Those of you that have dropped some coin on a custom handgun

I think the real question is how quickly does the novelty of a new gun, ANY new gun, wear off for you?

All my handguns that are north of $1100 I typically really enjoy, but they are all a far cry from a custom built gun. They're just tuned and have been worked over.

I doubt you'd have a hard time selling it off if it bores you.

rduchateau2954 said:

Those of you that have bought custom built handguns, high end 1911's etc, any regrets?

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Zero regrets regarding the custom/semi custom guns.. Albeit, you could become hooked and not see your normal guns in the same light.

Freedom Gunworks 5.5” 40 S&W that I use for USPSA Limited division. Not very practical for anything other than competition but I enjoy the hell out of it. $2500 or so.

I picked up a Wilson Combat EDC X9 for $2500 a few months ago. I had to sell 4 or 5 (I can't remember which) guns to pay for it, but I'd do it again. I don't miss the guns I sold and it's by far the best shooter I own. I don't see the novelty wearing off.

A lot of it has to do with the intended use. If an individual is simply trying to add a gun to the collection then it might not be worth it. If on the other hand you have a specific need and are looking for something that will replace a gun that isn't quite up to your expectations or your skills have progressed to the level that an upgrade will make a difference then you will probably not regret spending the money. It is very easy to upgrade and/or enhance an otherwise stock handgun and spending twice the cost of the basic model and not be considered a custom gun.

Personally I have to be careful about satisfying my wants vs. actual need. I already have enough firearms that I don't really use too often. I doubt that I'm the only one here with that story. So when being tempted my rule is to ask myself a honest question, do I have a need for this firearm? Not is it on sale or does it look cool or will round out my collection.

TomJ said:

I picked up a Wilson Combat EDC X9 for $2500 a few months ago. I had to sell 4 or 5 (I can't remember which) guns to pay for it, but I'd do it again. I don't miss the guns I sold and it's by far the best shooter I own. I don't see the novelty wearing off.

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I’d love to have a Wilson like yours!!

What is a little weird, I have been competing for 4 years now and some matches will give out prizes for various reasons. I have always wanted to win a gun either at a match or raffle of some kind and since I'm not a lucky individual or a champion shooter, never thought I would win one.

But alas, the times they are a changing and in mid Sept I won a gun at a prize table for ROs at a large match I worked. Then 3 weeks later I won another gun at a prize table from a league I shoot in, this one was for actual shooting skills. So here I am, in the last 6 weeks I have won two handguns. It is a thrill for sure but to get either one of them set up to my liking will require 100s of dollars for each. I could sell one or the other and keep the money but these are the first guns I've won so I want to keep them.

It's a problem, a good problem to have for sure but still there is an expense. Thankfully, one of them is a G34, I have plenty of extra Glock magazines, several competition belts and holsters and so forth. So all I really need to do is start shooting that one, maybe do a little trigger work and replace the factory sights. The other one is a SA XDM, I did purchase 4 additional magazines, that was about $100.00 But it needs new sights, a trigger for sure and I don't have any competition holsters for that one. So for the XDM, I'm going to take it slow and easy no hurries. I might use it to entice one of my kids to shoot Steel Challenge Carry Optics.

In 1988 I bought a brand new Colt Series 70 Government model and sent it to Wilson’s for a slightly modified Master Grade 130 build. (I went single side extended safety and fixed sight).

I carried that gun until we went with issued Glocks, it took about a 12 year vacation. I retired, got a new cop gig and, that Wilson .45 has been back in service for almost three years.

So, I think I’ve gotten my monies worth.

Now I've never been one to leave a gun alone, I like to tinker so the plan was to spend some money at Cajun Gun Works.

So I'm wandering their website and I see they sell complete guns. Lo and behold they have a 97 with their top of the line package done to it, polished/tuned etc for $1350.

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I know a guy who sent his CZ 97B to CGW for this Enhanced package, but he also had CGW install their sight package as part of the build, and that will cost you extra. I had a chance to try it out, and it just might be the most accurate .45 ACP pistol I’ve ever shot.

