1911 thread CA custom style

[chaseface]

"Other" and "dont even bother buy a glock" should DEFINITELY be two different choices

[NiteQwill]

A Springfield Pro gives the MOST bang for the buck. It's hard to really beat (within similar price ranges). Second, I'd get a LB.

[TMC]

I've got 3 Infinity pistols and 3 STI's and I am still SHOCKED at the prices being paid for a single stack 1911. Really, $3,500? 5,800?! I've built a dozen or more 1911's from parts and when you know there's about $700-$900 worth of parts (at retail) its amazing to me.

I'm not putting down the decision to buy a high-end gun, if you have the wear-with-all by all mean have at it. They are all good guns.

[Wrex]

Todd Powers at Phantom Finishing also ships to Ion Bond and he's in california if you want to save on shipping.

[vmwerks]

I have a Kimber Custom II, Springfield TRP, Springfield Champion - all are nice guns but I had a hankering for a custom 1911 too. I bought a low round count DLASK .38 Suoer upper and ordered an RIA 1911 in .38 Super. JRJ Custom Pistols is working everything over and I will be into the gun for about $2500 or so. IDK it's a project so I'm ok with it but in retrospect I'd have been better off buying a low round count Baer or other custom.

[sava]

Springfield Professional.

After you read the FBI reports, you will know why the Springer is miles above the rest. Best bang for your buck, by far. As soon as I get done with college, it will be my first purchase to myself.

[wamphyri13]

I would suggest a middle ground. Find a good used SA MC Operator and then send it to Chuck Rogers at Rogers Precision. Then you can get the exact gun YOU want. I had him customize my brand new Mil-Spec. Chuck is a great guy too. His level of detail is amazing. What you or I would look at and see as awesome, he finds flaws with. And it's his work. That's a guy I can get behind.
Ryan

[m1match]

I've owned Baer's, Wilson's, and Nighthawks, they are all top notch 1911s. Most of my 1911s are full customs by Ted Yost, Bob Rodgers, and others. A full custom build will cost quite a bit more than any of these high end 1911s. The previous poster is right about Chuck Rogers work, he did the machine work on both my Bob Rodgers customs. The problem is Chuck is so backlogged that you might not even be able to get him to take any new work. I have shot Springfield Professionals and they are top notch, but they are not miles above the rest, contrary to what sava said.

My own personal taste is that the Baer's are too tight. A 1911 doesn't have to be so tight that you need gorilla hands to rack the slide. My Yost and Rodger's 1911s will shoot as well as the Baer's that I've owned and they aren't that tight in the slide to frame fit. The barrel upper/lower lug fitting and bushing fitting are the most important to accuracy. I think Bob Rodgers told me that slide to frame tightness contributes maybe 5% to the accuracy of a 1911.

So for me, I prefer Wilson, Nighthawk, and Springfield Professionals of the guns you've mentioned. For everyday use, the 20 lines per inch frontstrap checkering on the Springfield Pro is too sharp and coarse. After a day of shooting or a multiday class, your hands will be very sore and you'll probably have lost skin and be bleeding too. The Wilson has 30 lpi checkering which is still great for grip but not so sharp as to take skin off. I believe that the Nighthawk GRP has 25 lpi checkering on the frontstrap, which is a good compromise between 20 lpi and 30 lpi.

[Dhena81]

"Other" and "dont even bother buy a glock" should DEFINITELY be two different choices

Your right it should be different choices the poll was done last and meant to be funny.

I like the Melonite idea never knew about the NH situation with the BD finish good to know stuff.

I think I may get started with the Springfield pro then go from there 9-12 months won't go that long it has some features I want that would cost me extra money with SS, shipping, and transfer if I went with the Wilson, NH, and Baer. Because of CA law nothing can be safe other than pistols they have tested lets face it if you switch out a main spring housing or omit slide machining they need another 50k.

I really don't want to go with a piece that I need a bushing wrench to disassemble. I'm new to 1911's but I really just love the platform this won't be the last one I buy by any means unless I get married or something even crazier happens. You guys know way more about builders and such that I wouldn't even know where to begin to search for the info I guess I could join a 1911 forum. I may only get to buy 2 guns this year between this 1911, bolt gun, and shooting addiction.

