Posted on 03/06/2011 2:17:10 PM PST by smokingfrog
Sandy Koufax pitches a perfect game against the hapless Cubs while Gemini 4 astronaut Ed White executes the first space walk above the Earth. The Beatles play the first “stadium concert” in New York; Lyndon Johnson is sworn in for a full-term as president; and the first Colt M1911 Government Model is “combat customized.”
The year is 1965, and the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill captures far more attention than the ministrations of Swedish gunsmith Armand Swenson. His remarkable modifications to a Colt Government Model, however, are proving to be a watershed event in the development of the M1911. Swenson created the custom combat .45.
Custom tuning of the M1911 is not new, but, prior to Swenson, gunsmiths such as Bob Chow, Jim Clark and Al Dinan had focused solely on accuracy work for NRA Bullseye pistol competition. Along with lightening triggers and installing adjustable sights, the Government Model had never been customized specifically for combative purposes—a genre that later came to be known as “custom combat” gunsmithing—until a handful of pistolsmiths in Southern California began modifying the big slab-sided pistol for down-and-dirty use.
The late Armand Swenson remains the foremost of these pioneering pistolsmiths and the man who defined the custom combat .45 for evermore. A former state champion Golden Gloves boxer, the barrel-chested Swede worked a day job at Boeing. His hobby was building custom hunting rifles using surplus Mauser 98 actions and stocking them with elegant pieces of walnut. Swenson loved guns and he was a gifted craftsman—a rare combination. His other passion was speed. Armand designed high-speed racing boats in his off-time.
And back in 1965, things were indeed happening fast in Southern California. In a sleepy mountain resort called Big Bear, Jeff Cooper was holding “combat shooting” matches in the South West Combat Pistol League.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanrifleman.org ...
I lovelovelove my Browning HiPower, but if somebody said “You can only have one firearm” (hypothetically, of course) it would be either the M1991A1 or the Kimber full-size Custom Classic I own, both built by Alex Hamilton and dead reliable. I use them only for shooting matches because the idea of them in an evidence vault after a justifiable shooting unnerves me.
“Mommy buy me ‘dat!†It’s the marriage of art and engineering. The allure of cold blue steel. The smell of gun oil and fine leather. The feel of finely checkered American walnut. The snort and buck of something chambered in .45. Me want. Now.
Gonna be a good thread.....bflr.
I do love my colts, old and new. My every day concealed carry is a defender, box stock and not one ftf thru a couple thousand rounds of mostly reloads and wwbox ammo.
Always intended to argue that since there was no issue as to who fired the justified shot, that the only thing relevant to the bullet that went through the bad guy would be the (easily replaced) barrel of my handgun. I would further argue that now, more than ever, I needed a firearm for personal protection. That is all I would offer them, and hopefuly my attorney for the occasion would convince them.
Ditto on my every day 9mm. Commander - 40 years of unblemished performance. Perhaps when my DeSantis IWB tuckable arrives I will feel better about wearing my SA .45
Even though I have large hands, I have always found the standard grips of my 1911 Goldcup to be uncomfortable. Some years ago I found custom rosewood grips with a thumb rest and it changed the feel of the gun completely.
This thread will quickly devolve into nothing but ... gun porn!
Ping me when the pics arrive!
LOL!
Gun Porn! Love it. To have my throated, ramped, and accurized Combat Commander back. How could I let that beauty go?
You always remember your first love.
As long as it is reliable, a 1911A1 does not need anything done to it. Better sights and a slightly beveled mag well are probably a good idea.
I have owned probably a couple of dozen .45s and have been lucky that they were all reliable.
The most beautifully finished was a Series 70. The most accurate and by a good margin was a surplus Argentine military model.
My favorite of them all was a Combat Commander which I got used. It was in electroless nickel finish. It had a bit of rust on the back of the grip safety which to my surprise wiped off with an oiled cloth.
It just felt perfect in my hand.
Agree...standard for me on all my 1911s are smith alexander mag well guides with their micarta grips. Longer thinner an doesn’t heel into my palm. Agree...ya have to tweek em a bit but keep the mods simple a reliable an it sings.
Stay Safe...
The only things I’ve done to my stainless Commander is the Wilson slide release, a trigger job, and a set of Hogue grips.
The ramp job I did with a dremel tool and a few thousand rounds of ammo. It’s the closest thing to a perfect handgun I’ve ever picked up. I know there are ‘nicer’ ones. There are certainly more expensive ones.
But this one is mine. It just plain ‘fits’. I wouldn’t part with it for any other handgun.
L
I understand and have that very same 1911....:o)
I bought a new Springfield Armory (SA) frame and slide from a troop of mine and left it on the shelf for a few years etc ...
Put it together with spare parts collected over the years and it was a jam’omatic of course due the lack of tune and fit. A SWAT team friend of mine took it to a Albuquerque Hammer Monkey (Barry Mowery ?) that was very very good and did such for free for the SWAT sorts. He left my “Ron Peterson” bargain box used barrel that was almost smooth bore due what he said was very very accurate as it was and still remains today.
Anyway, solid trigger, buried and dehorned / melted bomars with bar dot H3’s, Smith Alexander Mag well guide and mainspring housing and good springs and wilson rogers mags an such and I have the gun you speak of. Mine, fits, functions, never had a failure with it and exudes 100% confidence and reliability for me in work or play.
Dragged it to Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia and a few more places till I retired from active duty. Carried it as a reserve deputy for a few departments over the years and it is on the desk next to me now. Very ugly, worn with history yet clean and reliable still.
Still like to use it for 3 gun and IDPA.... :o)
My day job and reserve deputy duty these days has me locked into combat tupperware so I shoot that more than anything to develop memory’matic skills that I have with the 1911A1 series. Recent new toy is a Glock 35 with a after market conversion barsto barrel in 357SIG. I like the caliber in the G35 variant. Best of all worlds if I HAVE to carry such per employment SOP.
Now we see several over-the-counter offerings that refine those early customs and make them available to average shooters. Real combat pistols designed to be carried and relied upon.
Life is good!
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