Gold Cup Triggers

A while back, I talked about trigger shoes, target triggers and the inadvisability of using either on guns that will be handled fast under stressful circumstances. I mentioned building up a combat 1911 on a Gold Cup receiver, then being disappointed with the results. For readers who may not know it, the Gold Cup pistol from Colt has an unusual trigger. It’s the familiar “long” length and it is much wider than the usual triggers. Wide enough to require a specially broached trigger slot in the receiver, this unit also installed a little lever to help protect the sear/hammer relationship. Colt did this in order to give the bullseye shooter a perfect trigger feel to match a light trigger pull weight. Gold Cups saw a lot of use back in the Golden Age of bullseye shooting.

A reader took exception to my criticism of the Gold Cup trigger system when used on a combat handgun. I believe the increased frontal surface has no place on a gun that will be used in life-threatening encounters. The edge of the Gold Cup trigger is very close to the protection of the trigger guard and it’s easily brushed off when performing some maneuvers. It is always best to stay with a single “feel” for any trigger. This has nothing to do with trigger pull weight. Jeff Cooper’s combat triggers weighed about 3 ½ pounds, which is very light. They were the original thinner type. For its intended use, the Gold Cup pistol and special wide trigger is excellent. That use is on a formal shooting bench and bullseye range, where the gun is carefully picked up, fitted into the hand and fired five times at a round bull, 25 or 50 yards away.