[BigJon]

You know, I've seen piles of custom 1911s, and photos of others. Assuming, correctly or not, that there's not much difference in quality of work among the major players, have any of you (as I) found that the work of any particular smith is just more ... how do I describe this ... pleasing to the soul than others? Personally, I like the looks of the Brown Commander bobtail, but I've never even held one. My favorite, though, as far as aesthetics goes are Novak guns. I suppose that part of the reason is that I like simplicity, and I also like elegant lines, and the guns I have seen that Novak has done have those qualities in spades.

Remember the 1978 Commander LTW I picked up a few months back? Well, I've been enjoying the heck out of it with only one modification, a Wilson drop-in beavertail safety. Of course, it needs sights - bad! Am thinking of sending it to Novak for custom work. Sheesh, somebody find a trust fund for me!

Best,
Jon

 

[RIKA]

I like elegant lines, a beautiful finish and perfect checkering too. But that beauty would just be a safe queen for me - much too nice to shoot. My beauty has honest wear, is smooth and totally reliable and accurate as hell. More like the man you've been married to for 30yrs; you're comfortable with him, know his quirks and can count on him performing reliably every time you need him to.

RIKA

 

[BigJon]

Good analogy, R! Made me smile. We single guys are lookin' for females of the same bent!

Mine (referring to my guns, not my gals! ) won't be safe queens. They'll get used. After all, it's not the initials on the gun that makes it mine - it's the wear marks and the events they remind me of! I have two coming soon (I hope!) that will be my heirlooms. I have my grandfather's and great-grandfather's shotguns. My custom 1911 and Brockman rifle will be the ones I'll pass down ...

... but, Lord willin', that will be years in the future, and I plan to put LOTS of wear on them 'til then.

Best,
Jon

 

[Stillwater]

You know, I've seen piles of custom 1911s, and photos of others. Assuming, correctly or not, that there's not much difference in quality of work among the major players, have any of you (as I) found that the work of any particular smith is just more ... how do I describe this ... pleasing to the soul than others? Personally, I like the looks of the Brown Commander bobtail, but I've never even held one. My favorite, though, as far as aesthetics goes are Novak guns. I suppose that part of the reason is that I like simplicity, and I also like elegant lines, and the guns I have seen that Novak has done have those qualities in spades.

Remember the 1978 Commander LTW I picked up a few months back? Well, I've been enjoying the heck out of it with only one modification, a Wilson drop-in beavertail safety. Of course, it needs sights - bad! Am thinking of sending it to Novak for custom work. Sheesh, somebody find a trust fund for me!

Best,
Jon

BJ (love the sound of that), have you ever heard of Kings Gun works? Jim Hoag was the gunsmith that did the forty0fives there. In 1976 him struck out on his own and has successfully built forty-fives since then.

If you go over to the 1911forum.com you will find out that he is classified as one of the top ten forty-five gunsmiths there are. Jim doesn't advertise, he lets word of mouth do it for him. I have twelve fforty-fives that he has smithed. They are relatively plain guns, but, with impecable workmanship. And they shoot good, consistently.

A recent Guns magazine issue did a poll of it's readership, on who the top ten Colt gunsmiths were, and Jim was number five on the poll. Not too shabby. I have known Jim since 1962.

Funny thing though, NUTTY JOHN didn't get a single vote ... !

 

[BigJon]

Course I've heard of Kings; I've even managed to install a few of their parts into my pistols, after mangling quite a few others in the learning process. Have not heard of Mr. Hoag, but that's not surprising - I am not an insider or sufficiently educated in that world. I'd love to see some examples of his work. Does he have a web site?

Best,
Jon

 

[BigJon]

You know, it occurs to me that the difference is in the levels to which I understand pistols vs. rifles, or more accurately perhaps how their features work, for me, for specific tasks. I know enough about rifles and have used them enough to know which features work for me for a given task, and which don't. My subjective understanding there has allowed me to have rifles tailor made with features that actually have utility to me. I'm not that far along on the pistol curve; I know that my hand likes a BHP and a 1911, and to a slightly lesser extent a Sig, and that it does not like Glocks - they don't feel comfortable to me. Obviously, that affects my confidence with them and, therefore, my accuracy. So, I know what models fit me well and don't, but aside from sights, grip thickness, curve of the mainspring housing, and trigger length, when it comes to pistols I am not to the level that I know that part option one will work better for me than part option two. Make sense?

Best,
Jon