THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE
MODEL 1911
THE CUSTOM EDITION
ED BROWN CENTENNIAL
WILSON COMBAT
CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
CENTENNIAL
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
GUNS & AMMO ANNUAL
USA/CANADA
$8.99
DISPLAY UNTIL 11/07/2011
LES BAER CUSTOM
CENTENNIAL
A gun test more than five years in the making.
BY GREG RODRIGUEZ // PHOTOS BY LANCE BERTOLINO
86 BOOK OF THE 1911 gunsandammo.com
GARTHWAITE’S COMMISSION
at the bottom of the safety so it’s smooth steel hammer, sear and disconnector and On this particular gun, Garthwaite
and round, yet still prominent enough to then performed his carry trigger job. The applied 30-lpi checkering to the flat
ensure that I engage it automatically every resulting pull is a clean, smooth three mainspring housing and reshaped a
time I draw the pistol, even if my grip is pounds, seven ounces with just the right Wilson Combat beavertail grip safety.
And just like with the rest of this 1911,
less than perfect. The safety is beautifully amount of takeup and minimal overtravel.
sharp edges are gone.
fitted, with no sharp edges between it and The Commander-length slide I ordered
the frame. from Caspian is devoid of markings. Jim
Other frame-mounted controls include lowered and flared the ejection port and
a machined steel slide stop from Bob checkered the rear of the slide, the extrac-
Greider and a thumb safety from Ed tor and the ejector at 40 lpi to reduce glare.
Brown. Garthwaite started with an
oversize part and sculpted it into a great
tactical safety that offers just enough of a
Custom pistolsmith Jim Garthwaite took the idea of blending the slide to the frame and went beyond filing. He gave the rear of the slide an shelf for my thumb without getting in the
impressive 40-lpi checkered surface before flattening and serrating the Heinie rear sight. It all started with a Caspian slide, titanium frame way. The safety engages smoothly and posi-
and Wilson’s match barrel. tively, with an audible and tactile click.
Garthwaite also added a checkered mag
A
release from Ed Brown. I am not a fan of
quick look through Guns & at 27 ounces. Its combination of reliability, since Caspian’s only lightweight frames extended magazine releases, so I asked him
Ammo’s 2011 Buyer’s Guide concealability and light weight has made the are made from titanium. Titanium sounds to go with a standard part, but he went
will reveal a plethora of 1911 Lightweight Commander the go-to pistol for cool, but the dust generated by filing and above and beyond. He started with an
offerings in varying sizes folks who pack 1911s on a daily basis. cutting on it is toxic, and titanium is hell oversize part that he cut down and angled,
and weights. Neophytes may fall prey I’ve owned several factory and lightly on expensive cutting tools. Titanium with the high side toward the trigger. He
to the wiles of newfangled compact or customized Colt Lightweight Command- frames are also a couple of ounces heavier also checkered the catch. The combination
subcompact variants such as the CCO, ers over the years, but in 2006 I decided I than alloy frames. Not surprisingly, many of the angle and the checkering gives your
Defender or Officers Models, but for needed a full-house custom. I talked to sev- ’smiths won’t work on titanium, so I was thumb more surface area to push against,
most 1911 devotees there are but two eral ’smiths about the project, but I decided relieved when Garthwaite agreed to take which makes it easier to engage without
1911s: the Government Model and the to go with pistolsmith Jim Garthwaite on my project. the added length that makes magazines
Lightweight Commander. (garthwaite.com) because he specializes He started by beveling the magazine pop out inadvertently.
