Originally Posted by
Maple Syrup Actual
Stuff like this is old hat to me but at the same time...whenever I hang out with boat guys who aren't hard core gun guys that own boats, but hard core boat guys that own a gun or two...they ask me stuff about guns and in particular 1911s since I've built a few of those and make no secret of my pointless and atavistic enjoyment of that platform.
Anyway, the number of guys who've asked questions that are basically the ground covered by this video is probably in the dozens. I bet it's the the most common thing I get asked about that isn't "what 1911 should I get" but it almost is the answer to that question, as well.
I think it's easy to forget that the PFC readership represents a tiny component of gun culture. We all know this, but at the same time, I think when we see stuff that's aimed at a broader audience, we forget this and say "I don't need that."
Which may be true, but it remains needed. I'll save this one in my list of stuff I send out to people who've asked questions as they look for a first 1911, because the advice is good, and the pedigree of the guys is recognizable even to most fairly casual gun enthusiasts.
Personally, I can't do GI tang safeties: ever since my hands were replaced with the paws of an actual gorilla in a groundbreaking but fictional operation forty years ago, the amount of meat on them means the web piles up over the safety when I grip it as high as is typical for me.
I want a beavertail, Novaks or similar, an extended safety which I prefer to be long but narrow, a clean trigger, and front strap checkering or serrations. Everything else is a bit negotiable to me but that's the basis of a 1911 I'm going to like, assuming the function stuff is all good like the barrel timing etc. I can be a bit flexible on thumb safeties but I don't like the original nubs that much. On guns I have built for myself I grind the frame and tang safety up and forward for a higher grip, but it's not critical IMO.
