two days late to the thread, but in my state of old, decrepit, and lazy the lightweight commanders are just no fun to shoot and my shot to shot recovery sucks, the full size all steel government models are just too heavy to carry anymore, my favorites and what I would leave the house wearing anymore...
RRA Poly, this gun has really grown on me the last few years, and my gen 4 G21, both reasonably accurate, as reliable as I could ask for
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Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
I have no idea if anyone is doing this anymore. This gun was built in the early-mid 90s and I could not even tell you what the name of the bushing manufacturer is. I had it done, as I had been told that the original ones were prone to failure. No work was done as far as barrel fitment, (hood, locking lugs) for accuracy reasons. I wanted ultra reliability. This gun ended up being my BUG and off duty gun for a while. The Officer's ACPs, and 3.5" 1911s in general had a reputation for somewhat questionable reliability, so this one was set up to run, and it runs extremely well.
It is a bit heavy (by today's standards), being a stainless gun, instead of an aluminum frame, but I was concerned that I would trash an aluminum frame in short order.
Funny thing about this gun, these days being older, I am very rarely influenced by many people other than ones I know and trust on a personal level. This gun is sort of a result of reading gun magazines from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Roy Huntington was a writer for American Hangunner and a cop in southern CA. I cannot recall the town. Anyways he wrote off and on about a little Colt Officer's ACP he had and carried frequently. I very much enjoyed his other writings, and his practical, common sense manner. So, when I turned 21 the first handgun I legally purchased was the Officer's ACP. Then I went down the road to Milt Sparks. They had a new holster out called the Executive Companion, and I received the first one ever for a 3.5" 1911.
It still had the old "Idaho City" stamp on it, which is a little town in the mountains outside of Boise a ways where Milt used to have his shop.
I used this gun a good bit. One or two people doing bad things saw the muzzle end of it. I will never forget one weirdo who literally had a broadsword. He pulled it out of his truck and we had a little standoff.
But I eventually went on to other guns and it rarely gets shot anymore, though it is still quite fun to take out and run a few magazines through.
Better add the 4506 Decocker version and the first semi auto for S&W, the 645.
Back when I was poor I had both a 4516 and 3913 on the gun store counter in front of me. (Both were recently released.) I went 3913, but many times I regretted that choice.
I remember being enamored with a 1911 of some flavor in AH, it had a full width bushing blended into the slide sides that had the forward edges either chamfered or melted. It was gorgeous. If someone still offered an oversize bushing, I’d consider doing that.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
LOL,
Well the funny part was I was coming back from the gunsmith's in Boise. I had taken my patrol car for some reason. I was not working though. Cannot remember the circumstances. But I had picked up the little Colt. The gunsmith told me not to carry it until I had test fired it. So I am on my way back to the small town I lived and worked in, and a call went out for aid from another agency. I was very close so I pulled in. The other cop had this guy pulled over in a parking lot. All I had was the little Officer's ACP. The guy is yelling, not cooperating and we are trying to do a felony stop. Then the guy reaches behind the seat of the truck and starts pulling out a sword. and he keeps pulling out a sword. I remember thinking "who carries a broadsword, that thing is huge", and the words of my gunsmith about "don't carry the Colt until you shoot it/test it". I remember thinking "shoot him in the head, because you may only have one shot".
Fortunately it was not long and some more cars arrived and it got handled properly.
The lessons learned as a young/new officer. I made a LOT of mistakes, and looking back there are LOTS of things I would do differently, or simply not do at all!
Well, I'm 2 days late and a dollar short, but here are 2 I like a lot. I wish the Remington was still made. 16 rounds +P HST provides warm feelings.