Post by bradshaw on Jun 23, 2020 20:08:31 GMT -5
Prior to mass re-popularization of John Moses Browning’s Model 1911, well into the 1970’s, Colt was the only name in town. Pachmayr, King, and the other few who made a craft of making very accurate 1911’s which reliably fed other than BALL ammunition started with the Colt hardware. Frame, slide, clockwork of good steel. Colt management got addicted to the government tit in World War II. Stoned on the idea civilians exist just to shine your shoes, management ignored tea leaves trickling in from a growing appreciation of Jeff Cooper’s recognition of Browning’s one-hand masterpiece, with Cooper’s call for a minor refinement to adapt a little slicker to the human hand and top feed evolving ammunition.
Others stepped up to make a their own “improved” 1911, not one of which equaled Colt base hardware. The greats learned by working on the Colt, King, Pachmayr, Hogue, Baer, etc. (There are names I know and names I don't know who fit this aggressive learning curve; mine is an observation, not a library.)
Thus, the gun becomes a choice between a CUSTOM BUILT ON KNOWN HARDWARE and an established manufacturer proven to understand Browning’s 1911. I've shot very expensive, disappointing custom 1911’s, as well prize examples. The spectrum is much wider if you’re satisfied with a conversation piece. The field narrows when you demand performance the length of a football field with revolveresque reliability. Going in cold I went with Les Baer, a silhouetter from way back. Zeus says Rock River is back in the 1911 game. Today I wouldn’t consider going custom from the ground up. Any pistols i carry sooner or later learns to live around chainsaws and other tools of the Hardware World. I don’t wear a ring or a tattoo shows what I think of jewelry.
During my lifetime there was a myth the 1911 can be made either reliable or accurate but not both. Some knowing smiths killed this myth stone dead. All tilt-lock short-recoil auto pistols take their cue from John Browning, right up through Gaston Glock. Walther, Beretta, and Heckler & Koch all tried to draw a straighter line, and they haven’t.
David Bradshaw
Others stepped up to make a their own “improved” 1911, not one of which equaled Colt base hardware. The greats learned by working on the Colt, King, Pachmayr, Hogue, Baer, etc. (There are names I know and names I don't know who fit this aggressive learning curve; mine is an observation, not a library.)
Thus, the gun becomes a choice between a CUSTOM BUILT ON KNOWN HARDWARE and an established manufacturer proven to understand Browning’s 1911. I've shot very expensive, disappointing custom 1911’s, as well prize examples. The spectrum is much wider if you’re satisfied with a conversation piece. The field narrows when you demand performance the length of a football field with revolveresque reliability. Going in cold I went with Les Baer, a silhouetter from way back. Zeus says Rock River is back in the 1911 game. Today I wouldn’t consider going custom from the ground up. Any pistols i carry sooner or later learns to live around chainsaws and other tools of the Hardware World. I don’t wear a ring or a tattoo shows what I think of jewelry.
During my lifetime there was a myth the 1911 can be made either reliable or accurate but not both. Some knowing smiths killed this myth stone dead. All tilt-lock short-recoil auto pistols take their cue from John Browning, right up through Gaston Glock. Walther, Beretta, and Heckler & Koch all tried to draw a straighter line, and they haven’t.
David Bradshaw
