Back when Evolution Gun Works (EGW) did gunsmith work and built comp guns I had a chance to shoot a bullseye gun they had built up from a Colt Series 80 slide & frame, and it really was on another level of build quality and shooting performance compared to the 1911 I was shooting at the time, which was an SW1911 and I’ve always liked these production guns. So I get it, I now have a Dan Wesson Valor bought used but LN, and an STI Trojan 9mm bought new, and these have been scratching the 1911 itch for me for a while. But it would be nice to have a Wilson or a Les Baer one of these days!
Semi-Custom and Custom 1911s: Why?
- Thread starter TunnelRat
- Start date
If you want a really nice 1911 and don't have a huge budget consider the S&W
SCe, it's not a Ed Brown or Les Baer but it's very close for alot less money. The trigger is amazing and it has the brightest night sights I've ever seen.
I've had one for about five years and shot thousands of rounds through it, ended up selling most of my other handguns. Honestly, I think it's a little nicer than the Wilson CQB.
This is a good price on one.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/868576426
Mine.
SCe, it's not a Ed Brown or Les Baer but it's very close for alot less money. The trigger is amazing and it has the brightest night sights I've ever seen.
I've had one for about five years and shot thousands of rounds through it, ended up selling most of my other handguns. Honestly, I think it's a little nicer than the Wilson CQB.
This is a good price on one.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/868576426
Mine.
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If you want a really nice 1911 and don't have a huge budget consider the S&W
SCe, it's not a Ed Brown or Les Baer but it's very close for alot less money. The trigger is amazing and it has the brightest night sights I've ever seen.
I've had one for about five years and shot thousands of rounds through it, ended up selling most of my other handguns. Honestly, I think it's a little nicer than the Wilson CQB.
This is a good price on one.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/868576426
Mine.
I actually did have one, or what was the incarnation of one at the time, a number of years ago. I have a thread on it somewhere. I unfortunately did not have good luck with mine. I ended up sending it back to S&W and it came back functioning reliably but they had adjusted the barrel to slide fit so much that I felt the accuracy had been affected. It was a beautiful firearm in a great size. Good to hear you have had good luck with yours.
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It’s definitely rare. I’ve heard more positive than negative stories.
S&W is that bad luck company for me. I had another S&W 1911 where the safety plunger tube broke. Then I had a few M&Ps that had to go back or I fixed with ordered parts. An M&P45 Compact with failures to feed once it got dirty, an M&P 9c where the slide was peening the barrel, an M&P 9c where the cases ejected straight into my face at rocket speeds, an M&P 9 5” where the trigger shoe wasn’t molded properly and would rub on the frame, and an M&P 2.0 Compact where magazines wouldn’t drop free until I used steel wool on the inside of the frame. I’ve had to send more pistols back to S&W than any other company I’ve owned. They make a lot of products I really like but I seem to have the worst luck with them. Their customer service has always fixed them with no hesitation and paid shipping both ways.
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S&W is that bad luck company for me. I had another S&W 1911 where the safety plunger tube broke. Then I had a few M&Ps that had to go back or I fixed with ordered parts. An M&P45 Compact with failures to feed once it got dirty, an M&P 9c where the slide was peening the barrel, an M&P 9c where the cases ejected straight into my face at rocket speeds, an M&P 9 5” where the trigger shoe wasn’t molded properly and would rub on the frame, and an M&P 2.0 Compact where magazines wouldn’t drop free until I used steel wool on the inside of the frame. I’ve had to send more pistols back to S&W than any other company I’ve owned. They make a lot of products I really like but I seem to have the worst luck with them. Their customer service has always fixed them with no hesitation and paid shipping both ways.
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I have one semi-custom. It's a SA that Clark built, it's a heavy slide bullseye gun. Bought a new SA years ago and sent it to Clark. No fluff at all, Bomar Rib, flat mainspring housing, Clark stippling, extended trigger, Clark bbl, slide tightened, tuned 2 magazines for it.
You can't buy one like it off the shelf, it's build it or do with out.
For plain old shooting as in IDPA etc, there are plenty good pistols available. I have a Colt Wiley Clapp lightweight Commander and a DW Valkyrie Commander th
at I'm totally happy with except for the sights. Note that I don't require the perfect trigger pull, I don't mind if a Colt gun rattles. As long as the trigger pull is decent and the gun goes bang every time and hits what I shoot at, I'm happy.
You can't buy one like it off the shelf, it's build it or do with out.
For plain old shooting as in IDPA etc, there are plenty good pistols available. I have a Colt Wiley Clapp lightweight Commander and a DW Valkyrie Commander th
at I'm totally happy with except for the sights. Note that I don't require the perfect trigger pull, I don't mind if a Colt gun rattles. As long as the trigger pull is decent and the gun goes bang every time and hits what I shoot at, I'm happy.
