Custom Hand Flared Magwell. Anyone do this anymore??????

[bombadillo]

Here are a few pics for reference of the gun. For the guys who can't see all the detail, or just wouldn't know without hearing it because it isn't visible, here are the specs.

Colt 70's Series base 1911 blued
hand flared magwell
Hand ground grips to match the magwell
hand checkered rear strap at 45* (All checkering is done at a 45* angle)
hand checkered front strap, trigger guard, plunger plug, bottom of slide stop
Fine hand checkered rear of slide (one of my favorite parts because it is just so nice)
Custom front sight, and is hand serrated on the rear of blade
Bo-Mar rear sight dovetailed in
hand fitted slide to frame
Hand fitted bushing
Hand fitted barrel
Oversized mag release
Undercut trigger guard
Chamfered slide stop holes
Old style matte nickel finish
Colt Custom blued the slide
Safariland beavertail also nickel finished
Armand Swenson Ambi safety
Ed Brown Hardcore hammer
Ed Brown match sear
Trigger job done by Larry Mears out of Redding CA at Olde West Guns set at 2.25lbs and is PERFECT in my eyes (I'm kind of a hair trigger whore)


And I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but this is the basic list of the things I can remember off the top of my head without looking at the gun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I'll also get some new pics up. These are old pics, but it looks exactly the same. My next step is to have the slide stripped down and have it all sent to Colt again for their "Royal Blue" finish. It has a couple little spots on the left of the slide.

[bombadillo]

Yup, this was an Eddie Jimenea gun. Really well built.

[Citadelgrad87]

That's pretty sexy. Terry Tussey did some work on a commanding officers model for me in the early 1990s, but I didn't want him making major changes because it's a bit rare. He's moved to nevada, iirc, but still does work. Not sure about the mag well flare, but drop him a line, he's an old world kind of guy.

[Tok36]

Nice pistol OP. Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing the pics.

[bombadillo]

Thank you guys for the compliments. Most of it came that way to me being kind of a unicorn find for me. The trigger work, and minor modifications here and there including some barrel link work what not.

[bombadillo]

Oh, and you don't even want to know what I paid for it and what I've been offered.

[TurboChrisB]

Stunning....a true piece of old world craftsmanship. Nice.

[Sky_DiveR]

That truly is a piece of Old World Craftsmanship.

I like the different flare on the lowered ejection port (or is that a trick of lighting).

Nice touch on the front sight (looks kinda fragile tho).

The slide/frame/ejector looks perfectly done (along with the lowered Bomar sight).

Looks like somebody had to change the extractor somewhere along the way. Usually it's checkered along with the slide.

The checkering on the front of the triggerguard shows the sign of the times. I believe they checker the underside of the triggerguard now.

Love the E-Nic finish. Looks just like my Python. Don't see em like that anymore.

I am totally envious of you. I, on the other hand, no longer have any custom guns.

[bombadillo]

To be honest, the front sight looks more fragile in that pic than it is. It's pretty thick when you see it in person, but the light just makes it look thinner than it is.

The ejector I was a bit bummed out about, because I'm sure that was the same color blue, and checkered as well, but something must have happened to it like you said.

You're spot on with the lowered ejection port, it's different than most, and just kind of cool looking as well with the electroless nickel. The plating is unlike anything else I've seen, and absolutely durable. I wish they did this finish still like they used to because I would have other guns done if I could find someone to do it.

Thanks for the compliments though Sky Divr. I picked it up for next to nothing when compared to the value. I literally offered the guy double for it, and told him to do more homework on it, but he insisted that it be sold for the price he wanted. I actually held off for a week and had the numbers run with the local PD because it was that cheap. Didn't come up stolen or otherwise in ANY system which was kind of nice because it was purchased pre reg.

[Bullitt01]

Oh, and you don't even want to know what I paid for it and what I've been offered.

Yes...how much?

[Kanoodler]

Nice score, Bomb!

Your pics remind me of fond times visiting the old Pachmyr workshop in Los Angeles back in the day! A young man from South Africa named Paul Leibenberg was building Combat Specials in the little workshop that was in the Pachmayr factory. One of his finer works was using handmade mandrels and heat forging to "swage" the mag wells into a flared open position for faster loads than beveling alone. If I remember right, this little addition was around 200 smackers at the time, which was outside my wallet. Of course, I could kick myself now!

When we consider the risks of heating and spreading the mouth of a finished mag well, we can really appreciate that it was an incredibly delicate job, and remains so! I'm not sure which smiths today would take on the challenge! Terry Tussey? Bruce Grey? Alex Hamilton? Doug Turnbull? Hmmmmm...

[bombadillo]

Yep, it's a delicate one for sure. I actually found Eddie Jimenea recently out of Houston texas and he's going through his paperwork to try and find the original build sheet for me. He is still working, and 33 years later, I'm guessing he would still do this, and even BETTER than he did on this one with that much time spent working on this fine craft. One of the rare ones for sure.

[toby]

Nice pistol I love craftsmanship over bolt on.

[bombadillo]

Not great lighting, but here are some more pics.

[bombadillo]

And magwell vs magwell with a magazine in it.














Since I know we are all picture whores, I figured I would get a few up there.