[Cyc Wid It]

I've got 3 Infinity pistols and 3 STI's and I am still SHOCKED at the prices being paid for a single stack 1911. Really, $3,500? 5,800?! I've built a dozen or more 1911's from parts and when you know there's about $700-$900 worth of parts (at retail) its amazing to me.

I'm not putting down the decision to buy a high-end gun, if you have the wear-with-all by all mean have at it. They are all good guns.

Top end smiths do a lot of machine work and make a lot of their own parts. Sure you're getting diminishing returns, but there's still multi-year waitlists for these builds so they must be doing something right.

[m1match]

If you've ever done smithing work on a 1911, you know that those top end smiths put a LOT of hours of hand fitting into every gun and you know that they aren't getting rich when you consider how many hours go into a full custom 1911. Almost nothing in a 1911 is drop in and that's why top quality 1911s of any make are expensive. The gun was designed in at a time when labor was cheap and machinery expensive. Now it's the opposite, machinery is cheap and labor is expensive.

[vmwerks]

I've got 3 Infinity pistols and 3 STI's and I am still SHOCKED at the prices being paid for a single stack 1911. Really, $3,500? 5,800?! I've built a dozen or more 1911's from parts and when you know there's about $700-$900 worth of parts (at retail) its amazing to me.

I'm not putting down the decision to buy a high-end gun, if you have the wear-with-all by all mean have at it. They are all good guns.

I hope you don't think you're building the same pistols as the custom guys are. Doing it right is very labor intensive. Back about 24 years ago a friend and I used to assemble a lot of 1911's for fun. They are easy to assemble - build from parts - but we never ever considered them "custom" guns. Now that I can afford a "real" custom gun I can really appreciate the difference.

[1911Luvr]

If you've ever done smithing work on a 1911, you know that those top end smiths put a LOT of hours of hand fitting into every gun and you know that they aren't getting rich when you consider how many hours go into a full custom 1911. Almost nothing in a 1911 is drop in and that's why top quality 1911s of any make are expensive. The gun was designed in at a time when labor was cheap and machinery expensive. Now it's the opposite, machinery is cheap and labor is expensive.

You are correct sir. I've spent MANY hours at my gunsmith's shop watching and learning everything I could about the intricacies of custom 1911s, and for a real smith there is almost nothing that is "drop-in". Even something considered as simple as a safety replacement that most people would drop in gets special treatment in the form on matching the edge profile to properly flow from the frame's grip area, smoothing the tooling marks, rounding the thumb rest and deburring the serrations, and properly fitting so there is no binding or tight points that inhibit a perfectly smooth operation. Now take this attention to detail and apply it to the entire firearm and you will understand what a real 1911 fit by a custom smith is all about.

[9mmepiphany]

A lot of it has to do with how correct you want a 1911...and your definition of correct.

When my smith was working on my latest, he mentioned that he was re-lining it. That perked up my ears, as my prior exposure to re-lining had to do with relining barrels to different calibers. He calmed me by explaining that the contour line above the trigger guard, on Colts, commonly aren't straight. If you want to see it, hold your frame up to your eye and sight down the frame from the rear...that is one of the custom touches of a custom 1911.

One of the most beautiful revolvers I've ever seen was a S&W M-10 that a revolver smith had worked on. Every flat surface was flat, every corner square, every curved surface was on a constant radius and a nice hand polish...just that and a nice hot blue made that gun the rival of any M27 or a Python

[IPSICK]

I hope you don't think you're building the same pistols as the custom guys are. Doing it right is very labor intensive. Back about 24 years ago a friend and I used to assemble a lot of 1911's for fun. They are easy to assemble - build from parts - but we never ever considered them "custom" guns. Now that I can afford a "real" custom gun I can really appreciate the difference.

You'd really have to see TMC shoot his guns and the guns themselves. He's not just making legos. He does custom work but most likely just for himself.

Custom makers are great and all, but at some point you may just be paying a premium for the name. What I mean by this is that their work is the best of the best but you may end up paying $500-$1000 more because of the name. Not that it isn't deserved because they worked hard to build that reputation.