Is Swenson the South African custom smith?
As written by Jason Burton at http://www.coolgunsite.com/comm_pistols/custom/swenson/swenson.htm: “Anyone who has read enough gun periodicals or has been around custom 1911s at any length has undoubtedly seen countless references to Armand Swenson and with good reason. As many have mentioned before, Swenson was one of the greatest and probably most important 1911 ‘smiths since Browning himself. Not necessarily because Swenson’s work was cosmetically perfect or without fault but because he was, to a greater or lesser extent, the first to really bring out the custom 1911 in the fashion that we know it today… or at least the first person to be widely recognized as such. While parts, techniques, technology, and the overall build of the custom 1911 have no doubt been elevated to a standard much higher than anything Swenson did the heart and soul of the custom 1911 is still firmly rooted and can be traced back to Armand Swenson’s work. Swenson paved the way for the “bulls-eye accurate and combat reliable” 1911s we have come to know and every custom maker working today owes him for that…. at least a little.”.
This is a great looking pistol built by one of the best Colt 1911 gunsmiths around. The nickel frame really stands out on this so be sure to check our pictures. If you are a serious Colt collector, adding an Armand Swenson custom built Colt that was originally built in WWII with matching frame and slide will certainly help to fill-out your collection.
