How is your year of the 1911 Going?

[AxeHandle]

Here we are coming up on the half way mark on the 100th anniversary of the 1911. How is your 1911 "set" doing? My personal set has been sitting still. I wanted a Springfield Range Officer but they been to be slow to surface here. The first shipment of SR1911s arrived but were too pricey for me. My current hope is that the SR1911 will open up a better opportunity for me to acquire a RO. Of course all this will be moot if I don't stop spending the money on Nimrods and such... All that said, let's post some 1911 pics. Maybe write a bit about them as we post.

I'll kick it off with my Les Baer custom Colt Officers model. It is a full blown custom from back before Les manufactured his own frames. This gun has every bell and whistle available in the mid 90s. While I didn't have this gun built I did buy it new. I've even got the original box up on the box shelf out in the shop..

[Lil Dudey]

Springfield Armory Range Officer

www.guns.com/reviews/springfield-armory-1911-range-officer.html

[AxeHandle]

This one is a pre Series 70 Colt. It came to me in the late 70s as a custom wadcutter gun built by the Columbus MS retired Air Force gunsmith Forest Davis while his shop was still in San Antonio TX.. Through the years it evolved from a Bomar sight 5 inch gun, to a Burris scope mounted on the slide gun, to its present configuration, a Bomar extended sight rib wadcutter gun. It has been an exceptional shooter in all configurations..

[AxeHandle]

One of my later 1911s. This one built by Dan Norwood of the NGMTU on a Caspian frame and slide set with a Barstow barrel. Had this one built after I retired and had to turn in my issued stuff. Wanted be be ready to shoot service pistol in case I got to Camp Perry to shoot the President's Match one day. Why Barsto barrel and not Kart? Because the Barstow has proven to shoot the 230 grain military hardball load better than the Kart. Bomar sights of course. Gun is built to the maximum for Service Pistol. Current rules allow the Beretta 9mm. I won my distinguished badge with the 45 ACP 1911 27 years ago. I wouldn't shoot anything less.

[AxeHandle]

How about a 38 Super 1911 modified for Bullseye. Built on a pre series Colt by the NGMTU gunsmith Dan Norwood. Kart barrel with a Burris scope in Z rings on a dust cover scope mount. The load we shoot in this thing is more a 38 Auto than a 38 Super. 115 JHPs at just under 1000 FPS.. Recoils like a 22. Shoots cloverleafs at 50 yards. Recoil energy is pretty much the same as the 38 Special wadcutter guns but the recoil pulse is so much shorter it seems to me to be less.....

[bigbore442001]

How is my year of the 1911 going? Fine. I don't own any. I had a Colt Series 80 many years ago and sold it. For some reason I could never warm up to the 1911's.

[AxeHandle]

I hate it for you.. My first centerfire handgun bought in my name when I turned 21 in 1973 was a Springfield 1911. Didn't even know what it was until it was long gone 10 years later.
Here is another bullseye gun by Dan Norwood.. One of a matching pair of Springfield Armory 45 wadcutter guns. Kart barrels, dustcover scope mounts, Burris scopes.... The wedge mainspring housing that I prefer is legal on this gun. Capable of shooting a possible 900 score with a 90+ X count any day of the week out of a Ransom Rest..

[AxeHandle]

One of my running buddies got me on a compact 1911 tangent a while back. This Kimber Ultra CDP Elite was a limited run and I believe Kimber's first supported chamber barrel in an alloy frame 1911.

[AxeHandle]

The Springfield V10 was something I'd never have considered at one point in time... Slots cut in the slide with lots of matching holes in the barrel...

[AxeHandle]

Up a notch in size is this Dan Wesson CBOB... An eye opener for me it answered all the questions in my head about the DW 1911.

[AxeHandle]

And the last one for today... My personal favorite commander sized 1911. This is a pre series II Kimber Pro Carry.. Nice Hardware!

[Mark Terry]

Very nice hardware Axe.

This is one of those areas in which I was in denial. Everything I'd read said you couldn't reliably hit the side of the barn from the inside. Then I started reading about the competition guns and groups at 50 yards that were hard to believe.

I'm still on the appreciation curve and was thinking the other day about an adjustable rear sight. Can Bomars still be had? Any reccomendations?

[AxeHandle]

Bomar closed their doors.. I heard that the last of the family died. Don't know who stepped up to take their place. I think the larger 1911 makers have turned out Bomar copies. Lots of good guns out there to choose from. Aren't you pretty close to Travis Strahan? Don't think that bullseye gun builders get any better...

[patdaddy]

i havent gone shooting yet this year (i know i know), but i just got a brand new stainless Sig Target 1911, ive also got a springfield GI, an old colt Series 70, and a 1943 remington rand.

[AxeHandle]

As a Colt 1911 snob for many years I wouldn't consider anything that wasn't a Colt or Springfield. My first Kimber changed that. This one is a pre series II Super Match.