This topic comes up every now and then. Sometimes it is phrased as who make the best 1911 sometimes it phrased like this one what us your bucket list 1911. For me there are 3 tiers of 1911s. Production guns, semi custom guns and then true bespoke custom guns.
Production guns are made on assembly lines. Colt, Dan Wesson, Rock Island,Ruger, Kimber, SA, Remington etc.... Multiple people play a part in making these guns. There is little to no fitting of individual parts. These are mass produced guns. Some of the assembly operations are larger than others. Some guns are better than others. At this range there is a lot of cast parts, mim along with forged parts. These guns in general are designed and made to hit a price point.This does not make them bad it makes them what they are. Production 1911s. IMHO at this level the variance between one gun and another is wide. Ranging from Tisas to Dan Wesson.
Semi-custom guns are the next level. They are higher level. Better parts are going to be used at this level. You are going to see all forged steel here. Some of these shops are one man/women builds one gun for Example Nighthawk. Other are going to be like Les Baer where
@tark worked where different individual do different parts of the build. One guys does the checkering. Someone else fits the barrel. These are also considered semi-custom because for the most part you are buying a base configuration and making minor changes or upgrades to the gun but there is a limit to what they will offer and what they are willing to do. Places like Wilson, Guncrafter, Nighthawk, Les Baer, Ed Brown, Cabot, Alchemy Custom, etc... There are fantastic guns at this level. Some of these shops will also do full house custom work but the majority of the guns they are producing are not commissioned they are produced and then shipped to dealers and distribution.
Full House Bespoke Custom guns are the final tier. These guns are commissioned. They are for the most part not bought off the shelf. You work with the company or the individual to determine the specs of you build. You specify parts, finish styling etc... Some of these custom shops will have more than one builder in house like C&S or Novak but the majority of these true bespoke custom makers are one man shops where is only one guy who does the work. They might outsource the finish and use others parts but they do all the work. People like John Harrison, Ted Yost, Don Williams, Jason Burton, Jim Garthwaite RIP, Stan Chen, CT Brian, Ned Christiansen, Karl Sokol, Chuck Rogers etc... At this level you are working with a builder to create a personal one of a kind pistol. You are working with them to build a functional piece of art. IMHO
You choose a builder not just for their skill but for their aesthetic, approach and philosophy in building a 1911. At this level its like the difference between buying a Ferrari vs a Bugatti vs a Lamborghini. You are at the level of absurd in terms of $$$ vs your avg production 1911 but the difference between guns at this level is all about the ascetic.
Each of these 3 levels have their place and their merits. The law of diminishing returns gets really steep in the semi-custom and custom 1911 world. You are paying 3X-5X+ for a gun that is incrementally better than the top production guns. I consider Dan Wesson to still be the top production 1911 these days. A GI No Name is going to cost you double what a Dan Wesson Valor will cost but it is not 2X the gun in terms of accuracy, fit or function. You paid double for maybe a 20% improvement at best. The margin shrinks even more the higher you go. Something to think about.
My best production 1911 is my Dan Wesson CBOB.
My best Semi-Customs are my GI No Name 9mm and my NightHawk Colt Hawk in 45 ACP.
My Best Full House custom is my Don Williams 45 ACP Built on a Colt 70.
