I was looking at a Series 70 today. The slide was Marked Mark IV/Series 70. Is this an old series 70 or the new series coming from Colt now?
Joe,
Probably a new one. They are marking them with what appear to be identical markings. The way to tell externally is the front and rear sights. The old pistols have the smaller ones. Internally they don't have the collet bushing (which is a good thing) and they have several of the parts the '80s have like the firing pins, extractors, grip safeties have the cuts in them the 80s do for the firing pin blocks. They won't have any effect on function. The ramp on the frame and barrel is better, but more radical than I like. They are even making the slide stop relief like the original through the series '70.
The original new grips were the ones we sold Colt but I think they have a new supplier now. The original '70 grips were not rosewood and had a gold Colt medallion in them.
So look at the sights if they look like the old 1911A1 style then it is original. If you could remove the bushing it would also tell you.
Regards,
Mako