambidextrous safety is also easier to operate.  The
safety that broke was so stiff going to SAFE that it required both
hands.  (Fortunately, going to FIRE only required one thumb.)

Has anyone else purchased parts from Crown City Arms represented to
be Colt manufactured and had reason to wonder?

Clayton E. Cramer