Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 1951 1911 custom .45

When I put the Nickel 1911, discussed previously on this site, in my safe, I pulled out this one. It brought back some memories. It's a Commercial frame 248XXX-C, that I picked up used many years ago, 1951 vintage. It had one of those long target ribs with sights, a set up from the past. I didn't like the rib, it was longer than the slide, extended beyond the muzzle. I removed it, let my high school bud, Ken Eversull work it over. Ken welded the screw holes such that they're hardly visible.

He milled a series of grooves down the slide, sorta forming a rib, installed S&W sights. You can see where he engraved his name along the rear sight. He used a Micro bushing which was a big thing back then. I don't see them so much today; you guys may want to chime in.

I checkered the front strap, my first attempt at such. It wasn't the best. When I got to the curved part under the trigger guard, I stippled it. I installed a beavertail grip safety, Commander hammer. I did a trigger job which turned out pretty good. I installed an extended slide release and rosewood grips. Then I had the grip frame and parts hard chromed.

I haven't shot it in years, need to change that. We'll see how it stacks up against the Nickel 1911. I'm sure it won't keep up with my Les Baer Long Slide, but it'll be fun seeing how close it gets. And how good the 1975 "shiny" Colt does against those two.

DF