Those folks’ disdain for smaller 1911s in building carry guns and was willing to well and carefully hand-sculpting the I ordered Videcki’s short, aluminum
is not without merit. Though the smaller build one on Caspian’s titanium frame. frame for a higher grip. He also hand- trigger so the gun would better fit my
guns seem like a better option for con- checkered the frontstrap and the alloy hands. Garthwaite installed his own tool
cealed carry, they can be fickle when com- The Devil is in the Details mainspring housing at 30 lines per inch. I
pared with the way John Moses Browning I could have had Jim build the gun on a like 30-lpi checkering because it gives me
chose to design it. Those reliability woes factory Colt, but I wanted to go with a the traction I need without tearing up my
are largely a thing of the past, but gun Caspian slide and frame set for several clothes or hands. The checkering on my
folks tend to be set in their ways, and few reasons. Chief among them is being able Commander is perfectly executed, with
serious 1911 collectors I know pay much to order the slide devoid of markings and straight lines and crisp, sharp points.
attention to those pint-size variants. a frame with a custom serial number. I Garthwaite also fitted a Wilson Com-
Most 1911-ophiles agree that the would have been perfectly happy with bat beavertail grip safety. He reshaped
Commander-size pistol represents the an alloy frame, but I didn’t have a choice the safety a bit and smoothed the bump
most controllable sub-full-size 1911 and
the shortest 1911 that can be counted
on to run with the same relentless
reliability as a full-size gun. The
41/4-inch Commander is only
three-quarters of an inch shorter
than the Government Model, but
that’s enough of a difference to make the
gun more concealable and easier to wear
when you’re seated. Its shorter slide clears
leather more quickly as well.
All Commanders are not created equal.
The all-steel Combat Commander weighs
a beefy 36 ounces, while the Lightweight
Commander weighs over a half pound less
Even after a half decade of use, the barrel
fit and slide-to-frame fit remain capable of
producing groups measuring well under two
inches in the hands of the author.
88 BOOK OF THE 1911 gunsandammo.com gunsandammo.com BOOK OF THE 1911 89
GARTHWAITE’S COMMISSION
painted sights in low light. They work well HIGH-END GUN LEATHER the Gunkote finish has held up very well. it looks, you would do well to have Jim
in bright light, too. Garthwaite regulated FROM MAT DEL FATTI I have also grown to love the front sight’s Garthwaite build it. He understands that
the sights to hit dead-on at 25 yards with gold bead even more, which works equally a custom pistol needs to be more than a
Before my pistol arrived, I commissioned
Federal’s 230-grain Hydra Shok load. some special carry leather from Del Fatti
well in bright sun and low light. It’s an pretty slab of steel, and he does what it
Once he had all the parts fitted to his Leather (delfatti.com). I own a hunt- elegant touch on a gun as classy as the takes to make sure it will work well and
satisfaction, he put the gun together and pro- ing travel company specializing in Africa. Garthwaite Commander. shoot straight right out of the box. My
ceeded to take off all the sharp edges. Rather Mbogo is the Swahili word for Cape buffalo, I’ve shot my titanium Commander a lot custom Commander really stretched my
than giving it that amorphous look that is so which also happens to be my company logo over the last five years. It is still malfunc- meager budget when I ordered it, but it has
prevalent these days, he tastefully radiused and Web site (mbogo.net), so I ordered tion-free, and I never cease to be amazed been worth every penny.
the edges so the gun is smooth and snag-free my frame with the serial number MBOGO1. at its practical accuracy in training. Head
while retaining its distinctive 1911 profile. I wanted the holster to have an Africa shots are automatic out to 25 yards, and
Then he finished the pistol in black semi- theme, so I asked Matt to make the holster centered chest hits are a breeze out to 50.
gloss KG Gunkote and added a gorgeous set and accessories from elephant hide, which It’s also hell on steel from the 100-yard
of Goncalo Alves grips from Hogue. is attractive and incredibly durable. line. In preparation for this article, I spent
I chose Matt’s SSK-HTL holster, which is some time with it on the bench again, and
First Impressions a belt holster with two closely set loops. it hasn’t lost a step there either.