In the hands of a good shooter, that CZ 97B with the CGW Enhanced package, will outshoot an Ed Brown custom 1911, and give a good custom made 1911 Bullseye gun a run for its money. The gun is a total tack driver and the 1911-style barrel bushing they install as part of the enhanced package improves on the stock screw in barrel bushing, and further improves the accuracy of an already extremely accurate gun. The quality of CGW’s work flat out beats anybody elses custom work on a CZ, including the CZ Custom Shop. The 2-1/2 lb CGW trigger is just about a perfect setup for a range use gun. If $1.350.00 from CGW includes their sight package that’s actually a good deal.

I think people fall into 3 basic camps: 1) they like to own nice stuff; 2) they like to use nice stuff; 3) they are happy using whatever is adequate to the task. This isn't limited to guns - this applies to any "functional" objects. Could be kitchen knives, woodworking tools, guitars, golf clubs, cars... you name it. People can be different categories for different kinds of items. But for any given category of items, people are usually predominantly one of these.

Group 1 are collectors. They derive a lot of value just knowing they have something nice in their possession. A beautiful gun that is NIB or comes out once a year for a special range trip can be a source of tremendous enjoyment for them... they can sit before their hearth and savor the knowledge that they have the thing. Or they can take it out and re-apply the Ren wax and feel like they have "experienced" it. Decorative touches and/or aesthetic perfection are critical for these folks.

Group 2 are users who enjoy all the little touches or dimensions of performance that you get out of using a nice tool. Their enjoyment of a nicer tool comes primarily while they are using it... and the more demanding their use, the greater their enjoyment. These are the people who get very excited about the "feel" of a golf club at impact, or the "action" of a guitar's neck... and their enjoyment goes up if they are playing more demanding shots or songs.

Group 3 are the pure functionalists. They will use any tool that is up to the task and equal to their level of performance, and consider any money spent getting the tool above that level of performance to be a waste of money.

I think a key part of avoiding regret in purchasing is knowing which of these groups you are. I'm mostly a #2 person. I don't really understand the pure collectors (I would pay zero extra dollars for the box a gun came in if I was not allowed to sell it). I'm also bewildered by people who bring a satisficing approach to their hobbies. I'm not in the military and I'm not a cop. I mostly buy food at the grocery store. The lowest-cost gun that is adequate for most of my needs is no gun at all. I mostly shoot for enjoyment and competition... I'm already "wasting" money, so I see no way to be purely functionalist about what I'm doing.

So, OP, what's your type? As a #2, I'd want to know how I would be using the gun.

ATLDave said:

I think people fall into 3 basic camps: 1) they like to own nice stuff; 2) they like to use nice stuff; 3) they are happy using whatever is adequate to the task. This isn't limited to guns - this applies to any "functional" objects. Could be kitchen knives, woodworking tools, guitars, golf clubs, cars... you name it. People can be different categories for different kinds of items. But for any given category of items, people are usually predominantly one of these.

Group 1 are collectors. They derive a lot of value just knowing they have something nice in their possession. A beautiful gun that is NIB or comes out once a year for a special range trip can be a source of tremendous enjoyment for them... they can sit before their hearth and savor the knowledge that they have the thing. Or they can take it out and re-apply the Ren wax and feel like they have "experienced" it. Decorative touches and/or aesthetic perfection are critical for these folks.

Group 2 are users who enjoy all the little touches or dimensions of performance that you get out of using a nice tool. Their enjoyment of a nicer tool comes primarily while they are using it... and the more demanding their use, the greater their enjoyment. These are the people who get very excited about the "feel" of a golf club at impact, or the "action" of a guitar's neck... and their enjoyment goes up if they are playing more demanding shots or songs.

Group 3 are the pure functionalists. They will use any tool that is up to the task and equal to their level of performance, and consider any money spent getting the tool above that level of performance to be a waste of money.

I think a key part of avoiding regret in purchasing is knowing which of these groups you are. I'm mostly a #2 person. I don't really understand the pure collectors (I would pay zero extra dollars for the box a gun came in if I was not allowed to sell it). I'm also bewildered by people who bring a satisficing approach to their hobbies. I'm not in the military and I'm not a cop. I mostly buy food at the grocery store. The lowest-cost gun that is adequate for most of my needs is no gun at all. I mostly shoot for enjoyment and competition... I'm already "wasting" money, so I see no way to be purely functionalist about what I'm doing.

So, OP, what's your type? As a #2, I'd want to know how I would be using the gun.