There's just something to be said, for fine bourbon, classy cars, and hand built 1911's, first one i ever owned was a Sweenson in 38super that went to war with me to the RVN, lost it in a hole, have owned a few others as nice and as smooth, my 2 cents the reason every one loves the glocks and their ilk, mimics the new military plug and play no hand fitting, any one can do it and improve it, but it takes a true master of the system on the 1911 to understand and tune it right
stephen426
New member
Tunnel Rat,
If you have the funds to do it and want a well built gun that you will enjoy, go for it. There is usually a law of diminishing returns. A gun that costs twice as much isn't going to be twice as good, but it certainly will be better than a standard mil-spec gun. Getting a great deal on a semi-custom is a great way to go. I bought my Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special used for $1300. To this day, it is still one of my favorite guns and everyone who shoots it is amazed by it.
Will a great gun make you a better shooter, I believe so. Having a nice crisp trigger allows you to stay on target easier. Having no slop or pay in the slide gives you better mechanical precision. A friend of mine explained it to me like this. If a gun is rated to shoot 2 inches at 50 yards and another gun will shoot 4 inches at 50 yards, it eliminates the variable that it was the gun and not the shooter.
I do have a few decent Swiss time pieces, but I've switched to an Apple Watch due to the functionality. I also carry a polymer striker fired gun rather my nicer 1911s, but that is the practical side of me.
If you have the funds to do it and want a well built gun that you will enjoy, go for it. There is usually a law of diminishing returns. A gun that costs twice as much isn't going to be twice as good, but it certainly will be better than a standard mil-spec gun. Getting a great deal on a semi-custom is a great way to go. I bought my Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special used for $1300. To this day, it is still one of my favorite guns and everyone who shoots it is amazed by it.
Will a great gun make you a better shooter, I believe so. Having a nice crisp trigger allows you to stay on target easier. Having no slop or pay in the slide gives you better mechanical precision. A friend of mine explained it to me like this. If a gun is rated to shoot 2 inches at 50 yards and another gun will shoot 4 inches at 50 yards, it eliminates the variable that it was the gun and not the shooter.
I do have a few decent Swiss time pieces, but I've switched to an Apple Watch due to the functionality. I also carry a polymer striker fired gun rather my nicer 1911s, but that is the practical side of me.
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I have 2 'custom' 1911s, meaning they are handbuilt by me. I have done 2 for me and helped my brother build his. All came from 1911builders. I built them, they are really nice, and work quite well. I learned a lot by building them, fitting the pieces. They all ran a little over $1000 each, but part of the costs were the jigs and tools to finish them. They are really significant to me. So, it all depends on what you want and reasons for getting that particular pistol. Mine means more to me (and eventually my son) and my brother's means more to him (and eventually his son) than any of them will probably mean to anyone else. I'm not concerned what anyone else thinks, but so far, everyone who has seen any of them are really impressed.
Kevin Rohrer
New member
A Wilson CQB for $1700 is a steal. I paid >2x that for mine. jump on it. The gun will outlast you, and certain outlast the <$700 boat anchors.
Yeah I had seen some threads on that (from what I’ve seen it’s actually WC0 with the last being a number zero not a letter O https://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=217951). I know it’s not a WCT serial number. Still, compared to the others I handled the difference was still appreciable. Maybe I will get a new Wilson one day depending on how I like this one, but for now starting used is my option.
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I LOVE THIS GUN! No, it is not a Wilson Combat, it just has a full compliment of Wilson Combat parts in it hand fitted by the best 1911 specialist gunsmith I could find. He told me the frame-to-slide fit, quality of the steel and barrel of the original gun out of the box were right on par with his high-end Dan Wesson. He did the trigger job to equal that of his personal high-end Dan Wesson, and he ran a couple hundred rounds through it to assure that it runs with all types of ammo and told me it is just as accurate as his Dan Wesson. The slide runs as if on ball bearings and the trigger is penomenal. Hand-fitted WC barrel bushing, hammer, trigger, all internal parts and grip safety. Ed Brown snakeskin mainspring housing, and mag well. I have about $1,500 into it beyond the cost of the original gun, about $2,000 total (five years ago) and I don't regret a dime of it. Soon as I picked it up and cycled the slide and tried the trigger with a snap cap, the difference between it and the original gun was night and day, first five minutes at the range amplified that difference 10-fold, I was shooting groups half the size of before ... how much of that is the barrel bushing, slide fit, etc. and how much is the trigger is hard to tell, all I know is same big dummy doing the shooting and groups shrunk by 50%.
And Glock lovers can keep their Glocks. https://youtu.be/OgOSIlR00UY
And Glock lovers can keep their Glocks. https://youtu.be/OgOSIlR00UY
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From Wilson Combat (2011):
Around 2014 they brought back the WC prefix starting at WC12000.
Jim