The 4 Best Colt Defender Upgrades – Accessories & Parts Review 2023

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Photo by Stephen Z / CC BY

Finding the right Colt Defender upgrades could be tricky since there are so many accessories to choose from. After all, the 1911 as a platform is one of America’s most beloved guns. The classic pistol served the military for decades and now serves the civilian world in a variety of applications—and a whole cottage industry has sprung up to support aftermarket parts.

Remember, however, the Colt Defender is a concealed carry 1911. With the idea of concealed carry in mind, we chose a few accessories we think will make the Defender the ultimate carry 1911. The Colt Defender is already a compact and reliable gun that’s earned a reputation of being soft-shooting, easy-carrying, and plenty powerful. Let’s make it better though.

Here are our recommendations for the 4 best Colt Defender upgrades on the market:

The Cobra Skeleton Grips for 1911 (like the Colt Defender)

Coming straight from Valkyrie Dynamics is the Cobra Skeleton Grips. These grips mix both form and function. Concerning looks, the grips look fantastic. They sport skeletonized grips that allow you to see inside your gun. With the right magazines, you’ll be able to see the amount rounds you have left through the witness holes of the magazine. This looks very slick and adds an interesting flair to your Colt Defender’s grips. The Cobra Skeleton grips are fully functional though and do more than look pretty.

The skeletonized nature of these devices makes them extremely grippy. It stays in the hand, and it won’t shift or move in your hands. The nature of these grips makes them extremely easy to handle. The design itself will give you a very grippy design that works with gloved hands as well as wet or sweaty hands. The grips themselves are made from billet aluminum, and this makes them very strong and very durable. When carried tight to the body they are unlikely to break, scratch or any other craziness.

The Colt Defender will look fantastic with the Cobra Skeleton grips and function just as good as it seems. The Colt Defender is a lightweight gun, and even though they are metal, these grips are lightweight and do aid in concealment and comfortable carry.

Valkyrie Dynamics Skeleton ☠️ 1911 Grips HD

Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 IWB for 1911 (like the Colt Defender)

The 1911 is an all metal and somewhat heavy gun compared to the modern polymer frame pistol. However, weapons like the Colt Defender are smaller than your average 1911, which makes it more convenient to carry. The weight itself maybe one issue, but the 1911 is a thin and lithe gun that makes it easy to carry in many ways. A compact gun is easy to carry IWB and the Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 IWB is an awesome holster for the Colt Defender.

The Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 holster (see full specs) is a hybrid IWB design that incorporates a faux leather backing with a modern polymer shell. This blend retains the best features of both leather and polymer. The Faux leather is a Neoprene material designed to keep you cool and avoid as much sweat as possible. This material is ultra-soft and also prevents you from chafing and hurting over a long period of time. This thick backing also keeps you from being exposed to sharp metal parts of your gun.

The polymer shell is custom molded for the gun. This increases the holster’s retention, and this does allow you to draw with ease. The polymer shell also makes it easy and safe to reholster since the holster doesn’t collapse. The Alien Gear Glock Tuck is an amazing holster that will make daily carry a breeze, making it also one of the best Colt Defender upgrades period.

ALIENGEAR CLOAK TUCK 3.5 REVIEW

1791 Gunleather Mag Holster for 1911 (like the Colt Defender)


The 1911 is a single stack design. This means you are limited in how many rounds your gun can carry while staying small and easy to carry itself. The Colt Defender and the man who chooses it for CCW would be well served with an additional magazine or two.

The 1791 Gunleather mag holster is a dual magazine design based around single stack magazines. The mag pouch uses a simple, but effective pancake design. Using a Pancake design means it held tight to the body and this makes it easy to conceal.

The 1791 Gunleather Mag holster is brilliantly designed and uses tension to hold the magazines in place. There is no over the top retention device, reach for it, grip it, and pull it out. Once it’s out, you are ready to reload and keep going. The design is perfect to keep your Colt Defender running magazine after magazine like Eliot Ness when gunning down Chicagoland gangsters .

Master leather workers handcraft the 1791 Gunleather mag holsters. The leather is premium grade and vegetable tanned. The design is simple but rugged and remarkably easy to use. It can be worn in a variety of ways to accommodate different shooter’s preferences. The design is durable, reliable, and looks damn good. What more could you ask for from a mag pouch? This is surely one of the best Colt Defender accessories for the money.

Full review of the 1791 Gunleather 2.1 Single stack magazine holster /mag holder OWB

Truglo Night Sights for 1911 (like the Colt Defender)

The Colt Defender uses Novak cut sights, so it is compatible with a ton of 1911 sighting options. This includes the Truglo tritium handgun sights. You never know when you are going to have to defend yourself with your gun. There is a real possibility you could be in a gunfight in low light conditions. The Truglo Night Sights are here for you to guarantee dominance regardless of the time of day.

The Truglo Night Sights (see full specs) are designed for both day and night shooting. At night the sights use tritium to glow, making them visible to only the shooter. The Truglo night sights charge themselves regardless of how much they’ve been exposed to light. Around the glowing tritium lamps is a white circle that gives you the perfect option for daylight shooting. Both the Truglo’s day and night sight options are easy to see and reliable to use.

The sights themselves are made from CNC machined steel that is outfitted with a fortress finish coating. This keeps the sights looking fresh to death. The sights are cut to reduce snag, so the edges are all rounded. The sights will never slow down your draw speed. The Colt Defender is perfect for combat and concealed carry and with the right sights its a dominator.

TruGlow Tritium Pro Novak Sights for a 1911

The Best Colt Defender Upgrades and Accessories

As a concealed carrier you want your gun to run, and the Colt Defender certainly runs. Out of the box, the gun runs great! It’s powerful, reliable, and easy to shoot. However, it can be better. The accessories listed above will accentuate the good qualities of the gun, and they will give you an edge regardless of the situation. Good luck!

  • Owner of Reloaderaddict.com, Boyd Smith is a major handgun enthusiast, and although he owns Glocks, he prefers the revolving wheel type. His go-to guns are a Smith & Wesson 642 Performance Center for carry and a Ruger GP100 in the nightstand biometric safe (he has kids). He loads both revolvers with old-school 148-grain Federal Gold Medal .38 wadcutters. It’s OK if you think he’s a wimp. Email him.

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