Getting my Crockett on.

[rathos]

I had one of those that I got rid of due to the slide release beating up my thumbs during shooting (I shoot thumbs forward or up normally). However I miss it and I have been eyeing a 4506-1 at a local gun store that is priced pretty low... Figure I can just adopt my revolver grip when shooting it.

[gomerpyle]

Gods Gun is now a part time fun gun, so my attitudes have changed quite a bit over the years.

Every time I think a Government size 1911 is too big and clunky, I pull out the 4506 and realize how sleek the 1911 is.

Big congrats on your new acquisition! I grew up on Miami Vice as well, but was more drawn to the pastel outfits....

Don't want to hijack this thread, but God's Gun also plays a memorable role in one Miami Vice episode - and Jim Zubiena proves just how sleek it is Moreover, i believe Michael Mann had attended Gunsite....

https://youtu.be/MsKj6RGQ2VM?t=69

Or am I confusing Jim Zubiena with Gabe White?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVX8KAWdnDg

[Duelist]

I had a similar moment a couple of months ago. LGS had a 645, 745, 4506, and 4516-1. It was a tough call, because I totally wanted to Sonny the hell out of it, but the 4506 somebody had put a high polish on the slide, so it was out, and all my other S&W semiautos are 3rd gens, so I went with the one that I thought I might actually carry and got the 4516. Don't have a lot of rounds through it, but I really like having it in my safe.

[JSGlock34]

Moreover, i believe Michael Mann had attended Gunsite....

There's some debate about exactly what Mann's tie to Gunsite was. We unpack that a bit in The Films of Michael Mann thread.

I've long been a fan of Michael Mann's work, dating back to my misspent youth watching Miami Vice reruns and trying to figure out what Sonny Crockett was carrying in Season One before the invention of Google. Mann's attention to technical proficiency gives his films a particular intelligence and air of authenticity that sets him apart from his contemporaries. While his attention to firearms selection and training makes him particularly appealing to the members here, his eye for detail extends to nearly any tool used by his characters. I recently was listening to the Director's Commentary for Thief (Mann is one of the few Directors that will get me to turn on the Director's track) and was struck by the array of real tools used by Frank (James Caan) during the film as he executes his heists.

The Thief commentary had a few more gems within as Mann and Caan discussed the making of the film. Mann apparently attended the American Pistol Institute in 1979.

JAMES CAAN: "I got to handle these tools that Michael talked about...I got to handle my gun...oh, that was another great thing...we went to Jeff Cooper in Gunsite, Arizona and went through a course...we shot for two days...learned how to go through rooms, houses...how to draw and fire..."

During the final scene...

JAMES CAAN: "...and now we will see some of the techniques that Michael and I learned from Jeff Cooper called sweeping...sweeping a house, sweeping a room, etc."

Interestingly, there is a list of notable Gunsite students at Wikipedia, and James Caan's name is specifically not listed, along with the following explanation...

Actor James Caan is sometimes included in the foregoing list, but when he told Cooper than he wanted to learn the Modern Technique for his role in the Michael Mann production, Thief (1981), Cooper declined, reasoning that Caan's character, an ex-con and career criminal, would not have been exposed to such training. Caan and Mann did, however, induce Gunsite's then D.Ops, Galen D. "Chuck" Taylor, to give him a one evening crash course, not in shooting, but looking like he knew how to shoot and move with a handgun. So thorough was Taylor's instruction, that many who saw the movie were convinced that Caan had been through Gunsite.

Earlier today I had the opportunity to get Chuck Taylor's take on what happened at Gunsite with Jeff Cooper and James Caan.

Chuck's recollection.
Feb. 1980 James Caan and Michael Mann showed up at Gunsite with a couple of Hogue long slide 1911s. Rather than use colorful language I will say Chuck did not think highly of Caan or Mann. A meeting took place in Cooper's office (The Crow's Nest) in his home. From the get go Cooper thought they both were the southbound end of a northbound horse and blew them off even though they were paying handsomely for a private tutorial. Mann wanted Caan to have some idea about what he was doing. Caan did not want to be there. Caan's hobby was rodeo. There was a rodeo in Denver coming up and Caan wanted out and to get to the rodeo.

The intention was for Caan to get five days of training. Cooper was offended because the hero, Caan was a bad guy. Cooper purposely dropped the whole thing in Taylor's lap. Chuck told me that Cooper used Taylor to get himself off the hook because Mann had paid for the training. Cooper did not refuse to give Caan training Cooper just refused to personally provide the training. Chuck said this all took place during the "off season" when nothing else was going on at Gunsite.

Chuck told me that he did some significant work on the script making the action realistic and was promised screen credit which he said he was "screwed out of".

Chuck said Caan did not want to listen or pay attention because he did not want to be there. He said Caan had a terrible trigger mash and decided that the only thing he could accomplish with Caan was make him look like he knew how to handle a weapon.

[Lynskey]

OP, thanks for your post and excellent photos.

I was and still am a fan of Miami Vice. I own the first three seasons, when it was really good, on DVD. Some of their individual episodes are better than some movies.

During that era I also owned a 645 and loved shooting it. Later I also bought a 745 which I liked shooting a little better. Neither ever gave me any trouble. During that same time frame I couldn't get any of the four Colt 1911s that I bought to work correctly.

Yeah, the 645s and 745s were big and heavy but mine shot very well. Unfortunately I was much younger and had a very limited budget for guns so both were eventually traded off for something else that I couldn't afford otherwise.

Good find, OP. Enjoy in good health.

[blues]

"Big Booty" Trudy approves:



"Oh...hell yeah, baby!"

[Poconnor]

I had a 4566 that I should have kept

[Trooper224]

I had a 4566 that I should have kept

Sadly, I have more than one gun on that list.

[PD Sgt.]

A 4506 was my first duty weapon. When we switched out to polymer I bought it from the department. I wish I had picked up a second as a parts back-up.

Back then we had more of a marksmanship culture on the department and qualified out to 50 yards with the Smiths. Never had a problem that wasn’t my fault.

[Beat Trash]

They were nice shooting pistols. And when you ran out of ammunition, you could just beat someone to death with the empty gun.

There comes a time in life when it’s ok to buy a pistol just because...

You need a Miami Vice leather shoulder holster. I actually bought one for a 5906 when I was first hired on in 1993. The 5906 was the issued pistol, and I may have watched a few episodes of Miami Vice.... still have that shoulder holster floating around in a box of holsters somewhere. Not sure if it would work with the 4506 or not though.