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Group 2 for me, 100%

2011ERIC said:

Group 2 for me, 100%

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Limited and Open divisions in USPSA are heavily populated by #2'ers!

rduchateau2954 said:

I've been looking for a cz97 for a while now with pretty poor results. New they run $600-$650 but nobody can get them. I've seen a few used guns, one currently on Armslist, but they are all $700+.

Now I've never been one to leave a gun alone, I like to tinker so the plan was to spend some money at Cajun Gun Works.

So I'm wandering their website and I see they sell complete guns. Lo and behold they have a 97 with their top of the line package done to it, polished/tuned etc for $1350.

I'm tempted to buy it but I worry that after a while the novelty will wear off. Those of you that have bought custom built handguns, high end 1911's etc, any regrets?

Option B is a police trade in 220 that I customize myself.

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I have done a fair amount of custom work to multiple guns on multiple platforms over the years. I have custom 1911s, 6+ Browning Hi Powers, CGW CZs, Sigs P Series guns and have bought off the self high end guns like the Wilson EDC X9, Les Baer TRS and GI No Name pistols. I have to agree with @tarosean No regrets but custom guns can become a never ending rabbit hole. Once you start to shoot heavily customized guns picking up stock pieces may leave you wanting more. They can be addictive.

IMHO the CGW Pro Package CZ97 is a good package. They do fantastic work. It is increasing the reliability and the shoot-ability of a pretty decent platform. For me the reason question for me is have you shot the CZ97 stock? IF you have what did you like and what didn't you like about it. Does the CGW package address the perceived weak spots in the CZ97 that you encountered when you shot it. For me CZs in general are rough right out of the box. They the triggers can be heavy, gritty & have an avg reset. The grit smooths out over time. The weigh really doesn't. Springs and parts are the only real way to lower it effectively and reliably. Also I am not a huge fan of CZs stock sights. The work but there are better options out there. So for the things I want to "correct" on a CZ are the trigger pull weight, smoothness of the trigger, the trigger reset and the sights. All that said I still have stock CZs. They work and go bang everytime I shoot them but I "prefer" to upgrade them.

I have a Pro package CGW on a 75B, All Steel P01 and a Shadow 2. I do not regret doing the work on them. They are greatly improved on vs the stock factory gun. That said the ROI is a subjective thing. The law of diminishing returns really starts to kick in on custom work. In your scenario you are paying almost 100% more for a CZ97 with the CGW modifications vs a stock gun. You will not get a 100% upgrade in performance. IMHO. Your groups will not instantly be cut in half after the modifications. I think that if you understand what you are getting from the custom modifications and your expectations are realistic you will not regret it.

Here are 2 of my CGW guns.





As to the question of doing the work yourself or having a known smith do the work for you a lot depends on the type of person you are and do you think you will ever sell the gun. 99% of the time you do not get your $$$$ back on custom work. If you put $500 worth of work into a $500 pistol if you sell it later as a used gun you will be lucky to get 50% of the cost of the customization. Even less if you did your own work. I personally will not buy a gun that was worked on by the owner unless I know the owner well. Contrast that will a custom gun that has a build sheet from a known builder. I could sell my Garthwaite BHP for almost what I paid for it minus a few hundred $$$. I could sell the all Steel P01 for what I have in it including the CGW pro package because people know the level of work CGW does and the rarity of the gun itself. If I had bought the steel P01 and installed the same parts myself I would get less.

So if you there is a chance of selling the pistol down the road with the enhancements IMHO having a known smith will add to its resale value and it shorten the time from listing to sale. This may not be a consideration for you but if it is paying known smiths to do the work is the better option. It is not the cheapest one but still IMHO the right one. Also the warranty and support you will get post modifications from good pistol smith also has huge value because sometimes things do not function as intended after modification and not have the expertise to diagnose and fix said problems can be an issue.

I would go for it. In the end I think you will like the end result and if you have regrets someone one the CZ forum or here would take it off your hands without losing too much $$$.

ATLDave said:

I think people fall into 3 basic camps: 1) they like to own nice stuff; 2) they like to use nice stuff; 3) they are happy using whatever is adequate to the task. This isn't limited to guns - this applies to any "functional" objects. Could be kitchen knives, woodworking tools, guitars, golf clubs, cars... you name it. People can be different categories for different kinds of items. But for any given category of items, people are usually predominantly one of these.

