The Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite pistols were made between 1989-1991. They featured a stainless steel frame with blued steel slide and were equipped with the Gold Cup adjustable trigger, and Elliason adjustable rear sight, with raised rib and blade front sight.
Fast Facts
- The Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite series of pistols were made under a cooperative arrangement between Colt and Acusport between 1989-1991
- These pistols were made in three calibers; 9mm Luger (750), 40 S&W (250), and 45 ACP (1,000).
- The National Match Elite pistols feature a stainless steel frame with blued steel slide. They were fitted with the Colt Elliason target rear sight and sight rib, with a blade front sight, and the Gold Cup style adjustable trigger.
- One of these pistols in 9mm Luger is up for sale by Rock Island Auction at time of publication of this post.
The Colt Gold Cup National Match has been one of the gems to wear the prancing pony logo. The model is still in production and nowadays can be had in 45 ACP, 9mm Luger, and 38 Super. In the past the Gold Cup National Match was also made chambered for the 38 Special – not a caliber we would expect a Colt M1911 to be chambered for.
That particular pistol was made for ISSF shooting competition which, back in the 1970’s, was all that was available to shooters in many parts of the world including Australia where I was living at the time.
The “National Match” versions of the M1911 pre-date Colt’s versions. The first pistols were made by the armorers of the US Army marksmanship unit who custom tweaked pistols for the competitions at Caldwell, New Jersey beginning in 1919, and then the later Camp Perry pistol matches.
Colt began making their National Match pistol in 1933 and the Gold Cup National Match models began in 1957.
The Colt Gold Cup National Match model was made up until 1970 when it was superseded by the Series 70 Gold Cup National Match which was made up until 1983, at which time Colt replaced it with the Gold Cup Mk IV Series 80 National Match.
During 1989-1991 in a partnership with Acusport Colt made a limited production series which were called the Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite. These were made in three calibers; 9mm Luger, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP.
In this series 1,000 pistols were made in 45 ACP, 750 were made in 9mm Luger, and 250 in 40 S&W.
The 9mm Luger version’s full name was Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite IX with “Gold Cup National Match” engraved on the right side of the slide, and “Elite IX 9mm Luger” on the left side with the Colt prancing pony.
The 40 S&W version was called the Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite 40, and the 45 ACP the Colt Gold Cup National Match Elite 45.
These pistols were made with a stainless steel frame and blued steel slide. Sights were the adjustable Elliason rear as used on the Gold Cup National Match, with raised rib, and blade front sight.
Trigger was the single slot adjustable Gold Cup type.
Stocks were polished un-checkered walnut with a circular Colt badge of black background with gold lettering.
These limited edition versions of the Colt Gold Cup are quite rare: the 40 S&W being the most rare, but they do come up for sale occasionally.
One of these pistols, a 9mm Luger version, is up for sale by Rock Island Auction at time of publication.
This pistol was manufactured in 1989 and Rock Island Auction describe its condition as follows:-
“Excellent overall with original finish and minor wear. Mechanically excellent. Box is fine with wear along the edges”
The pistol comes with a Colt letter dated 1996 that describes its provenance.
You can find the sale page for this unusual and rather pretty pistol if you click here.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Rock Island Auction.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
