Going to buy a custom 1911

What brand of custom 1911 should I buy?

  • Wilson Combat

    Votes: 33 22.3%

  • Les Baer

    Votes: 27 18.2%

  • Ed Brown

    Votes: 17 11.5%

  • Dan Wesson

    Votes: 20 13.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 51 34.5%
  • Total voters
    148
sigtactical said:
my vote for a dan wesson SS custom in .40

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Sorry I should have specified only 45 acp guns :)
 
I haven't tried any of the others but I own a Nighthawk GRP and there's no question it's by far the best firearm I've ever owned (and I've owned a bunch:)).
  • Amazingly crisp, light trigger pull
  • Superior workmanship inside and out -- it's tightly fitted for sure but amazingly easy to disassemble and reassemble. Have a look at he bottom picture below -- that's how it looks today, and it's had 1400 rounds fired though it
  • Fantastic accuracy (I've shot it from 7m to 100m, and at 100m I hit a 4" balloon, standing, on my first shot)
  • The "feel" of the pistol with 30 lpi checkering on the frontstrap and 20 lpi (I think) on the MSH combined with the VZ grips is perfection

Nighthawk_calendar_b.jpg


nighthawk-7june.jpg
 
First off between the 3 Custom company's i'll mention here (Wilson,Ed Brown,Les baer)they all make exellent 1911's,Ed Brown would be known for the exellent blueing he does,(Arguablly the best in the biz)you look at the stainless steel pistols they make, look so uniform and consistent,that you would think it was hardchrome!They also have been quoted as it should be fit right,not tight!Exellent product and very accurate. Wilson while in my opinion while every bit as good a product, there "Aim or mission" in my opinion would be slightly maybe less of the classic look (Just as much a classic in it's own right)and maybe more of an overall tactical theme as opposed to kind of the peerless look theme (Ed Brown)they are also known to have the most exhaustive test fire procedure's and a big check list for people to check list.Wilson is also know for there lifetime warranty,alot of people take comfort in that.Exellent product and very accurate,you should see the groups on paper at 15 yrd's a 5 shot group will fall into the size of a nickel!Les Baer's pistol's have been know as to be true workhorses that have awesome reliability and a definte classic theme,but in my opinion,slightly less on cosmetics,and more "themed on the performance factor" Exellent product.
 
Sorry ran out of room.All three of the mentioned company's make exellent product and they all share different fitting philosiphy's,it basically come's down to what a person desire's(my wife would never be able to pull a slide back on a bear,but a Ed Brown no problem)On the other side of the coin someone that does have the strength to pull the slide back on a bear would know there might be slightly less muzzle flip on a bear because of this atribute.So it all boils down to personal preference ,and what one feel's when they rack the slide back.By the way someone mentioned that they would be suspect of bear's or brown's warranty,i think that comment is entirely unfounded and useless as it sound's like they have never had a warranty issue with either(So how would they know in the fist place).........:confused::confused:
 
You might also want to consider the Springfield Professional - while it's more of a production gun than some of the others, it's still hand built, extremely scarce, very high quality and has the added bonus of being "the real thing" as far as being an issue pistol to an elite law enforcement unit.
 
X2 I have a Vickers/Nighthawk and it is the best.

Master-G said:
I haven't tried any of the others but I own a Nighthawk GRP and there's no question it's by far the best firearm I've ever owned (and I've owned a bunch:)).
  • Amazingly crisp, light trigger pull
  • Superior workmanship inside and out -- it's tightly fitted for sure but amazingly easy to disassemble and reassemble. Have a look at he bottom picture below -- that's how it looks today, and it's had 1400 rounds fired though it
  • Fantastic accuracy (I've shot it from 7m to 100m, and at 100m I hit a 4" balloon, standing, on my first shot)
  • The "feel" of the pistol with 30 lpi checkering on the frontstrap and 20 lpi (I think) on the MSH combined with the VZ grips is perfection

Nighthawk_calendar_b.jpg


nighthawk-7june.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Nitpicking perhaps, but none of the above are truly custom 1911's. They are semi-custom, that is a particular pistol manufactured in quantity with a set of options available.

A custom gun is one built from a base to the purchasers specifications.
 
All of said guns are great guns, I have owned a few but I would really look at STI, not so much custom as the others listed her but will run every bit as good and the support you will get from Freedom Ventures if you ever need service is second to none.
 
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If you really want a "custom 1911" grab a Norc,Caspian, Springfield etc sign up for a LAV 1911 course and build your 1911 in the course.

Here's a testimonial;

I was fortunate enough to attend Larry Vickers 1911 Gunsmith Course in the LA area back in May of this year. I had built a two other guns previously with various gunsmiths in preparation for the LAV course. I have shot the 1911 my entire career and considered my self fairly knowledgeable about the gun, until I went to the LAV course. I easily learned 25-30 new things about the 1911 and how it all applies to building a very functional gun.

I'm not from the Peoples Republic of California, so I was able to bring a Caspian series 70 frame and slide for the build. The rest of the prats varied from Wilson, Novak, Ed Brown, etc. I came out with the best pistol I have built to date. I was able to shoot 100 rnds through the gun for test fire during the course, and probably about 300 more since the course. Yesterday I was able to go out to a range and really put the gun to the test. By the end of the day I was consistently hitting 6" Bianchi plates from 30 yrds in a timely manner. Nothing that will win me the next National Championships, but for my third build ever I was extremely happy with the accuracy and function.

Besides all the knowledge and experience you will pick up from Larry's class, you will come away with a 1911 that was built to run and if you pay attention will be far more accurate then you will be able to shoot it.

I recommend Larry's class to anyone who wants to take things a step further with a 1911 custom build, and if the time presents itself and I'm able to do another course, I would defiantly attend again.
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Really dig the tacticool look of Nighthawk Custom guns. Their AAC 1911 looks all sorts of yummy:

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I know I won't ever own a sound suppressor on this side of the border, but that doesn't make me want one less. I love the look of threaded barrel + tall sights.
 
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