Group 1 are collectors. They derive a lot of value just knowing they have something nice in their possession. A beautiful gun that is NIB or comes out once a year for a special range trip can be a source of tremendous enjoyment for them... they can sit before their hearth and savor the knowledge that they have the thing. Or they can take it out and re-apply the Ren wax and feel like they have "experienced" it. Decorative touches and/or aesthetic perfection are critical for these folks.

Group 2 are users who enjoy all the little touches or dimensions of performance that you get out of using a nice tool. Their enjoyment of a nicer tool comes primarily while they are using it... and the more demanding their use, the greater their enjoyment. These are the people who get very excited about the "feel" of a golf club at impact, or the "action" of a guitar's neck... and their enjoyment goes up if they are playing more demanding shots or songs.

Group 3 are the pure functionalists. They will use any tool that is up to the task and equal to their level of performance, and consider any money spent getting the tool above that level of performance to be a waste of money.

I think a key part of avoiding regret in purchasing is knowing which of these groups you are. I'm mostly a #2 person. I don't really understand the pure collectors (I would pay zero extra dollars for the box a gun came in if I was not allowed to sell it). I'm also bewildered by people who bring a satisficing approach to their hobbies. I'm not in the military and I'm not a cop. I mostly buy food at the grocery store. The lowest-cost gun that is adequate for most of my needs is no gun at all. I mostly shoot for enjoyment and competition... I'm already "wasting" money, so I see no way to be purely functionalist about what I'm doing.

So, OP, what's your type? As a #2, I'd want to know how I would be using the gun.

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IMHO there are a lot of people with custom guns out there who are really #1s but think they are #2s. There is a lot of subtlety in the difference between these 2 groups. The line is not as hard and fast as your are presenting it. Many people who think they are in #2 pay lots of money for perceived improvements that never really show up on paper. to use your Golf analogy you see lots of people with thousands of $$$ worth of clubs who are still duffers. They will drop $400 on new driver that someone told them will get them another X yards off the tee but really they don't have the skill to take advantage of it. I am not saying that is always the case but I see it all the time at the range and even matches. Most peoples equipment is superior to their skill.

The real desire that drive the #1.5 who thinks he is a #2 is to have nice things. To have something beautiful and of high value. I also think that someone can be both. I have some custom guns which are functional works of art. They are beautiful and their pure beauty is part of the reason I customized them the way I did. I still shoot them but they are not carry guns. They are treated differently vs say a Wilson EDC X9 which is a carry gun.

For example this BHP. It was built as target gun with a very nice light crisp trigger with Bomar sights. It was refinished in a master blue by Ford's. It is a gun that squarely falls somewhere between #1 and #2. The mods were done to meet a functional need but the finish was done to be a piece of art which just happens to also fire 9mm projectiles.

ATLDave said:

Limited and Open divisions in USPSA are heavily populated by #2'ers!

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Hahaha that’s the truth! Many of us don’t shoot well enough to exploit the performance of a custom gun but it’s nice to have one though! I’m not afraid to admit that.

#2 for me, buttttt I did send a payment for a highly ornate 1911 Friday.

Not sure what the hell I'm gonna do with it.

But I wanted it and there is only 10 in existence. So it was a jump or regret missing out type thing.

Excuse me if this doesn't qualify but I opted to buy the Cajun Gun Works parts and install them myself for my CZ 75 Compact. You mentioned that you like to tinker so I feel that, within reason, it may be worth it to hold out for a stock gun. The CZ platform was a challenge but well worth the admission for knowledge gained.

If the sights are set to exactly how I specified, then a custom pistol holds it's appeal.

I spend tireless hours on each stock pistol to get the sights perfect. Often takes a 2nd or even 3rd front sight to be absolutely dead on. Not just height, but the thickness of the front sight can differ wildly between 3, 4, and fullsize slides.

tarosean said:

#2 for me, buttttt I did send a payment for a highly ornate 1911 Friday.

Not sure what the hell I'm gonna do with it.

But I wanted it and there is only 10 in existence. So it was a jump or regret missing out type thing.

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Did you get one of the GI Day of the Dead pistols?