Colt Double Eagle DA/SA Pistol on Forgotten Weapons

(Image: Screenshot from Colt Double Eagle video)

Many moons ago when I got the itch to own a Colt 45 ACP pistol, I considered purchasing a Colt Double Eagle. In my research and youthful vigor, I figured if a single action Colt pistol was good, a double action Colt pistol had to be better. Right?

Well… not so much. Dad talked me down and set me straight, and I have zero regrets about my decision to stick with a 1911-style pistol (I ended up with a Lightweight Stainless Commander).

Colt Double Eagle (Image: Rock Island Auction)

The Double Eagle was born in the 1990s out of Colt’s ambition to be competitive in the world of pistols which offer double action as well as single action.

Picture a 1911 without a grip safety nor thumb safety, with a trigger which pivots instead of sliding, and with a decocker which lives between the slide release and the mag release — and that’s pretty much a Colt Double Eagle.

Colt Double Eagle (Image: Rock Island Auction)

The really funky part of the design is hidden under the oversized grips, which extend a good bit higher than 1911 grips. This is because the grips hold the gun together! And no, my friends, I am not kidding.

The right grip conceals/secures the trigger bar and spring.

The left grip secures this wonky spring and the decocker parts.

Perhaps Colt’s biggest blunder in this is the presumption (intention?) that this would somehow replace the 1911. Double fail!

After an experiment of about 6 years, Colt gave up on the Double Eagle and went on to its next series of terrible marketing moves, which is pretty much the history of Colt beginning in the latter decades of the 20th century.

At the time of this writing this pistol is currently listed on the Rock Island Auction website; check it out by clicking here.

Here’s the video:

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.