My pistol seemed like it took forever to ar- I also ordered a single mag pouch and a Carrying the titanium Commander is
rive, but I was so thrilled when I unboxed light carrier in matching elephant hide and as enjoyable as shooting it. Its shorter slide
it that I forgot all about the nine-month a double-thick black cowhide belt with makes it more comfortable to carry than
wait. What struck me first was the obvious elephant trim. Fortunately, I ordered the my Government Model while I’m driving,
quality of the work and its clean, classic leather when I ordered the gun, because and its lighter weight eases the burden on
look, which is exactly what I envisioned Del Fatti isn’t fast. He’s not cheap either, my back when I wear it for long periods.
when I commissioned the gun. I know that but he makes some of the most beautiful I am not about to part with my full-size
radical metal treatments are all the rage, gun leather I’ve ever owned. guns, but you don’t have to wear one for
but some of those designs look like they’d My carry rig is every bit as nice as I long to see why the lightweight Com-
be more at home as piercings in some punk expected. The elephant hide is absolutely mander is still so popular. American Eagle 230-grain ball clocked the fast-
kid’s nose than on a pistol. gorgeous, and the holster is molded pre- If you’re in the market for an attractive est times, averaging 878 fps. However, this pistol
Garthwaite’s hand-checkering and the cisely to the gun so it holds the pistol se- full-house custom that shoots as good as favors Federal’s 230-grain Hydra-Shok load.
perfect fit to each part really impressed curely, but not so tightly that it’s difficult
me. So did his trigger work—my Garth- to draw. It is heirloom-quality gear that
waite gun’s trigger still ranks among the has served me well for the last few years
and, by the looks of it, will continue to
two or three best 1911 triggers I’ve ever
do so for as long as I am able to strap on
tripped. I was also very happy with the
Garthwaite’s titanium Commander.
finish. Though it lacks the soul and rich,
deep color of traditional rust bluing, it is
attractive and also corrosion-resistant—an
important feature here on the Gulf Coast
of Texas.
It’s been a long time since I first shot my
Garthwaite gun, but I can still recall how
reliably it ran and how impressed I was by
the tiny groups I printed with it. Looking
back at my notes, I fired several groups
right around 11/2 inches from a sandbag
rest with Federal’s 230-grain Hydra-Shok
load the first day I took it out, and it hit
right on top of the front sight, as I speci-
fied when I ordered it.
In five years of carry and use, this Commander has shown no accuracy degredation or
stoppages with defensive hollowpoints. This seven-shot, three-inch group is what to A Long Field Test
expect of it at 50 yards. Its accuracy and reliability earned my
Garthwaite gun a place as one of my
favorite pistols to carry. In fact, I’ve been
The face of the Heinie rear sight is serrated a stainless match barrel and bushing from carrying it off and on for nearly five years ACCURACY RESULTS
at the same 40 lpi. The top of the slide is Wilson Combat and lapped them in. The now. It’s rare that you see a gun test take
Load Muzzle SD Average Accuracy
flattened and serrated at 40 lpi as well. barrel locks up solidly. five years, but if nothing else, those years Velocity (fps) (in.)
Garthwaite stresses the reliability of I ordered Heinie sights, but I asked Garth- have given me a long time to discover American Eagle 230-gr. FMJ 878 9 2.30
his pistols, but he does a great job in the waite to leave the rear sight black and add a any potential problems. Fortunately, I Federal 230-gr. Hydra-Shok 831 8 1.65
accuracy department, too. Before he got gold bead to the dovetailed front sight. I am haven’t found any. Hornady 200-gr. XTP 868 11 1.80
too far along with my gun, he fitted the very fond of gold beads for all-around work. The last few years have also given me Accuracy results are the average of five five-shot groups fired from a sandbag rest at 15 yards.
Velocity figures are the average of 25 rounds fired over an Oehler 35P chronograph placed 10
frame to the slide to make sure it would They don’t glow like tritium, but gold beads ample time to enjoy the pistol’s finer feet from the muzzle.
shoot to his standards. He also hand-fitted never fade, and they’re brighter than many points. The trigger is still exceptional, and
90 BOOK OF THE 1911 gunsandammo.com gunsandammo.com BOOK OF THE 1911 91
